A review by steve_sanders
Ohio by Stephen Markley
4.0
I’m torn. I was ready to give this one five stars. The writing is first rate with fluid movement between past and present that never becomes confusing and prose that effortlessly intertwines landscape, detail, and character.
But the epilogue left a really bad taste and not just because of the incredibly depressing revelation about the fate of Lisa, the book’s most endearing character. It felt like an inorganic attempt to graft a murder mystery plot onto a story that fundamentally didn’t need it. I might change my mind on a second read. And I do want to read it again because what does work here works so very well.
But the epilogue left a really bad taste and not just because of the incredibly depressing revelation about the fate of Lisa, the book’s most endearing character. It felt like an inorganic attempt to graft a murder mystery plot onto a story that fundamentally didn’t need it. I might change my mind on a second read. And I do want to read it again because what does work here works so very well.