Sunday, September 27, 2020

Book Review: Everyone Dies Famous

I'm in a depressive slump and I feel like I'm dropping the ball all over the place. I was supposed to share this with you on Friday, but here we are. I'm trying to get it together. 

Everyone Dies Famous - Len Joy

As a tornado threatens their town, a stubborn old man who has lost his son teams up with a troubled young soldier to deliver a jukebox to the wealthy developer having an affair with the soldier's wife.

It's July 2003 and the small town of Maple Springs, Missouri is suffering through a month-long drought. Dancer Stonemason, a long-forgotten hometown hero still grieving over the death of his oldest son, is moving into town to live with his more dependable younger son. He hires Wayne Mesirow, an Iraq war veteran, to help him liquidate his late son's business.

The heat wave breaks and the skies darken. Dancer tries to settle an old score while Wayne discovers the true cost of his wife's indifference and turns his thoughts to revenge. When the tornado hits Maple Springs, only one of the men will make it out alive.
Are you a fan of Humans of New York? Currently there is a 32 part story about an elderly woman that had a really tragic, but completely compelling story, and I can't stop checking for updates. 

This book kind of reminded me of that. 

I wasn't really sure what to expect with this, and the cover doesn't necessarily pull me in. The description is accurate but.. it felt lacking something. When I read the book, I could NOT put this down. The story, the narrative never relented, I didn't feel like it slowed down, I really couldn't stop reading this. (That's really saying something too, because in a depressive slump like I'm in now, I have a hard time sticking with things, but I was with this the entire time.) I loved the ending of this, though my heart broke a little because anytime you read a story like this, you just connect with characters. We know from the description only one makes it but STILL. Plus having this entire story happening with the threat of this tornado lurking just adds another layer that makes you want people to get a move on, and each delay or change makes you feel just like the characters do and I appreciated that a lot. Also, if you are a sucker for a story featuring veterans, or even one about redemption, you will like this. 

Overall? I'm giving this one a 4.5 stars, I just wanted.. a little bit more, maybe even just an epilogue would have made this a 5 for me. I really wanted to know where the characters were a year later, or even six months down the road. By the end of this book I felt invested into everyone and all of the stories of each person, so I think you'll get hooked, too. 

A huge thank you to FSB Associates and Len Joy for having me on this tour and providing a copy of the book for review. I don't know this is one I would have picked up at a bookstore, but I'm really glad I read it.
 

1 comment:

Len said...

Hi Sara,

Thanks for your review. I love to hear what readers/reviewers like and don't like about a story. I really appreciate your observations, especially about the desire to know more about what happens after. Again, thanks for reading and reviewing.

Len Joy