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bre88's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Drug use, Rape, and Violence
swalk's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully written thriller, the author has a fantastic way captivating the reader with excellent character building, emotion and gorgeous descriptions that really immerse you into Garnett County.
The book had a nice pacing - a slow burn, but the descriptions and relationships kept me interested, so I thought it worked very well with the writing style letting you settle into the environment and characters.
The narrator worked really well with the atmospheric nature of the story, I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be looking out for future books from Samantha Jayne Allen.
The book had a nice pacing - a slow burn, but the descriptions and relationships kept me interested, so I thought it worked very well with the writing style letting you settle into the environment and characters.
The narrator worked really well with the atmospheric nature of the story, I thoroughly enjoyed this and will be looking out for future books from Samantha Jayne Allen.
gretel7's review against another edition
2.0
I would love to have seen Annie in a better defined and determined leading role.
tessa_talks_books's review against another edition
4.0
What's it about (in a nutshell):
Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen is a dark and thrilling mystery in a small Texas town. Annie is a recent college grad who took a job as a waitress in her hometown while she figured out what was next. When a coworker is murdered, she joins her Private Investigator grandfather on the dangerous path to find a killer and, along the way, her own adult self.
What I Enjoyed:
The setting is described to perfection. Every detail put me there in a visceral way that could be almost claustrophobic. And the people in this town were people that I grew up with. People who stayed in the same small town they grew up in and found their place within this town as adults, often following in their parent's footsteps. There are certain commonalities between small towns, and this novel describes them to perfection.
I loved the atmospheric feel of this story, whose pace was brought up by the many thrills of the dangerous investigation into Victoria's death. The slower pace of the non-action scenes changes to a true page-turner when Annie and her grandfather, Leroy, begin their investigation. The first-person narration helps keep the pace at a comfortable speed as the reader experiences the dangers from Annie's inexperienced perspective.
I love the family theme of this story, too. Annie comes from a long line of men and women who investigated crimes for a living. She can even trace her roots back to many greats grandmother who was a member of the Pinkerton Agency. This makes things challenging for her as she tries to decide her future direction, knowing that her father's expectation is that she stay far away from the dangerous path of past family members.
Characters:
Annie is at a crossroads. A recent college grad, when jobs were scarce, she decided not to enroll in law school. She is knee-deep in figuring things out when her coworker goes missing, and she is thrown into the life that her father had always tried to keep her far away from. Annie shows tremendous growth in this story as she figures out who she is as an adult and what career path she wants. I found her character so well-developed that she is instantly relatable and intricately layered to reflect any past scars.
Reminds Me Of:
The atmosphere and tone felt like a hard-boiled mystery. Still, the uniqueness comes from the young female detective in training to take her grandfather's role.
Friday Night Lights meets Mare of Easttown
What I Wish:
I sometimes wished that the pace would speed up a bit more, but then it would. But, the stretches in between did feel a bit long in the middle.
To Read or Not to Read:
If you are looking for a modern version of a hard-boiled mystery with an unexpected detective, you will want to pick up Pay Dirt Road.
Pay Dirt Road by Samantha Jayne Allen is a dark and thrilling mystery in a small Texas town. Annie is a recent college grad who took a job as a waitress in her hometown while she figured out what was next. When a coworker is murdered, she joins her Private Investigator grandfather on the dangerous path to find a killer and, along the way, her own adult self.
What I Enjoyed:
The setting is described to perfection. Every detail put me there in a visceral way that could be almost claustrophobic. And the people in this town were people that I grew up with. People who stayed in the same small town they grew up in and found their place within this town as adults, often following in their parent's footsteps. There are certain commonalities between small towns, and this novel describes them to perfection.
I loved the atmospheric feel of this story, whose pace was brought up by the many thrills of the dangerous investigation into Victoria's death. The slower pace of the non-action scenes changes to a true page-turner when Annie and her grandfather, Leroy, begin their investigation. The first-person narration helps keep the pace at a comfortable speed as the reader experiences the dangers from Annie's inexperienced perspective.
I love the family theme of this story, too. Annie comes from a long line of men and women who investigated crimes for a living. She can even trace her roots back to many greats grandmother who was a member of the Pinkerton Agency. This makes things challenging for her as she tries to decide her future direction, knowing that her father's expectation is that she stay far away from the dangerous path of past family members.
Characters:
Annie is at a crossroads. A recent college grad, when jobs were scarce, she decided not to enroll in law school. She is knee-deep in figuring things out when her coworker goes missing, and she is thrown into the life that her father had always tried to keep her far away from. Annie shows tremendous growth in this story as she figures out who she is as an adult and what career path she wants. I found her character so well-developed that she is instantly relatable and intricately layered to reflect any past scars.
Reminds Me Of:
The atmosphere and tone felt like a hard-boiled mystery. Still, the uniqueness comes from the young female detective in training to take her grandfather's role.
Friday Night Lights meets Mare of Easttown
What I Wish:
I sometimes wished that the pace would speed up a bit more, but then it would. But, the stretches in between did feel a bit long in the middle.
To Read or Not to Read:
If you are looking for a modern version of a hard-boiled mystery with an unexpected detective, you will want to pick up Pay Dirt Road.
kmd31's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
theawkwardbookw's review against another edition
3.0
Want to see more bookish things from me? Check out my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCferU-BCL2dlFjWdD0rS75Q
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
After graduating college, and not sure what to do next, Annie returns to her small town in Texas. She finds herself brought into her grandfather Leroy's private investigating firm. When a local waitress goes missing, and a hit-and-run occurs, Leroy and Annie start investigating to see if the two deaths are related, and things begin to hit a bit to close to home.
This was a very slow-paced read, and I never fully got into the story. I feel like this would make a good lifetime movie, it just gives off those vibes. I wasn't the biggest fan of Annie, just something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I just found her to be a bit uninteresting, and I didn't care about anything that happened to her. I listened to the audiobook, and do think the narrator did a good job with the voices and characters. But, overall I just found this to be a very average read, nothing special in my opinion.
*I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review*
After graduating college, and not sure what to do next, Annie returns to her small town in Texas. She finds herself brought into her grandfather Leroy's private investigating firm. When a local waitress goes missing, and a hit-and-run occurs, Leroy and Annie start investigating to see if the two deaths are related, and things begin to hit a bit to close to home.
This was a very slow-paced read, and I never fully got into the story. I feel like this would make a good lifetime movie, it just gives off those vibes. I wasn't the biggest fan of Annie, just something about her rubbed me the wrong way. I just found her to be a bit uninteresting, and I didn't care about anything that happened to her. I listened to the audiobook, and do think the narrator did a good job with the voices and characters. But, overall I just found this to be a very average read, nothing special in my opinion.
ocean_cactus's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
rebbyreads's review against another edition
2.0
Read this if...you enjoyed the shows “Friday Night Lights” or “Mare of Easttown.”
Despite having a college degree, Annie McIntyre finds herself back at home in Garnett, Texas, waiting tables at a local diner. Her family has a private investigation firm and Annie gets the perfect opportunity to intern with her grandfather when a fellow waitress goes missing. Annie works hard to figure out what happened to the missing woman, finding it difficult not to identify with her. The case forces Annie to confront her own demons and try to move on from a traumatic experience that she has buried.
On paper, this sounded like the perfect read for me. I loved “Mare of Easttown” and enjoy small-town mysteries. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark. I found it very slow and difficult to get through. I contemplated not finishing multiple times and wish that I had that reading time back. The missing person mystery took a back seat to Annie’s relationship with herself and her family. The characters were very well-developed and the author definitely portrayed small, rural towns accurately. However, the several events that were meant to be exciting were underwhelming and it was obvious to me what the traumatic event Annie kept trying to forget about was. Overall, this was a big letdown. It is an award-winning book though, so obviously others enjoyed it and you might like it even though I didn’t.
A big thanks to Minotaur Books, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
Despite having a college degree, Annie McIntyre finds herself back at home in Garnett, Texas, waiting tables at a local diner. Her family has a private investigation firm and Annie gets the perfect opportunity to intern with her grandfather when a fellow waitress goes missing. Annie works hard to figure out what happened to the missing woman, finding it difficult not to identify with her. The case forces Annie to confront her own demons and try to move on from a traumatic experience that she has buried.
On paper, this sounded like the perfect read for me. I loved “Mare of Easttown” and enjoy small-town mysteries. Unfortunately, this book missed the mark. I found it very slow and difficult to get through. I contemplated not finishing multiple times and wish that I had that reading time back. The missing person mystery took a back seat to Annie’s relationship with herself and her family. The characters were very well-developed and the author definitely portrayed small, rural towns accurately. However, the several events that were meant to be exciting were underwhelming and it was obvious to me what the traumatic event Annie kept trying to forget about was. Overall, this was a big letdown. It is an award-winning book though, so obviously others enjoyed it and you might like it even though I didn’t.
A big thanks to Minotaur Books, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5
bookishciara's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
After graduating college Annie comes back to her hometown. After her friend from work gets murder she helps her grandpa, Leroy, in his private investigation firm track down her killer. This wasn't what she was expecting to do after college, but she feels like it was something she needed to do. Can she help her grandpa find who killed her friend?
I liked Annie and her cousin, Nikki. I also liked Annie's relationship with her grandpa, it made me miss mine. This book was more on the slow burn side, but I feel the author did a great job at wrapping things up nicely. I figured out what happend, so the twist wasn't shocking. For a debut novel the author did a good job. I look forward to seeing what else she comes up with.
Thank you to Netgalley and RB Media for my audio copy, and to Minotaur books for my physical copy in exchange for my review.
rachelibrarian's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.5