The Long Range Plan

By Wade Tabor

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1877270563
• ISBN13: 9781877270567
• Release Date: July 2004
• Publisher: Hazard Press
• Length: 425 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Don't start this on a weekday

This book is a joy to read. I made the mistake of reading it on a business trip, and ended up only getting 4 hours of sleep a night. I really like the writers style of writing, and found myself laughing out loud several times each chapter. The other people on the airplane were giving me looks - and trying to see which book was making me laugh. This is a great thriller...If you like Nelson Demille you will really enjoy this book.

Gripping story, good novel!

Told cleverly in flashback, The Long-Range Plan is a gripping story of the anti-hero who wants it all, deserves none of it, winds up with half of it, suspects it is the wrong half, but can never go back to find out. To say more in that vein would spoil the novel's delicious suspense, but be forewarned that the plot revolves around a love story and a caper that will keep you turning pages long past your bedtime. As the curtain rises, the anti-hero, Cole Archer, is a first-year high school teacher in Charleston, S.C., who will soon fall in love with one of his students, Savannah Bellington, a bright, fetching, ambitious girl, 16, from the wrong side of a wealthy school district, a trailer park. From the day they meet, the stage is set for tragedy, but our protagonist, now 26, has been rehearsing for it a long time. Since the high-water mark of his young life--graduating from college with honors--he has been in a downward spiral of wasted days and wasted nights fueled by prodigious drinking and promiscuous sex. The latest consequence of that lifestyle, being dumped by a fiancé who wants a sober, faithful husband, not a boozing philanderer, has brought Archer to a new low--but to no new understanding of himself. Otherwise as smart as they come, he somehow missed out on the cause-and-effect connection between behavior and consequences, and goes right on making the same mistakes, mainly because he lacks a moral rudder. This is his fatal flaw. Fully aware, for instance, that a student-teacher affair in high school is The Big No-No, he does it anyhow. After all, self-indulgence is his speed, and the sooner, the better in all things. A frustrated writer, he hates the nine-to-five world and, though an excellent teacher, he despises the bureaucratic sinkhole that his school district has become. So when he sees a chance to take the money and run, well, what else could an anti-hero do? Indeed, quoted right up front in the novel is the maxim: "Never underestimate the power of cash." Archer does have redeeming qualities. He loves his cat, Brasco; he sympathizes with the weak; he's loyal to friends; he's grateful for favors; and he's squeamish about causing injury to others. Not squeamish enough not to do it, but squeamish nonetheless. But his chief redeeming quality is that we couldn't have this kind of story without this kind of character: a twenty-something man born to middle-class privilege in the Land of Opportunity who still can't win for losing--and has no idea why. The Long-Range Plan is a moral fable for modern times and is by a writer that readers are going to hear from a whole lot more.

One to Share!

The minute I finished this book I was online telling my friends and family about it. Then, my husband (who rarely reads), picked it up and couldn't stop talking about it. It's rare we can agree on a book, but this one had something for each of us. I read at least 1 book a week, and this is the first review I have ever written. . . it was just that good. Teachers, lawyers, those looking for themselves, and those that dream of living the wealthy life are just a few I can name that will enjoy this read. The main character draws you in and has you flipping pages well past bed time.

Don't wait too long to read this one!

I have to say that The Long Range Plan is by far the best book that I have read in years. As an avid reader, it is rare to find that outstanding book that keeps you intrigued and wanting more when you finish. The main character, Cole makes you so involved with the story, that you feel like you actually know him. The events are told in such a way that you know every detail, but yet what comes next will astound you. I recommend this book more than I have ever recommended a book before. Be prepared to be touched and left feeling like you could call Cole up and offer your friendship. Enjoy it!