A long hauling, decade spanning story that I could have read another 500 pages of.
1975 is a time of change in America. The Vietnam War is ending. Mohammed Ali is fighting Joe Frazier. And in the small town of Monta Clare, Missouri, girls are disappearing.
When the daughter of a wealthy family is targeted, the most unlikely hero emerges—Patch, a local boy with one eye, who saves the girl, and, in doing so, leaves heartache in his wake.
Patch and those who love him soon discover that the line between triumph and tragedy has never been finer. And that their search for answers will lead them to truths that could mean losing one another.
A missing person mystery, a serial killer thriller, a love story, a unique twist on each, Chris Whitaker has written a novel about what lurks in the shadows of obsession, and the blinding light of hope. (Goodreads Blurb)
Spoiler alert, I really enjoyed this book (Cough, please note the rating, cough cough).
Maybe it was just timing on my part, but I do love to be sucked into literary fiction that spans decades and more or less an entire life of a character. Sometimes you are just in the mood to read a birth to death story. It’s sad only getting a few fictional days or a few fictional months with a character and never reading about them again.
My biggest issues with this book is how it’s presented to readers. I read the synopsis and thought, this is going to be terrible. It’s categorized as a mystery – thriller but you look at the page length and you go, no way! (lol)
This is a huge book. I don’t know why they thought they could advertise it like you are getting a murder and a missing person‘s case. Yes, that’s true, but not how this author writes. Not how this author presents a story.
So if you see my review and you are looking for a gripping thriller. A head scratching mystery. DO NOT PICK UP THIS BOOK.
If you are looking for literary fiction. Short chapters that give the illusion of fast paced storytelling while actually barely inching along, YOU WILL LOVE THIS BOOK.
I personally loved the slow build. The short chapters. Coming in on a scene feeling lost as there was absolutely no background. Keeping all of my characters straight in my head. This book came up on my TBR at the perfect time. So for me, I’d recommend this to all my long hauler, reader friends.
Stats: 595 pages – First published June 25, 2024
cmacs paperbacks 
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