It's the summer of 1966. Rusty Ravenscroft has been drafted by the US Army and ordered to report for training in two months. The war in Vietnam is escalating, and there is little doubt where he will be in a few short months. When his father hands him the keys to the family car and tells him to take off on a road trip, the first thing that comes to mind is his long-held desire to trout fish in Colorado. Leaving his home and family in New York City with no map, plan…or idea of what awaits him, Rusty hits the road with one question to be answered…how much living can be experienced in sixty days?

REVIEWS

“Every so often, a novel lands in your hands that doesn’t just tell a story--it opens a window into a moment in history, a mindset, a soul. Sixty Days by Chris DeMarco is one of those rare books. From the first page, I was pulled into rusty Ravenscroft’s world--the summer of 1966, a turbulent time in America, and an even more uncertain time in Rusty’s life. He’s just been drafted, the war in Vietnam looms large, and he’s been given sixty days of freedom before it all changes. What unfolds is far more than a road trip—it’s a raw, sometimes aching, often beautiful journey into manhood, self-discover, and what it truly means to live before life demands something of you.

DeMarco doesn’t romanticize the era—he captures it. The confusion, the defiance, the longing for clarity that so many young men felt at the time. But what truly struck me was how intimate the writing felt. There is a quiet strength in the way he builds Rusty’s inner world. I found myself reflecting on my own youth, my own moments of reckoning, those forks in the road that changed everything. That’s the magic of this book—it doesn’t just entertain, it resonates.

The pacing is honest, the imagery vivid, and the emotional undercurrents run deep without ever becoming melodramatic. DeMarco writes like someone who’s lived what he’s writing about—and in many ways, he has. You feel that in every line. There’s an authenticity her you can’t manufacture. By the end of the novel, I felt like I had traveled those highways with Rusty, sat beside him by those trout streams, shared in his fears, his hopes, and his small triumphs. Sixty Days is a testament to how much can happen in a short time when life is stripped down to its essence. It’s a story of courage—not the battlefield kind, but the quieter, braver kind that takes place in the heart.

This is a book I’ll be recommending for a long time—not just because of its historical insight, but because of its emotional truth. If you’re looking for something real, something that lingers long after the last page, Sixty Days is it. Chris DeMarco has written something remarkable.”

- Lewis Morgan, Senior Reviewer, Writers Branding

"This book reads like a movie and reminds me of my teen years. I could not put it down. Check it out; great work, Chris!" - Bestselling Author Run with the Cheetahs, Jerry Freishtat

"Life's lessons are not learned in classrooms; courage is forged in the wilderness. DeMarco takes the reader on a beyond life-sized journey to manhood for a generation!" - Bestselling Author Geysers, Grizzles and Grit, Jeff Bettinger