Review: Colton Gentry's Third Act

Colton Gentry's Third Act by Jeff Zentner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Though he's not done with YA just yet - he's got a new collaborative novel in verse with Brittany Caravallo scheduled to come out this summer- it's interesting to see Jeff Zentner make a pivot into the adult literary fiction scene. He still has a foot in the YA door with this one, however, since it makes frequent use of flashbacks to the title character's younger days and his initial romance with high school sweetheart Luann. But it's also not all that removed from the realms he's written in for his YA novels either - the Southern setting (more Kentucky than Tennessee this time, but still in that same region), with a protagonist breaking away from more traditional young men's pursuits (he played football in high school but ended that career with a terrible injury), and running afoul of the fascist industrial complex.

Granted, Colton's "fuck your guns" rant that kicks off the story is 100% correct, and the right-wing country music industry dropping him like a hot potato in response is 100% wrong (funny how the right considers themselves the side of free speech and yet they're thin skinned enough to have no problem wielding the hammer of cancel culture eh?) But it's Colton's alcohol problems that are the real issue he needs to address in his life, because numbing his pain only makes things worse.

While the book does try to play a little too much like a Hallmark movie (albeit definitely from a more liberal perspective - certainly not the first time Zentner has taken every opportunity to skewer conservative white Southern culture), it's still a worthwhile addition to Zentner's bibliography, with Colton Gentry being one of his best developed protagonists and Luann being the great other half he needs now, helping him get back on his feet and helping her land on her own too.

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