Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

As I read this book’s description and first chapter, I asked, “Would the whole novel be this good? Will it be character-driven, written with flavor and simplicity in the style of great southern American novelists such as William Faulkner? CHARACTERS: We have Henry, a bootlegger in the backwoods of East Texas. We have his stepfather Livingston, a hellfire-spitting preacher who sees wickedness in people who don't fit his mold. We have Henry’s mother, a gentle and caring woman. We have broken people like Girl, later called Eve---abused most of her life, fending for herself in the woods, with a self-protective drive like a feral cat—yet deeply needing a family. There's Death, a personification that the author handles with finesse. Jonah, Henry’s young brain-damaged friend. And behind the scenes, there are “the wicked ones” who continue to kidnap or buy young girls for "the market." It’s a tangle of characters that leads to many intertwined sub-plots and builds up to a breathless ending. SETTING AND MOOD: Swampland and backwoods of East Texas, a shack on rotting piers, stately pines with Spanish moss, creaking porch steps. Deeply mood-setting with a strong hint of danger, perhaps horror. STYLE: At first the focus is only on a few characters. But gradually the many POVs demand paying more careful attention. There’s the author’s omnipresent POV, interjecting her style and literary flourishes, some out of sync with her characters. That weakness doesn’t take much away from the almost-perfect overall tone and language of the novel. . DIALOGUE: Mostly it’s authentic Texan and backwoods, flows smoothly and hardly a problem knowing who is speaking. Overall, the dialogue develops characters well and keeps the story flowing. And no crude language or “f” words. I appreciate that. MY PERSONAL TAKE: One problem with the characters. It takes a while to realize how old they are. “The Girl”? Six or 16 or 26? No real clues until well into the story—that bothered me. Also, when did this story take place? At first it seemed to me to be in the 1930s or 40s, before so many of Texas’ safeguards for children were developed. But then late in the novel Henry pulls a cell phone out of his pocket. That’s a shock; a writer has to plant such things early in the novel, not later when needed for the plot. My initial hopes for this novel? Close to fulfilled. I’m glad I read it through, even though I did some wading in the middle. It was worth it--the last 12 chapters illustrate through action and conflict some deep issues, such as guilt and hope, and that “sometimes broken things can’t be fixed.” Some memorable lines and actions to remember for our own lives. The demented preacher was all there was as far as the Christian faith is concerned. But still, the personal issues of dealing with gnawing guilt and stumbling faith are about real life. Out of those come deep moral resolutions which can deepen our understanding of our personal faith. Those we can keep with us long after we finish this novel.