Tucker was the same generation as Mick’s grandfather with all the complicated contradictions of the old culture deep in the hills. Forthright but not forthcoming. Honest but reticent. Watchful but friendly.
A fine literary author’s first foray into a series crime/action
character. Offutt gives us Mick Hardin, an AWOL Army investigator who returns
to his Kentucky back hills home to aid his sister-sheriff in a murder
investigation.
If that description sounds a bit close to parody of
many a current formulaic “action” character, well…
Offutt is clearly a talented writer, but it seems this
“entertainment” vehicle he has chosen is so familiar that, for this reader at least,
it rings hollow and too on-the-nose.
Rather than the first novel in a series, it feels as
if we have joined a long-running series already in progress at the stage where
a bit of steam has left the engine due to the repetitive tracks that must be
followed.
I admired Offutt’s dollops of authentic scout craft
but there are better back hills crime novels to be had.
Again, it is wise to assume my opinion is egregious as
Offutt has chops and I failed as an intelligent reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.