Lifelong pals Tony and Brittany are about to start their first year of high school. Over a summer in New York City, the two develop romantic feelings for each other. But despite their idyllic young relationship blossoming, Tony is forced to switch schools when his father is laid off from his financial job for embezzlement and the family must sell their house. In the aftermath, Brittany’s parents forbid her from seeing Tony.

DAYS PASSED quickly moves on to Brittany and Tony’s separate young adult lives. Brittany is an accomplished athlete and scholar, poised to step in and run her father’s Fortune 500 company when she graduates college, though she has never forgiven him for separating her from Tony. Tony maintains a high GPA, which wins him scholarships at good universities all over America. But he has never gotten over losing Brittany, his best friend and first love.

In college, Brittany meets Blake, a shy boy from a rich family, and they start a relationship. Tony attends college with his more outgoing friend Jeremy. There he meets Eva and sparks fly. Blake and Brittany get married, but on the night of their wedding her mother is killed in a car accident. After college, Brittany and Tony both end up moving back to New York City, where Brittany becomes a strong-arm calculated corporate boss and begins having extra-marital affairs.

Tony is happy with Eva and rising in rank at his high-level marketing job but feels something is amiss with his company. His old friend Jeremy is leading a troubled life and leans on Tony for loans and support. When Brittany and Tony have a chance reunion on the street, they are instantly transported back to their young friendship. They help each other heal but remain committed to their adult paths and the people they have chosen to love.

McEntry Dunbar II’s novel deals with complex human relationships and he shows how fleetingly first loves, family and friends come and go and how human connections shape us. Dunbar has set a tremendously ambitious task of writing DAYS PASSED, an epic book that spans decades-long relationships, complicated family dynamics, a vast cast of characters and life-changing events and he does an admirable job at writing an engaging book with vivid main characters. Yet none are described with enough emotional impact to elevate the narrative to moments of transcendence or raw inspiration. In addition, changes in tense are confusing at times. Plot threads are picked up and dropped again without real purpose. What remains is an enjoyable read, which leaves the reader wishing for more of what Dunbar’s characters are searching for: authentic connection.

DAYS PASSED is an ambitious novel with a sprawling plot and while author McEntry Dunbar II has created engaging characters who struggle with deeply relatable issues, the emotional impact and character development is lacking.

~Royal Young for IndieReader