Well Deserved

Skywater Fiction

By: Michael Loyd Gray

Narrated by: Joel Terkeurst

The folks of Argus, Illinois, from the small-time dealer to the returning Vietnam vet, the townie grocery clerk and the new sheriff, all know what they want out of life, but the paths to their desires are conflicted and unclear. In a narrative with all the clarity and determination of a prophecy, Well Deserved chronicles the struggles of these four people as they come to the stark realization that their paths are not solitary, but entwined, and their very lives hinge on one shared moment.

©2010 Skywater Publishing Cooperative (P)2025 Skywater Publishing Cooperative

Critic reviews

“Gray's clear straightforward prose is aimed directly at the revelation of character and unspools with the unmistakable cadence of a storyteller." — Stuart Dybek, author of I Sailed with Magellan

"Gray is an expert weaver of fates, a wistful manager of lives, a wordsmith playing with texture, tone, and that all-important element, the balance of tension. For as he wrenches our hearts, he also pushes us to turn the next page, and the next, and the next." — Monique Raphel High, author of Between Two Worlds

"Gray’s captivating tale of 1970s Lake Argus is ultimately endearing and memorable, and convinces me that this is a writer with some serious chops." — Darren DeFrain, author of The Salt Palace and Inside & Out: Stories

A Slice of 1970s Americana

Like other books I've enjoyed by Michael Loyd Gray, Well Deserved is part character study and part narrative of late 20th century America. This time he touches on the lingering effects of the Vietnam War, throws in mix-tape of tunes from the era, and adds a little romance while setting his characters: Jesse, a small-town drug dealer; Art Millage, the chief of police; and Raul, a Vietnam vet all the a collision course.

The setting is a little before my time, but Gray does a wonderful job capturing the strange, changing times of the 1970s, so much so that I can imagine being there.

A nostalgic trip into the past

Reading Michael Loyd Gray's "Well Deserved" was like stepping into a time machine. I lived through the 1970s—granted a naive kid—and the story felt true to the times, from the music to the Vietnam war in the background and the weed. Back in the day, I swear I met people like some of Gray's main characters: Jesse, the dealer with big dreams, and Raul, the drifting Vietnam vet. Both walked the streets of my home town. And that what I enjoyed most about Well Deserved—the sense of place and time it creates.

And let's not forget the muscle cars. Though my dad had a Chevy Nova, not a GTO like Jesse's.