Redemption Road

Many of you who have been following me for awhile know that mysteries and thrillers aren't really my thing. But I've learned a few things by reading "The Sign of the Crime" novels authored by my friend, Ronnie Allen. I've learned that I don't have to be able to follow all the subplots early on. I have to patient and let things evolve.

That was definitely the case with John Hart's latest, Redemption Road. To say I was in a state of perpetual confusion for the first 1/3 of the novel is an understatement. But I was patient, knowing that eventually the subplots would come together - and differentiate themselves - and things would become much clearer. I'd know what I was dealing with.

Redemption Road is about murder, rape, parent/child relationships, loyalty, infidelity, police violence. I'm sure there's more that I just haven't pegged yet. It takes place in a small town in North Carolina. I'd read somewhere that the location of the setting was important to the plot. I didn't find that at all. This story could have taken place almost anywhere.

I'm afraid that I'll inadvertently give something away if I begin to explain any of the subplots. Which is why I'm not giving you any personalized sort of summary of the book. Instead, I'll just give you what I read on goodreads.

Imagine:
A boy with a gun waits for the man who killed his mother.
A troubled detective confronts her past in the aftermath of a brutal shooting.
After thirteen years in prison, a good cop walks free as deep in the forest, on the altar of an abandoned church, a body cools in pale linen…
This is a town on the brink.
This is Redemption Road.
Brimming with tension, secrets, and betrayal, Redemption Road proves again that John Hart is a master of the literary thriller.

 If you want to know more, you're going to really have to read this book.

About two thirds of the way thru the book, I started having my own thoughts on how things were going to pan out. And in nearly all cases, I was correct. I'm pretty sure that will be something many of my book club members will comment on as well.

I'm really curious, though, if tomorrow's book club meeting will be more about the specifics of the story or more about the writing style of John Hart. Either focus should lead to a good book club discussion.

I gave it 4 stars on goodreads. Mostly because I enjoyed John Hart's use of language. And because this was a book that put me out of my reading comfort zone that I didn't mind reading.