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3.82 AVERAGE
3.82 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just slightly above average (3.25?) in my book. Very well written in terms of the prose itself, but talk about a "slow burn". See what I did there? So, all in all it kept me interested and it had a decent resolution at the end but mostly I was just anxious to be done. Not in my Edgar Award Finalists list, which I'll now have to take some time and figure out.
Set in a small town in Nevada, The Distant Dead follows young Sal Prentiss, a boy who reports having found a body up on a hill near his uncles' property one morning on the way to school. The body turns out to be the burned remains of Sal's math teacher, Adam Merkel, one of the only people who had shown the boy kindness at his local school. Merkel's work colleague Nora Wheaton, a social studies teacher resentfully stuck at the school her mother used to teach at so that she can care for her ailing father, tries to unravel the mystery of what happened to the man she tried to befriend. Who would have killed this gentle-seeming man, whose love of mathematics made such an impression on Sal and other students? Against this backdrop of murder, nefarious dealings seem to haunt the Prentiss family, where Sal's uncles, Ezra and Gideon, seem locked in a battle that has them ignoring their dead sister's son. Was the strange young man from Merkel's past the killer? Were the Prentiss men? How did such a gruesome fate befall a man who had just moved to this small community?
With crushing inevitability, Young masterfully guides the reader to the events that led to Merkel's demise. This is a beautifully written novel with characters who will linger in your mind long after you put down the book. Exploring small-town life, substance abuse, and the struggle of loss, The Distant Dead is one of the best novels of suspense that I've read in quite some time.
The audiobook, narrated by Charlie Thurston, Jim Meskimen, Eva Kaminsky & Cassandra Campbell, is terrific.
I received a digital review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
With crushing inevitability, Young masterfully guides the reader to the events that led to Merkel's demise. This is a beautifully written novel with characters who will linger in your mind long after you put down the book. Exploring small-town life, substance abuse, and the struggle of loss, The Distant Dead is one of the best novels of suspense that I've read in quite some time.
The audiobook, narrated by Charlie Thurston, Jim Meskimen, Eva Kaminsky & Cassandra Campbell, is terrific.
I received a digital review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Phew! This is a must read book in my opinion.
What a gorgeous story, it is absolutely stunning the way it unravels. What an epic journey through time & circumstances. The theme of choices and fate were profound and heartfelt. Relatable human emotions and vivid characters.
I listened to the audiobook and was enraptured by how it was performed with different narrators for each pov of the characters. That was an excellent choice that heightened not only the gravity of the story but my enjoyment of it.
What a gorgeous story, it is absolutely stunning the way it unravels. What an epic journey through time & circumstances. The theme of choices and fate were profound and heartfelt. Relatable human emotions and vivid characters.
I listened to the audiobook and was enraptured by how it was performed with different narrators for each pov of the characters. That was an excellent choice that heightened not only the gravity of the story but my enjoyment of it.
Phew! This is a must read book in my opinion.
What a gorgeous story, it is absolutely stunning the way it unravels. What an epic journey through time & circumstances. The theme of choices and fate were profound and heartfelt. Relatable human emotions and vivid characters.
I listened to the audiobook and was enraptured by how it was performed with different narrators for each pov of the characters. That was an excellent choice that heightened not only the gravity of the story but my enjoyment of it.
What a gorgeous story, it is absolutely stunning the way it unravels. What an epic journey through time & circumstances. The theme of choices and fate were profound and heartfelt. Relatable human emotions and vivid characters.
I listened to the audiobook and was enraptured by how it was performed with different narrators for each pov of the characters. That was an excellent choice that heightened not only the gravity of the story but my enjoyment of it.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
3.25 stars. This felt like a bit of a slog, I kept waiting for some action; mostly I think it was sad
challenging
sad
medium-paced
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes