It's 1968 and 16-year-old Matt Anthony is dealing with many adult issues while trying to enjoy life in Laguna Beach, California. His mother is caught up in the world of drugs barely making ends meet, his older brother is fighting in Vietnam and his father, a former policeman, walked out on the family years ago and rarely stays in touch. Matt acts responsibly earning money with a regular job delivering papers, enjoys fishing and spends time working on his drawings. He's also getting closer to his first real crush. After a missing teenage girl turns up dead on the beach, his world is turned upside down when his older sister Jasmine disappears. When the police fail to take immediate action, Matt starts his own search. He finds himself looking for her within the local drug scene and those seeking enlightenment.
A Thousand Steps is a well-done journey back in time. It takes place when there was a major shift in our culture. War was raging on and was watched nightly on everyone’s television sets. A counterculture was formed. Hippies not only protested the war but experimented with mind-altering drugs to escape. Laguna Beach attracted a group of hippies calling themselves the Brotherhood of Eternal Love. Timothy Leary and others encouraged them to use LSD to turn on and drop out.
Author T. Jefferson Parker portrays the period with realism through this coming-of-age story which includes a compelling mystery. Whether you lived through this time of great change or heard your family talk about the 60s, this is a book worth checking out.
Many thanks to Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Forge Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this entertaining, atmospheric book in advance of its publication.
Rated 4.25 out of 5 stars.
Historical Fiction / Mystery.
Publication Date: January 11, 2022.
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