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dr_dick's review against another edition
5.0
this was wonderful. i absolutely loved it. beautiful writing, vivid characters, amazing storytelling. i look forward to visiting with Tom Franklin again and again.
m43m43's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
3.0
It was okay as mystery goes. Didn’t love it. I’m not sure what I was supposed to get out of it.
msjared's review against another edition
3.0
I liked this one. It was kind of sad but interesting and well-paced with well-developed characters that the reader cares about. It had mystery, suspense, compassion, and drama that made for a fully rounded read.
rekadarnb's review against another edition
2.0
One-Sentence Summary: In the racist South, Larry and Silas, one white, one black, had no real chance of being friends, but a tragedy just might them back together again in ways they couldn’t imagine.
Time/Setting: Early 2000s and 1970s flashbacks in Mississippi
Review: This book is pretty much everything I expected from story about a black kid and a white kid trying to be friends in the racist South: a disappointment. I pretty much solved the “mysteries” of this novel right away. That’s a bad thing. I’m a semi-smart individual, but I get really upset if I can figure out who the killer is early and the other elements of story (i.e., characterization, setting, etc.) don’t necessarily captivate me. Larry was too much of a follower, but I got why he was that way. Silas was just a punk. I didn’t appreciate Silas’s mother’s back story, either. Black women are always pawns to men, black, white or other, in these novels and it just pisses me off. I know that was the way of life back then, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. This novel just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Favorite Character: Everybody sucked, but Angie wasn’t so bad.
Least Favorite Character: Silas. He was a punk.
Favorite Quote: This book pretty much sums it up: “Wouldn’t a black woman be happy her son had a white friend? They’d given them coats, a car. He’d a assumed the anger that the black folks felt was a reaction to white people’s attitude toward them. Yall started it.But if somebody white was willing to befriend somebody black, offer them gifts, even a place to live, shouldn’t the blacks be grateful?” (p. 75)
Recommend?: No.
Re-read?: Not even.
Time/Setting: Early 2000s and 1970s flashbacks in Mississippi
Review: This book is pretty much everything I expected from story about a black kid and a white kid trying to be friends in the racist South: a disappointment. I pretty much solved the “mysteries” of this novel right away. That’s a bad thing. I’m a semi-smart individual, but I get really upset if I can figure out who the killer is early and the other elements of story (i.e., characterization, setting, etc.) don’t necessarily captivate me. Larry was too much of a follower, but I got why he was that way. Silas was just a punk. I didn’t appreciate Silas’s mother’s back story, either. Black women are always pawns to men, black, white or other, in these novels and it just pisses me off. I know that was the way of life back then, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. This novel just left a bad taste in my mouth.
Favorite Character: Everybody sucked, but Angie wasn’t so bad.
Least Favorite Character: Silas. He was a punk.
Favorite Quote: This book pretty much sums it up: “Wouldn’t a black woman be happy her son had a white friend? They’d given them coats, a car. He’d a assumed the anger that the black folks felt was a reaction to white people’s attitude toward them. Yall started it.But if somebody white was willing to befriend somebody black, offer them gifts, even a place to live, shouldn’t the blacks be grateful?” (p. 75)
Recommend?: No.
Re-read?: Not even.
klboehm's review against another edition
5.0
Satisfying character development with mysterious disappearances in this well crafted story which revolves around the lifelong friendship of two young boys in the Deep South. A book that has staying power, not easily resolved even after the story has ended. My cousin recommended it to me, and now I've chosen this book for my next book club meeting. Highly recommend!
amanda_sammartino's review against another edition
3.0
An excellent murder-mystery that takes a look at race dynamics in the south....but the white man was accused. An interesting twist without being hypocritical.
lnocita's review against another edition
4.0
Scary Larry has always been a loner and lonely growing up in a small, small southern town in the 70's with a disproving father who was disappointed in his bookish ways. When a local girl disappears after a purported date with Larry, Larry is reviled and ostracized even more than before, the local pariah. 25 years later, another girl is missing and Larry is the prime suspect. Silas, the local constable, feels the tug of a long ago bond and begins to confront the skeletons in his closet. Lyrical and languid like a hot Mississippi summer day, this light mystery is a story about acceptance, friendship, and forgiveness. I don't know what it is about Southern writers, but I sure can fall into the easy cadence, letting the words flow over and around me like butter on a warm biscuit.
cheerbrarian's review against another edition
5.0
This is yet another novel recommendation that I took from my favorite podcast, Literary Disco. They reviewed this one and after listening to the episode I was intrigued. Thankfully they do a wonderful job of curiosity whetting without spoiling, and my aim is to do the same.
Larry Ott is a man of a simple existence. He has lived in the same small town his whole life and spends his adult days reading, feeding his chickens, and waiting for customers at his mechanic repair shop. When a girl goes missing, everything changes. As the present-day investigation is underway, we learn of another missing girl and how her disappearance during Larry's youth changed everything.
Franklin is a masterful storyteller of suspense. The details and character development really drive this narrative forward and as events unfold you wait with baited breath to see where it will all lead. This was a novel I didn't want to put down, and also didn't want to pick back up, in equal parts, as strange as that may sound. The mystery was intriguing but because if his skill at keeping you guessing I was on the edge of my seat and concerned as to where it would all lead. At some points you may see where he is heading, but for Franklin it is the getting there that is really the point.
I always enjoy a good mystery and this is one of the best constructed that I have ever read. As Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors, his recommendation on the book jacket certainly didn't hurt. If you enjoy suspense as much as you like excellently drawn characters, this story is for you.
Larry Ott is a man of a simple existence. He has lived in the same small town his whole life and spends his adult days reading, feeding his chickens, and waiting for customers at his mechanic repair shop. When a girl goes missing, everything changes. As the present-day investigation is underway, we learn of another missing girl and how her disappearance during Larry's youth changed everything.
Franklin is a masterful storyteller of suspense. The details and character development really drive this narrative forward and as events unfold you wait with baited breath to see where it will all lead. This was a novel I didn't want to put down, and also didn't want to pick back up, in equal parts, as strange as that may sound. The mystery was intriguing but because if his skill at keeping you guessing I was on the edge of my seat and concerned as to where it would all lead. At some points you may see where he is heading, but for Franklin it is the getting there that is really the point.
I always enjoy a good mystery and this is one of the best constructed that I have ever read. As Richard Russo is one of my favorite authors, his recommendation on the book jacket certainly didn't hurt. If you enjoy suspense as much as you like excellently drawn characters, this story is for you.