Reviews

Gone South by Robert R. McCammon

jacob_elliott_books's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

becstawas's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

mnyberg's review against another edition

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4.0

Not a typical horror genre theme book from McCammon but a drama set in the south. But that's not why the book has this title. The story's central theme is destiny and coming to terms with yourself. I enjoyed it.

dantastic's review

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4.0

When Vietnam vet Dan Lambert gets a notice in the mail that his truck is being repossessed, he heads down to the bank. The bank manager is an arrogant asshole and before Dan knows it, things have gone south in a big way. Where will Dan run when the police are after him and the bank president puts a $15,000 bounty on his head?

After reading [b:Boy's Life|11553|Boy's Life|Robert McCammon|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1314302694s/11553.jpg|16685995], I kept my eye out for more McCammon on the cheap. Gone South, Bookgorilla email, yadda, yadda, yadda.

For some reason, this book languished on my kindle until someone let me know there were both an Elvis impersonator and a parasitic twin in this book. After that, I had only to fit it into my schedule.

Dan Lambert is a semi-employed carpenter at the beginning of the book, a divorced Vietnam vet with Leukemia that never left the war behind. When he loses his truck, he unwittingly unleashes a shitstorm and soon finds himself on the run. On his trail are Flint Murtaugh, gambler/bounty hunter, and Pelvis Eisley, a would-be bounty hunter he's saddled with. Flint has a conjoined twin he calls Clint and Pevlis is an Elvis impersonator if that wasn't clear by his name.

Gone South is more of a straight up crime book than anything else. There are no supernatural elements. There's a little more gore than most crime books, though. It's more in the Elmore Leonard/Joe Lansdale vein of crime books than anything McCammon had done prior. Also like Elmore Leonard, you wind up liking the bad guys quite a bit. The dialogue is great and sometimes hilarious. McCammon also shows off his writing chops quite a bit. I highlighted quite a few memorable lines while reading.

In the introduction, which I'm glad I read after the fact, McCammon describes Gone South as a journey from hell back to the garden of Eden, which I can see now that I've finished. Dan, Arden, Murtaugh, and Eisely are all pretty directionless at the beginning. They all grow as characters through the story, going through the meatgrinder, and coming out changed on the other side. It doesn't hurt that there are much badder bad guys than Murtaugh along the way.

What else can I say? Gone South is a really gripping, entertaining read. I don't have anything bad to say about it. While I've read and enjoyed four or five Robert McCammon books before this, part of me always thought of him as a Stephen King ripoff and I didn't understand why some people held him in such high regard. I get it now. Four out of five stars.

jared_the_jerry's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

barbtrek's review against another edition

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5.0

This was really good. Another McCammon book that I just couldn't put down.

pickwickthedodo's review

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2.0

There isn't much to say about this book. If I had to give it a colour, it would be beige. If it were food, boiled rice. The introductory conflict is interesting and sets up for what I'd hoped was going to be dynamic storytelling. From there nothing really happens, and nothing keeps happening until finally the thing ends in an anticlimactic void of nothingness.

hatseflats's review against another edition

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4.0

Some very memorable characters and some very horrific scenes involving walking through an alligator and snake infested swamp at night in the dark! The tension in Gone South begins nearly on page one and continuously grows with each passing chapter. I honestly felt exhausted by the end.

wandering_zero's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional inspiring sad tense fast-paced

5.0

majban's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0