5 stars for The Life We Bury (Max Rupert and Joe Talbert book 1) by Allen Eskens.
I did not expect this book to make it to my list of 2021 books read when I first start out on the story. One, this is not a festive year end book. Two, this is a mystery novel. Three, all of the aforementioned. You get my drift.. Actually, I have no expectation at all when I decide to read this book. Perhaps because of that, everything in the story comes as a surprise and keeps me rooted. In the end, not only did I manage to finish reading the book, but also with two days spare to pen my thoughts.
The Life We Bury is a mystery story through and through. The writing is good and the story flows smoothly from scene to scene in first person narrative. It is filled with action, danger, and excitement with a good measure of twists and turns thrown in. There is this intriguing air of mystery that pulls me in right from the start as the lead character looks back to the past with a feeling of premonition.
The protagonist is a 20-year old student named Joe Talbert. His assignment for English class is the reason the story comes into being. Joe is to interview an old person and write a biography that tells about the struggles and forks in the road that make the person who he/she is.
What I like about the story is that there are three fronts to it: an old man who is left with less than 3 months' time to tell his story, the protagonist's own family story that revolves around a problematic mother and a autistic brother, and a girl called L. Nash who plays a big role in the protagonist's train of thought and actions. These three fronts by themselves make great standalone stories and when combined, it makes for an excellent mystery novel. Perhaps what I like most has nothing to do with the story but everything to do with reading. It helps that the book is organized into small manageable chapters making it easy for me to pick up where I leave off each time. And easy reading makes for a happy reader.
I believe there is this streak of righteousness in all of us. It is this that drives me to read on, to uncover the truth, to find out whether a man has been convicted of a crime he did not commit and pay for it thirty years with his freedom.
The Life We Bury is a book worth reading and a journey worth travelling. It is a book I highly recommend.
Publisher: Seventh Street Books; First Paperback Edition
Publication date: 14 Oct 2014
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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?
*Blurb from Goodreads*
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