I found Jonathan Tropper by accident. While scanning the shelves at a local bookstore for something to read, the cover for The Book of Joe caught my eye. I had never heard of the author, but found the summary interesting enough. Plus, I’m a sucker for guys writing about guys who need to grow up a little bit. I enjoyed the book, but not as much as I had hoped.

After polishing off How to Talk to a Widower in just under two days last week, I’m very grateful for picking up that first book and giving his other work a try. First, I tried his debut novel Plan B, now this. I am hooked. I have one more from his back catalog to read, and he has a new book coming out in August.

In Widower, his most recent published work, Doug Parker finds himself suddenly widowed. His wife is 11 years older than him and leaves a complicated life behind for the young writer – a teenage son and an ex-husband. Parker doesn’t handle grief well to begin with. The attachments of his marriage make it even tougher to cope.

The sory takes place around a year after the plain crash that claims Parker’s wife and features situations only Tropper can get his characters into. I don’t know why he needs to have his main characters get into brawls, but it has started to crack me up.

Doug tries to manage his grief, a rebelious stepson, an agent looking to capitalize on the tragedy, and a family too bizarre to even describe. Doug has a way of making everyone around him not like him a little bit, while still wanting to help him back on his feet. Well, almost everyone.

Tropper does a great job at taking us through Doug’s journey while avoiding too sacharrine of an ending. As I said to a friend, I want to write like Jonathan Tropper when I grow up.