{"product_id":"the-loads-we-carry-kenneth-thomas-9798232411657","title":"The Loads We Carry","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Loads We Carry\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe road remembers what you try to forget.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCal has been running freight and ghosts for so long, he can't tell the difference anymore. The logbooks say he's eastbound, but every mile feels like it's taking him deeper into nowhere-a thin strip of blacktop where clocks don't work, radios hum hymns no one's playing, and the same red neon \"OPEN\" sign flickers in every town he passes through.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe tells himself it's just exhaustion. Diesel dreams. Highway hallucinations.\u003cbr\u003eBut he knows better.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBecause the matchbook keeps coming back.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt shows up in his pocket, in the glovebox, under his boots. Always the same. Always dry. Always reading: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTURN BACK WHEN YOU KNOW WHY YOU CAME.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCal has a son out there-a boy named Jesse he hasn't seen in years-and the guilt gnaws like road salt in an old wound. Jesse's mother is gone. The phone line's been disconnected for months. And yet, every time the pay phone rings in those waystations where time has come unstitched, Cal feels it in his bones: \u003cem\u003eit's him.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd he knows if he answers, something in him will break for good... or mend for the first time.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe road isn't empty. It's watching.\u003cbr\u003eAnd it's sending omens.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA diner waitress who speaks in riddles and hymns.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA boy humming lullabies on the shoulder of a midnight highway.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA woman in a yellow raincoat who steps from the fog and says his name.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAnd Ray-tall, smiling, wrong somehow-who shows up everywhere the guilt is thickest, carrying a ledger Cal swears he's never signed.\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe line between dream and daylight is crumbling.\u003cbr\u003eEvery clock he sees reads the same hour.\u003cbr\u003eAnd the storm on the horizon is growing teeth.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf Cal can't find the courage to pick up that ringing phone-and speak the truth he buried years ago-the road will collect its debt in full.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd this time, it won't stop with him.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe Loads We Carry\u003c\/strong\u003e is a haunting, rain-soaked Americana ghost story-a diesel-lit hymn for the lost, the guilty, and the fathers trying to outrun the wreckage of their own silence. Equal parts mystery, psychological thriller, and spiritual reckoning, this novel hits with the weight of lived experience and the ache of all the words men never say until it's too late.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's for the ones who left and never stopped looking back.\u003cbr\u003eIt's for the ones who stayed and wondered why.\u003cbr\u003eIt's for anyone who's ever watched the taillights fade and thought: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCome back. Or I will find you.\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Kenneth Thomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798232411657\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Kenneth Thomas\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/19\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 186\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.49lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.43d","brand":"Kenneth Thomas","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48217909068031,"sku":"9798232411657","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_e492c9a9-709c-4142-8eab-b9fb8d57f40d.jpg?v=1772000233","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/the-loads-we-carry-kenneth-thomas-9798232411657","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}