Reviews

Joe Wilkins is a skilled poet, and it shows in his debut novel, Fall Back Down When I Die. Set in eastern Montana's Bull Mountains, his writing captures the essence of the setting and the importance of land, loyalty, and revenge. Fall Back Down When I Die is the simple story of Wendell Newman, a 24-year-old ranch hand who is trying to do the best that he can after the suicide of his mother and becoming the caretaker of his cousin's son, Rowdy. Chapters from other characters like Wendell's father Verl, vice principal Gillian Houlton, and her daughter Maddy give the reader a fuller picture of why trying to do the best you can may still not be enough.

Was she saying he’d already somehow let Rowdy down? That no matter what he did it wouldn’t be enough? That people like him — his mother, his father, Lacy, him — simply didn’t have it in them? He felt his jaw tighten. He tried to let it go, but the world burned now at the limits of his vision. That same old shame, that fear and rage at being examined, judged, found wanting.

This is a sad and tragic story, but one so beautifully written that it is well worth reading.

charmeezy's review

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adventurous emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

chrislatray's review

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5.0

There isn't a wrong note in Wilkins's new novel. He manages to pull off the development of characters simultaneous with a growing sense of unease, that something really bad is going to happen. We just don't know what, or to whom. Wilkins handles the landscapes and the clash of cultures around who that land and everything on it really belongs to, pitting neighbor against neighbor, outsider against local. It feels like everything I've loved about Wilkins's work -- poetry, essays, short fiction -- all came together in service to this brilliant piece of writing.