Maybe time has dimmed the earlier Rex Miller style in my brain, but this book seemed a bit more...mainstream...in the writing. I remember a certain fondness for Miller run-on sentences and descriptives that were both hard-hitting and, somehow, touching. The former wasn't in this book, and hopefully not just in my memory, but the latter was still there. So, overall, a solid 3.5 stars with a rounding up to 4 just because. Although this is definitely a "Chaingang" book, he's more a secondary character, and that works rather well.One more Miller book closer to the end. :((He being dead way too early)