€œYou done lived a tough life, boy, and I know I€m part responsible for that. I ain€t askin€ you to excuse me or forgive me. Just know I did the best I knew to do. I was just tryin€ to make you tough enough to deal with the world. To stand tall among men, I knew you had to be strong and have yo€ own mind.€Â
€œYou were preparing me for war, Grandfather.€Â
Guy Johnson, the author of the critically acclaimed debut Standing at the Scratch Line, continues the Tremain family saga.
Jackson St. Clair Tremain hasn€t spoken to his grandfather King in nearly twenty years. Disgusted by the violence and bloodlust that seemed to be his grandfather€s way of life, Jackson chose to distance himself from King and live a simpler life. But now King is gravely ill, and his impending death places Jackson€s life€"as well as those of his family and friends€"in jeopardy. Reluctantly, Jackson travels to Mexico to see King. But after a brief reconciliation, his grandfather is assassinated, and Jackson suspects that his grandmother Serena may have had a hand in it. Jackson takes control of King€s organization, and as he does, he reflects on the summers he spent in Mexico as a child and the lessons he learned there at the knee of his strong-willed, complex grandfather.
In Echoes of a Distant Summer, Guy Johnson introduces us to a new hero, Jackson St. Clair Tremain, who learns that, like his grandfather, he must be willing to protect those he loves€"at all costs.