When you read the back cover copy of Final Spin by former Navy SEAL and bestselling author Jocko Willink, you will get the full flavor of this 217-page novel. Not your typical novel by any stretch, it's a quick and somber read.
Johnny MacDermott and "Goat" Martinez are two young men in their 20s working a dead-end night job for minimum wage stocking items on huge shelves in a warehouse. Their night manager has no people skills, his favorite mantra: Less talking, more stocking. Johnny's frustrated and discouraged with his life, hopelessly assuming it's never going to change - or amount to anything good. He and Goat spend time before and after work in a rundown bar where they do next to nothing about changing their circumstances.
We learn Johnny's older brother "Arty" is "different" but can do laundry better than anyone. His work at a laundromat makes him perfectly happy. We also learn Johnny's and Arty's mom is a drunk, but we never see or hear from her, and that their dad is gone.
Johnny is not without street smarts or charm, but he is without hope of finding what he's good at or that he'd be able to do anything about it even if he did figure it out. When he talks with the owner of the laundromat, he's shocked to know the owner must sell it and asks Johnny if he'd please tell Arty because he knows it's going to hurt him.
Hopeless and desperate is a fatalistic combination for a young man, and Johnny comes up with a plan to "fix" everything. Goat signs on to it, and the two of them plot their solution to get them what they need.
The finality of the plan is the hardest part as Johnny contemplates saying goodbye to Arty and his girlfriend Jessica - who looks and sounds "like an angel" to his youthful attraction.
The style of writing is unique: free verse, first person internal dialogue in snapshots, switching briefly to third person POV. Plot and prose capture a morose life with only quick moments of laughter and pleasure usually provided by drink, Arty, or Jessica. Totally unusual from start to finish with an ending that is anything but the final word of the story while providing the twofold meaning of the title.
Father, you've given multiple talents and gifts to your creation. I pray you continue to bless Jocko in all of his efforts and guard and protect him from all harm. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.