River, Sing Out
A Novel
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Attempting to escape his abusive father and generations of cyclical poverty, young Jonah Hargrove joins the mysterious River—a teenage girl carrying thousands of dollars in stolen meth—and embarks on a southern gothic odyssey through the East Texas river bottoms.
They are pursued by local drug kingpin John Curtis and his murderous enforcer, Dakota Cade, with whom River was romantically involved. But Cade and Curtis have their own enemies, as their relationship with the cartel controlling their meth supply begins to sour.
Keeping tabs on everyone is the Thin Man, a silent assassin who values consequence over mercy.
Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in savage fashion as their final paths collide and all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.
With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into a sinister and sanguinary world, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Musings on the existence of God and free will suffuse this elegiac tale of East Texas meth dealers, their clients, and their suppliers, from Wade (All Things Left Wild). John Curtis has carved out his niche as local meth boss through raw psychopathic ruthlessness. During one of Curtis's prolonged absences, a strung-out teenage girl who goes by River arrives by chance at the door of the filthy trailer he shares with his 12-year-old son, Jonah, bringing with her a backpack filled with meth, which she stole from Curtis. Jonah invites her in and cares for her during her difficult withdrawal from the drugs. Once clean, she realizes where she is, and both Jonah and River recognize that their only hope of survival is to get as far away from Curtis as possible. They decide to flee, sell the drugs to another dealer, and start over. As River says, "This is our last chance at a different life. At any life." Thus begins their dangerous odyssey toward an inevitably violent conclusion. Any momentum is slowed or blocked by the author's persistent need to preach in the form of unlikely utterances coming from the mouths of his characters. Those seeking a poignant allegory on despair may be satisfied, but thriller fans need not apply.
