Keller's West Virginia is a very grim place. Poverty and degradation are ubiquitous. People trying to stop the state from disintegrating under a mountain of pain-killers seem to be fighting a loosing battle. One of the combatants is prosecutor Belfa Elkins, mother of the miserable, rebellious Carla. The other is her oldest friend, Sheriff Nick Fogelsong. As Belfa and Nick try to find the killer of three old men, who were shot over their morning coffee, the killer himself spirals further and further out of control. Lots of tragic lives, lots of big and little villains.
I did like this. Keller was spot on in her description of what it felt like to be a teen, with all those conflicting emotions and mixed signals. My husband grew up in a mid-sized town in Maine (population about 15,000 then) and from what he's told me about his childhood, her description of what it's like to live in a non-prosperous place where everyone knows everyone else's history is, unfortunately, accurate. I'll be watching out for more books by Keller.
ReplyDeleteCathy