The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Mystery
2015 Tantor Audio
Read by Zach Villa
Finished on July 26, 2016
Rating: 4/5 (Very Good)
Publisher's Blurb:
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same.
Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.
As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.
Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?
The Life We Bury is a well-written mystery that held my interest and kept me guessing. It’s been a long time since I’ve read such an intelligent and compelling mystery and this particular book reminded me a little bit of William Kent Krueger's stand-alone, Ordinary Grace, which I loved. Zach Villa is a new reader for me and I was very impressed with his performance. All in all, a great listening experience. I'm anxious to try more by Eskens and I'm pleased to see he has two more for me to read. Kind of nice to discover a writer before he's written two or three dozen books!
I still have a copy of this one on my shelf that I think I won from Diane a while back. I need to read it. I'll put it where I can see it all the time. LOL
ReplyDeleteKay, you're in for a treat! I'm almost certain you'll enjoy it as much as I did.
DeleteThis on my list, but I should really read Ordinary Grace first!
ReplyDeleteJoAnn, two winners in my book!!
DeleteI liked this book a lot too and would like to read more about Joe and Lila.
ReplyDeleteKathy, I think it would make a good movie, too, don't you?
DeleteI like all 3 books by this author. Life We Bury was his first. Hope your weekend was a good one.
ReplyDeleteDiane, glad to hear that you enjoyed all three!
DeleteThe weekend was fair. Still under the weather so I stayed home the entire time.
Good catch - yes, this book was a bit reminiscent of William Kent Kruger's writing. I did enjoy this one and we read this book with my mystery book group last year and I think most of the group enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteIliana, I'll bet it was a good book to discuss with your group!
DeleteHope you have a good week. I need to pop over and catch up on your blog. I've been busy writing reviews, but not visiting as many friends as I'd like!