DOWN RIVER by John Hart
Are you familiar with the name John Hart? Well if not now you soon will be. John Hart is the author of THE KING OF LIES, a fairly successful novel that was published last year. This year he has a new book titled DOWN RIVER and it is going to make a splash and a half in the world of literature.
This book is a totally absorbing look at life and love in the South. Hart is a son of the South and as such he is one person who could write such a story and have it ring true. From his North Carolina roots he has pulled up an amazing perception of people and places in North Carolina and spread it all out - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then he has wrapped this story in words as poetic and lyrical as any you have ever read.
The lead character is Adam Chase, a young man who was driven away from his North Carolina home by circumstances and misunderstanding. He had been accused of murder but acquitted. Still his father chose to stand by his stepmother, the woman who had been the primary witness against him. Angry and hurt he had fled to the North, leaving behind the woman he loved and all of his heritage.
Now he is back and the hostilities that he faced before are still evident in the faces of the people he meets. But he has come back because a friend asked him for help, and Adam is a man who knows the price of loyalty.
Before the pages of this book have ended Adam will have been involved with murders, assaults and deceptions. This time however he has his eyes open and is alert to the evil that is loose in the world. He will fight to protect those he loves and to keep his name free from any more besmirchment.
DOWN RIVER is so deep into the "southerness" of things that it is Faulkner-esque. You can feel the heat of the sun and the warmth of the dirt. Passions are high and tempers are too. There are risky affairs and unrequited loves that lead to plots and deadly actions. Secrets are exposed and skeletons tumble out of closets at breakneck speeds. It is all fascinating and it is all compelling reading.
John Hart writes with his heart and his head as he tells this story of a turbulent family and how it might be healed. It is fiction at its best and storytelling elevated to an art form. In the years to come it appears that John Hart is going to be a prestigious writer of southern stories with a talent worthy of comparison to Faulkner, Conroy and Kay.
Grab this book as quickly as possible and head down south for a wild adventure into the hearts of men and women who live, fight and die for noble causes or ignoble passions.
DOWN RIVER is published by Thomas Dunne Books. It contains 325 pages and sells for $24.95.