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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
Just a bit dark and a downer for what I’m interested in currently. Amazing writing though. Harding Thornton really sets the scene. I felt like I could feel the heat and tension and dust on my skin.
2.5, straight down the middle. good prose, thin story.
A question I often ask myself before picking up a book is "What is this book about?" It took 100 pages in before landing on the disturbing, utterly thought-provoking theme within. Thought this was going to be in the suspense-thriller genre, and it is indeed dark and gritty, but no, this all about the inherent capability all people have for psychological darkness.
People in urban and suburban locations may not be able to relate as well to the setting, but it is superbly depicted. Nebraska is wide open spaces and then some. Lots of farms; towns are mostly old buildings. Exceptions of course. A small-town cop, Harley, traverses the country roads constantly looking for teens misbehaving to brush fires. Divorced, he is alone and lonely, living with a dark shadow within his own nuclear family. And he is convinced the Reddick son Paul is the cause of just about everything wrong in the area.
Pam and Rick Reddick are young parents, living in a broken down trailer park. Never enough money. Rick works for his controlling father repairing trailers along with Paul who never does his share. Their mentally ill mother is missing. Their brother died at 6 yrs old and the family has never recovered, in part because the kid's body was never recovered. Everybody in town knows everybody's business.
So two tragedies of about 18-20 years previous intermingle with the current stressors building to a very taut crescendo. There is a big conclusion, but no spoilers here.
Final thoughts, as the story suggests for consideration:
-maybe suicide is okay if the person is truly miserable in this world and nothing will make it ok.
-when terrible things happen within families, the children absorb the pain too which can create dysfunction in their own adult lives.
-when awful things happen to adults, they may exhibit some scary, hard to understand behavior.
-Survivors, the ones who forge a decent life, are still damaged.
Well written, great setting, perfect book cover, title is just a touch offputting (who wants to read an atlas?) but it makes sense as the police officer continuously navigates the endless square miles. People will not likely love this book, but certainly should respect it. For fans of Willy Vlautin.
People in urban and suburban locations may not be able to relate as well to the setting, but it is superbly depicted. Nebraska is wide open spaces and then some. Lots of farms; towns are mostly old buildings. Exceptions of course. A small-town cop, Harley, traverses the country roads constantly looking for teens misbehaving to brush fires. Divorced, he is alone and lonely, living with a dark shadow within his own nuclear family. And he is convinced the Reddick son Paul is the cause of just about everything wrong in the area.
Pam and Rick Reddick are young parents, living in a broken down trailer park. Never enough money. Rick works for his controlling father repairing trailers along with Paul who never does his share. Their mentally ill mother is missing. Their brother died at 6 yrs old and the family has never recovered, in part because the kid's body was never recovered. Everybody in town knows everybody's business.
So two tragedies of about 18-20 years previous intermingle with the current stressors building to a very taut crescendo. There is a big conclusion, but no spoilers here.
Final thoughts, as the story suggests for consideration:
-maybe suicide is okay if the person is truly miserable in this world and nothing will make it ok.
-when terrible things happen within families, the children absorb the pain too which can create dysfunction in their own adult lives.
-when awful things happen to adults, they may exhibit some scary, hard to understand behavior.
-Survivors, the ones who forge a decent life, are still damaged.
Well written, great setting, perfect book cover, title is just a touch offputting (who wants to read an atlas?) but it makes sense as the police officer continuously navigates the endless square miles. People will not likely love this book, but certainly should respect it. For fans of Willy Vlautin.
An absolutely brilliant slow burn, this book reads like a melody. Yes, it takes a bit to get going, but like a fine bottle of wine, just enjoy the journey. When everyone is certain they know what's going on around them, they're almost certain to be wrong. The end is as bleak as the world in which these characters exist.
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Pickard County, a rural area of farms and very small towns in Nebraska, is not an easy place to live. Harley Jensen works as a sheriff's deputy, patrolling the lonely rural highways and abandoned farmhouses at night. Pam Reddick, who married and had a child before she was ready, is slowly drowning, isolated in a trailer with a very young child she wishes she wasn't responsible for, as her husband works long hours for far too little money. They're both restless, but what pulls them together is the Reddick family and the tragedy that defines them. When the three Reddick boys were young, the oldest boy disappeared and his body was never found. Harley is haunted by the one case his department never solved and Pam, married to the middle son, lives with the after effects of that event and how it formed her husband.
Set over a few days, this novel explores the tragic roots of old sorrows and how they affect the living. There's a lot of dark roads, messed up families, repressed feelings, drugs and hopelessness in these pages. Everyone knows your family's secrets and are eager to spread word about any bad behavior, distances are measured in how much gas you have left in the tank and a body can lie hidden for decades.
I'm not entirely sure what I think about this one. The imaginary Pickard County is richly imagined, but often described in ways someone without that visual map in their heads had no way of following. The characters were nuanced and vivid and the ending was very well done, but the story was sometimes self-indulgent, like a story turned over a few too many times. Still, I'm always happy to find a new author writing in a noir-like vein and I'll take a look at whatever she writes next.
Set over a few days, this novel explores the tragic roots of old sorrows and how they affect the living. There's a lot of dark roads, messed up families, repressed feelings, drugs and hopelessness in these pages. Everyone knows your family's secrets and are eager to spread word about any bad behavior, distances are measured in how much gas you have left in the tank and a body can lie hidden for decades.
I'm not entirely sure what I think about this one. The imaginary Pickard County is richly imagined, but often described in ways someone without that visual map in their heads had no way of following. The characters were nuanced and vivid and the ending was very well done, but the story was sometimes self-indulgent, like a story turned over a few too many times. Still, I'm always happy to find a new author writing in a noir-like vein and I'll take a look at whatever she writes next.
Sly, gorgeous writing. Really enjoyed this one. It's a slow simmer that makes you want more.