Customer Reviews

Raising Jake

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(37)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I ggot this book yesterday, a free download from Kindle, and read it straight through - once I started I couln't put it down.

It really was a delight! You know the cliche - I laughed, I cried... but it really is true.

the nofel takes place over one weekend, as Sammy Sullivan, a divorced father, and his seventeen year old son, Jake get to know each other as they never have before. This description is a bit deceptive since the narrative, told by Sammy, really covers both of their lives, as well as the lives of the other important people in their circle. I won't give away any more of the plot. You need to experience it yourself. And it is an experience, as you are brought to laughter and to tears by some of the incidents in the story I thought the writing was superb, and the plot extremely well-crafted and tight. At times I thought I was reading an autobiography; that's how true Sammy's "voice" was. Kindlers, buy this now, while it is still free. It's a terrific read. Highly recommended. A really great read.

This book has great character development, surprising but believable twists, and really puts some interesting perspectives on relationships. You can't help but care about the characters, and you laugh, you might cry, but for the most part they are likable but real. But it is by no means a chick book, the key characters are the males, they are the best developed. I bought this because it was free on Kindle and sounded interesting, but I'll look for more by this author and pay for them.

Raising Jake is a quick and enjoyable read about a journey of self-discovery for Sammy, a divorced fifty-something tabloid reporter, and his teenage son Jake. The story starts when Sammy gets a call at work from Jake's prestigious private school needing him to come to school immediately. Despite a looming deadline, Sammy makes the decision to drop everything go - getting himself fired in the process - only to find out that Jake is being expelled from school. The remainder of the novel winds its way through a long weekend for father and son, where Sammy comes to terms with his past and opens up to Jake about the family history and mysteries that have never before been shared. In the process, both father and son discover themselves, their history, connect with the roots of their family and their past, and bond with each other for perhaps the first time in their lives.

While the novel was enjoyable, I found some of the character development shallow and some of the plot to be difficult to believe. It is unclear why Jake, a gifted student with a promising future, is willing cast it all aside and become a high school dropout. In addition, some of the flashback sequences that involve Sammy and his mother - one involving stigmata of a crucifix and one involving the suicide of a priest - are similarly unbelievable. Though the author may want you to suspend your disbelief and focus on the larger theme of the story, these pivotal scenes come across as flat and somewhat silly. Still, the book held my attention and was enjoyable. It is definitely one of the best freebie Kindle downloads I've read thus far.

One of the best coming of age novels I've read. Wonderfully written. THANK YOU Mr. Carillo. More Please.

Vanessa

Raising Jake was one of the best kindle books I've read. The story moved me and grabbed me as three generations of men finally reconnected with each other, putting behind past grudges and anger to reach out and and validate the love they all still shared and their willingness to forgive for the sake of their family relationships. Son, father and grandfather all found each other again after years of absence.

A great story that peeled away all the "stuff" of life that doesn't matter and got down to the basics that do matter where happiness is concerned. I really, really loved this story.

Raising Jake was one of the nicest books I've read in awhile. It follows the story of Sam, a divorced, middle-aged tabloid newspaper writer who is experiencing some changes in his life. The bulk of the book takes place over a weekend during which Sam decides to take his son, Jake, back to where he grew up in Flushing. Unexpectedly, the journey leads to major changes in the lives of father and son.

This book was for the most part very warm and reader-friendly. There were some more contemplative sections when Sam recalls his life growing up as a Catholic schoolboy with a very militant and faithful mother. But these sometimes grim recollections were tempered by the humor within. Sam is a funny guy who has managed to produce a terrific son, which he realizes is the most important thing he's ever done.

Overall, this was a good story with characters that I absolutely loved. I'd like to see what they are up to 5 years from now.

Like many others, I downloaded this when it was free (I see that's no longer true).

Don't let that stop you. I was disappointed to see there are no other books by Mr. Carillo being sold by Amazon. I would gladly pay to read another one.

As I read through Raising Jake, I kept checking the author's name against the characters' names, somehow expecting them to match. The voice was too true; I just knew this had to be autobiographical.

The novel takes place over a weekend as dad Sammy and son Jake get to know each other for the first time in their lives. After each of them has a major life-changing event one Friday, they promise to have a no-holds-barred weekend: they will allow any questions, tell each other anything. The resulting weekend is surprising, amusing, heartwarming... in short, a great read.

I won't give away where they go, who they encounter, or what they do, but the joy of father and son learning about each other in a non-schlocky way was really refreshing. I'll look for more from Charlie Carillo.

I really enjoyed Raising Jake, especially the writing style and the humour. The story pretty much grabs you right out of the gate and only lets go at the very end, which unfortunately was a bit of a let down for me. I can't quite place a finger on why exactly, maybe it was just kind of anti-climactic, but you just go "Hrrrmm, OK."

Don't let that dissuade you, however, this is an awesome emotional roller coaster (happy times, sad times, poignant times), and it's really nice to see the characters develop over the course of the story as more personal bits are revealed.

Just as a caution, some of the humour is a bit harsh (there are a few swearwords as well), and if you're offended by poking fun at the Church's belief in miracles then you should steer clear. If you're OK with pirates and have a funny bone no matter who the jokes are on, tally-ho.

This was my first free download on my Kindle. I tried it based on the excellent reviews it had recieved from other readers. What a great read! The character development in this book is outstanding...you really get to know the characters. The story is fast paced and unpredictable. A true father/son adventure story! I have been telling friends and family about the book and that it's well worth the money!

This insightful, witty, smart book involves the relationship between newspaper reporter Sammy Sullivan and his 17-year-old son, Jake, who he has seen on weekends for the past 12 years since he and Jake's mother divorced. On this particular Friday that found Jake's mother out of town, Jake's headmaster at his stuffy, exclusive, private school has summoned Sammy away from work during the day, a move that gets Sammy fired when his boss doesn't want to let him leave for an hour. Jake has written an insightful, witty, smart essay about what he thinks of his stuffy, exclusive, private school and gets summarily dismissed from same.

The rest of the novel mostly takes place between Sammy opening up to Jake about their lives and their pasts before, during, and since the divorce as they both realize how all this will affect Jake's mother upon her return on Sunday. We learn a lot about so many things that also happen to be of particular interest to me such as experiencing life in New York and seeing the destructive nature of religious buffoonery.

The joy and intelligence of the writing is to be particularly savored as in this description of one of Sammy's co-workers: "Her dreams of a journalism career were tarnished by a nightmarish lack of talent. She could not put a sentence together. If the English language could speak for itself, she'd have found herself facing assault charges."

This wonderful book is full of clever writing in that spirit. It's hard to criticize the book even about Jake's intelligence, maturity, and insightfulness beyond his years because it makes sense as we come to learn of his heritage and how he was smart and observant even as a small child.

I very rarely give a 5-star rating, but this novel clearly reached that height for me.