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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
I’m surprised that I haven’t heard a lot of buzz about Desperation Road, a beautiful Southern Gothic novel that is gorgeously written from start to finish. Fans of Ron Rash are sure to love this haunting story of redemption and the unlikely companionship that blossoms, particularly when they realize the way that their two lives intertwine.
Maben & her young daughter are trying to escape their life and the mother must use her last dollars to provide shelter for them through the night at a hotel. In order to earn money to get them through the next day, Maben finds herself involved in the murder of a police deputy and they must flee before she is caught.
She pulls over Russell, a man who has just finished his prison term for a crime he committed, by gunpoint. When he picks up Mabel & her daughter he finds that he is now involved in a crime he did not commit.
Michael Farris Smith certainly has a way with words and I was sucked into this book from page one. If you are just in the mood for a good story, this book is beautiful and satisfying!
Reading Challenge Category Completed-Southern Gothic
Maben & her young daughter are trying to escape their life and the mother must use her last dollars to provide shelter for them through the night at a hotel. In order to earn money to get them through the next day, Maben finds herself involved in the murder of a police deputy and they must flee before she is caught.
She pulls over Russell, a man who has just finished his prison term for a crime he committed, by gunpoint. When he picks up Mabel & her daughter he finds that he is now involved in a crime he did not commit.
Michael Farris Smith certainly has a way with words and I was sucked into this book from page one. If you are just in the mood for a good story, this book is beautiful and satisfying!
Reading Challenge Category Completed-
I wanted to like this one. I desperately wanted to. It breaks my heart that I didn't liked it that much and the only reason i'm giving 3star is because 4.21 at the moment seems a tad high. This is more of a 3.5 to me.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
It IS a great novel. It IS beautifuly written. Farris Smith's prose is delicate and powerful and subtle and strong. But it just didn't work for me. I dunno if it was my state of mind in the last ten days or because i just finished The Last Child by John Hart and rarely felt such a strong connection with the characters, but in Desperation Road, I just couldn't get to be one with Russell and Maben.
I also would have liked for the location to be a bigger part in this novel. Southern Grit-lit is all about bringing the location to life and making it one of the main characters to me.
It just wasn't the right time for this novel and me. Doesn't mean it isn't good. Go ahead and give it a try.
I think Michael Farris Smith did an excellent job with certain aspects of this book. The character development is fantastic and I feel like I really got insight into their motivations and personalities. The protagonists are flawed and very real which I found refreshing. The setting of the book is vividly described so I felt like I was getting to know this area of Mississippi as I read. While I enjoyed reading this book, I was not blown away by it. In my opinion, it's a very well written story but nothing so unique that I would rate it higher than 3 stars. However, many reviewers are raving about this book so if it sounds interesting to you, definitely give it a try!
I received an ARC from the writer himself, and I thank him for letting me have an early copy. This was NOT in exchange for a review! (I'm just doing one because the book was so good)
This is a tough story with damaged characters, some simply wanting to get on with their lives, some looking to only make trouble, and some trying to keep people out of that trouble.
It's a complex story, about a young mother (Maben) and her child (Annalee) who have nothing much going for them. They are about as destitute as two people can be, and then the mother, Maben commits a crime when she's put into an unthinkable situation, and as if life wasn't hard enough already, they are now truly on the run.
It's about a man named Russell Gaines who gets out of prison and two other men, brothers, who seemed to have spent the entire time he was there waiting on him to be sprung so they could make his life miserable - and they try really hard to do that. They believe he hasn't paid enough for doing what he did their little brother.
These two characters, Russell and Maben, find themselves strangely connected by way of their actions and circumstances, and it all boils down to - what will they do?
MFS writes with a unique voice. I liked the way he had his characters - particularly Russell - speak and think in a way that tells you all you need to know about them. His writing is effortless and flows along as easy as the country back roads of Mississippi where his characters spend a lot of time. There's a naturalness to it, a down home, back porch feeling as good and comfortable as worn out blue jeans and a soft t-shirt.
I had NO idea how this book was going to end. I was hopeful, but I really didn't know - until I read the last page. The story will have you guessing, right up until the end.
This is a tough story with damaged characters, some simply wanting to get on with their lives, some looking to only make trouble, and some trying to keep people out of that trouble.
It's a complex story, about a young mother (Maben) and her child (Annalee) who have nothing much going for them. They are about as destitute as two people can be, and then the mother, Maben commits a crime when she's put into an unthinkable situation, and as if life wasn't hard enough already, they are now truly on the run.
It's about a man named Russell Gaines who gets out of prison and two other men, brothers, who seemed to have spent the entire time he was there waiting on him to be sprung so they could make his life miserable - and they try really hard to do that. They believe he hasn't paid enough for doing what he did their little brother.
These two characters, Russell and Maben, find themselves strangely connected by way of their actions and circumstances, and it all boils down to - what will they do?
MFS writes with a unique voice. I liked the way he had his characters - particularly Russell - speak and think in a way that tells you all you need to know about them. His writing is effortless and flows along as easy as the country back roads of Mississippi where his characters spend a lot of time. There's a naturalness to it, a down home, back porch feeling as good and comfortable as worn out blue jeans and a soft t-shirt.
I had NO idea how this book was going to end. I was hopeful, but I really didn't know - until I read the last page. The story will have you guessing, right up until the end.
This book does an awful lot right. Grimy imperfect characters, but without being unrelentingly grim. There are moments of peace, happiness, fear, regret, a full spectrum of human emotion, and yet all of it permeated with tension and suspense. There was never a point where it felt safe. There's just enough randomness to make it credible, but not incoherent, and just enough coincidence to make it memorable, but not unbelievable. Fate if you want it; chance if you don't. The writing is simple but stylish, though not the Spartan language of Cormac McCarthy, that goes too far. It's unpretentious and self assured, but still with plenty of panache. The authorial voice is credible, you can almost hear the accent, the cadence, it sounds exactly like the sort of person who would be telling this story.
If I had to level a criticism, I'd say the ending unravelled a little quick for me. I felt it was all going the way of Thelma and Louise or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It still delivers a fair old punch, but it was a little anticlimactic. Still, I enjoyed it throughout and thought the ending worked, and would recommend it to anyone. I know I'm picking up a few more books by the author as a priority.
If I had to level a criticism, I'd say the ending unravelled a little quick for me. I felt it was all going the way of Thelma and Louise or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It still delivers a fair old punch, but it was a little anticlimactic. Still, I enjoyed it throughout and thought the ending worked, and would recommend it to anyone. I know I'm picking up a few more books by the author as a priority.
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It's been a long time since I've been so utterly and totally enthralled by a book within the first few chapters. This story really does get off to a rocketing start. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. By the time I had read the first ten percent of the book it felt like so much had happened. It was totally action packed and I thought I was going to be in for a roller coaster of a ride. Unfortunately the pace does slow down significantly after that.
This book follows the story of Maben and Russell, who don't meet each other until more than halfway through the book. There are lots of other characters as well and I must say, the character development in this book is excellent. I felt that I got to know the characters, that I understood their feelings and their actions. But the book in general seemed to me to be a little slow and after the rollicking start it got off to, I found this a little disappointing. This is definitely a character driven story and although it is very well written, be it a little bit different with its long sentences and infrequent use of commas, I didn't find it exceptional. I kept on waiting for something dramatic to happen but alas, I turned the last page to a fairly sedate ending.
So, does that deserve 3 stars you may ask? Well, the fact of the matter is that this is a haunting and dark novel, it's well written with prose that is powerful and strong, that paints a picture in the readers mind and even though it's slow, I did keep turning the pages. By the end of the read I realised that I did like it but it hadn't blown me away. I had wanted to love this novel and so I waited patiently for the wow moment to hit me over the head, the moment that would have made this a 4 star read. That never materialised and hence my 3 stars.
My rating: * * *
Many thanks to the author Michael Farris Smith, the publishers Oldcastle Books and NetGalley for my copy.
It's been a long time since I've been so utterly and totally enthralled by a book within the first few chapters. This story really does get off to a rocketing start. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. By the time I had read the first ten percent of the book it felt like so much had happened. It was totally action packed and I thought I was going to be in for a roller coaster of a ride. Unfortunately the pace does slow down significantly after that.
This book follows the story of Maben and Russell, who don't meet each other until more than halfway through the book. There are lots of other characters as well and I must say, the character development in this book is excellent. I felt that I got to know the characters, that I understood their feelings and their actions. But the book in general seemed to me to be a little slow and after the rollicking start it got off to, I found this a little disappointing. This is definitely a character driven story and although it is very well written, be it a little bit different with its long sentences and infrequent use of commas, I didn't find it exceptional. I kept on waiting for something dramatic to happen but alas, I turned the last page to a fairly sedate ending.
So, does that deserve 3 stars you may ask? Well, the fact of the matter is that this is a haunting and dark novel, it's well written with prose that is powerful and strong, that paints a picture in the readers mind and even though it's slow, I did keep turning the pages. By the end of the read I realised that I did like it but it hadn't blown me away. I had wanted to love this novel and so I waited patiently for the wow moment to hit me over the head, the moment that would have made this a 4 star read. That never materialised and hence my 3 stars.
My rating: * * *
Many thanks to the author Michael Farris Smith, the publishers Oldcastle Books and NetGalley for my copy.
Desperate no more!
2017 (aka The Year of the Reading Slump) has been wearing me down with lots of mediocre books and very few 5-star standouts. Reading "Desperation Road" back-to-back with S.M. Hulse's [b:Black River|20256635|Black River|S.M. Hulse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389051818s/20256635.jpg|28068623] has put me on a new course!
After serving more than decade in prison, Russell Gaines tries to start his life anew in his small Mississippi town. Unfortunately for him, a few people in town don't think Russell has paid for his crime, and are intent on their own brand of justice. When Russell meets a young woman and her daughter he confronts choices that put him at odds with his own self-interest and he has to decide just who he really is.
Farris Smith's "Desperation Road" is everything one wants in a solid grit-lit novel: mistakes, regrets, flawed characters, ambiguity, redemption, "good guys" who haven't always been on the right side of the law, and awful SOBs who don't deserve mercy.
4.5 stars rounded up
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
2017 (aka The Year of the Reading Slump) has been wearing me down with lots of mediocre books and very few 5-star standouts. Reading "Desperation Road" back-to-back with S.M. Hulse's [b:Black River|20256635|Black River|S.M. Hulse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389051818s/20256635.jpg|28068623] has put me on a new course!
After serving more than decade in prison, Russell Gaines tries to start his life anew in his small Mississippi town. Unfortunately for him, a few people in town don't think Russell has paid for his crime, and are intent on their own brand of justice. When Russell meets a young woman and her daughter he confronts choices that put him at odds with his own self-interest and he has to decide just who he really is.
Farris Smith's "Desperation Road" is everything one wants in a solid grit-lit novel: mistakes, regrets, flawed characters, ambiguity, redemption, "good guys" who haven't always been on the right side of the law, and awful SOBs who don't deserve mercy.
4.5 stars rounded up
Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
There is a reason why this book is not called Redemption Road or Mercy Road or Divine Intervention Road. This book is bleak and raw. There is desperation all over it.
It makes me think how poverty is a never-ending spiral and that makes me so sad. It makes me wonder how all of humanity cannot see that there are two sides to every coin, a front and back to the moon. We can't always see the other side but we have to have faith that it is there and that the someone that sees the other side knows the truth of it just like we know the truth of what we see.
I wonder if this book will make other people think of these things or if it is just a manifestation of where I am at in my life.
This is the first I've read Michael Farris Smith. This dude can write! Through all the bleak and raw, the words, the language is beautiful. Like this:
"Maben then tossed her cigarette and she leaned into the statute. Mary's arms above Maben's head and Maben slowly wrapped her arms around the Virgin's waist and hugged. She closed her eyes and let her weight fall against the statute and in this brilliant and anxious night she halfway expected her own miracle. Halfway expected Mary's arms to return her embrace. And then to hear her voice rise above the sounds of the natural world and sing to her some beautiful lullaby that Maben had never heard before. A melodic, spiritual song that would seep int her soul and tenderly set it free."
and contrasted with this:
"He poured the coffee down the drain and stood there watching the boy in the sprinkler and he knew that rough lives got rougher and he hated it for the girl and hated it for Maben. And he hated that there wasn't going to be a happy ending and then he wondered how much longer he was going to have to keep that shotgun loaded."
*Please just be reminded this book is gritty and may not be a good read for the sensitive soul.
It makes me think how poverty is a never-ending spiral and that makes me so sad. It makes me wonder how all of humanity cannot see that there are two sides to every coin, a front and back to the moon. We can't always see the other side but we have to have faith that it is there and that the someone that sees the other side knows the truth of it just like we know the truth of what we see.
I wonder if this book will make other people think of these things or if it is just a manifestation of where I am at in my life.
This is the first I've read Michael Farris Smith. This dude can write! Through all the bleak and raw, the words, the language is beautiful. Like this:
"Maben then tossed her cigarette and she leaned into the statute. Mary's arms above Maben's head and Maben slowly wrapped her arms around the Virgin's waist and hugged. She closed her eyes and let her weight fall against the statute and in this brilliant and anxious night she halfway expected her own miracle. Halfway expected Mary's arms to return her embrace. And then to hear her voice rise above the sounds of the natural world and sing to her some beautiful lullaby that Maben had never heard before. A melodic, spiritual song that would seep int her soul and tenderly set it free."
and contrasted with this:
"He poured the coffee down the drain and stood there watching the boy in the sprinkler and he knew that rough lives got rougher and he hated it for the girl and hated it for Maben. And he hated that there wasn't going to be a happy ending and then he wondered how much longer he was going to have to keep that shotgun loaded."
*Please just be reminded this book is gritty and may not be a good read for the sensitive soul.
Southern noir and fast paced grit-lit, Desperation Road is compelling and enduring dark fiction.
Russell returns to a small Mississippi town, fresh off the bus from 11 years in the penitentiary, only to be jumped by the family of the man who put him there. Maben, running from a drug habit and the darker sides of herself, has a bad run in with a local cop. Russell and Maben, two flawed, but decent people. They are at the center of this tight tale of revenge and repentance.
It was difficult to put this book down, so I read it in big hunks, growling at anyone that came near. The characters were sharply drawn, and I count the countryside of Mississippi as one of them. It was easy to see the lakes and ponds of the area, easy to feel the heat and the bite of the mosquitoes. It was also easy to see how the need for revenge could be nurtured in this hot and humid environment.
For 300 pages, this book was an incredibly fast read with characters that had depth to them and a realistic feel. I highly recommend this tense, quick trip to Mississippi. It's so beautifully written, you'll feel as if you were there right now, without the cost of air fare and the ugly realities of this world. There's an ugly reality there too, but at least there I felt as if there was also hope for the future.
Once again, highly recommended! (I think fans of Donald Ray Pollock would especially appreciate this dark tale.)
Desperation Road is available on February 7th, here: Desperation Road
*Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
Russell returns to a small Mississippi town, fresh off the bus from 11 years in the penitentiary, only to be jumped by the family of the man who put him there. Maben, running from a drug habit and the darker sides of herself, has a bad run in with a local cop. Russell and Maben, two flawed, but decent people. They are at the center of this tight tale of revenge and repentance.
It was difficult to put this book down, so I read it in big hunks, growling at anyone that came near. The characters were sharply drawn, and I count the countryside of Mississippi as one of them. It was easy to see the lakes and ponds of the area, easy to feel the heat and the bite of the mosquitoes. It was also easy to see how the need for revenge could be nurtured in this hot and humid environment.
For 300 pages, this book was an incredibly fast read with characters that had depth to them and a realistic feel. I highly recommend this tense, quick trip to Mississippi. It's so beautifully written, you'll feel as if you were there right now, without the cost of air fare and the ugly realities of this world. There's an ugly reality there too, but at least there I felt as if there was also hope for the future.
Once again, highly recommended! (I think fans of Donald Ray Pollock would especially appreciate this dark tale.)
Desperation Road is available on February 7th, here: Desperation Road
*Thanks to NetGalley and Hachette Book Group for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*