Reviewed by Richard Allen Jeremiah Goodbye steps onto the road, disheveled and confused. He absentmindedly fingers the coin in his right hand. I shouldn’t be alive. Minutes ago, he was strapped to a chair waiting to be electrocuted for a murder spree that he may or may not have committed. His protests of innocence were […]
February Read of the Month: “Waters Run Wild,” by Andrea Fekete
February 6, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Phyllis Wilson Moore Andrea Fekete’s first novel, Waters Run Wild (Guest Room Press, 2018) is a brutal story of the struggle for equity in the West Virginia coal fields in the industry’s early days. Before federal laws and unions intervened, workers were exploited in every imaginable way. Unions were prohibited, wages were low. […]
“Congratulations, Who Are You Again?” by Harrison Scott Key
January 31, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by J.R. Davidson Harrison Scott Key brought down the West Feliciana Parish [court]house with laughter near the end of his tour promoting The World’s Largest Man. I was there by myself, having driven the six hours from Birmingham to St. Francisville, Louisiana, for the 2017 Walker Percy Weekend. I didn’t know anyone going, but […]
“Ashes to Asheville,” by Sarah Dooley
January 24, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Phyllis Wilson Moore Ashes to Asheville (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 2017), Sarah Dooley’s third novel, is a book with appeal for teens as well as adults. In the story two women attempt to create a family unit, each bringing a young daughter into the meld. The family does well together, but the outside world […]
“Unsheltered,” by Barbara Kingsolver
January 22, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Donna Meredith In her latest novel, Unsheltered (Harper Collins, 2018), Barbara Kingsolver pokes a sharp pen deep into the nest of the American dream, stirring up a mound of undelivered promises and discontented characters who scurry about like angry ants. Perhaps, as some critics say, the novel’s characters serve too much as mouthpieces […]
“Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime,” by Cutter Wood
January 17, 2019 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Claire Hamner Matturro Even amid high crime statistics and several infamously grisly Florida murders, the 2008 killing at the center of Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime (Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, 2018) still drew national attention, including a 2016 feature on NBC’s Dateline. But it wasn’t […]