by David Joy

Blurb

THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE DEVIL’S PEAK—starring Billy Bob Thornton, Robin Wright, Hopper Penn, and Jackie Earle Haley!

In the country-noir tradition of Winter’s Bone meets Breaking Bad, a savage and beautiful story of a young man seeking redemption—a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.

The area surrounding Cashiers, North Carolina, is home to people of all kinds, but the world that Jacob McNeely lives in is crueler than most. His father runs a methodically organized meth ring, with local authorities on the dime to turn a blind eye to his dealings. Having dropped out of high school and cut himself off from his peers, Jacob has been working for this father for years, all on the promise that his payday will come eventually.  The only joy he finds comes from reuniting with Maggie, his first love, and a girl clearly bound for bigger and better things than their hardscrabble town.

Jacob has always been resigned to play the cards that were dealt him, but when a fatal mistake changes everything, he’s faced with a choice: stay and appease his father, or leave the mountains with the girl he loves. In a place where blood is thicker than water and hope takes a back seat to fate, Jacob wonders if he can muster the strength to rise above the only life he’s ever known.


“Remarkable…This isn’t your ordinary coming-of-age novel, but with his bone-cutting insights into these men and the region that bred them, Joy makes it an extraordinarily intimate experience.”—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review

“Lyrical, propulsive, dark and compelling. Joy knows well the grit and gravel of his world, the soul and blemishes of the place.”—Daniel Woodrell

Review

I’ve been heavy on the Appalachian noir lately, adding Where All Light Tends To Go to a recently read list that includes Jesus’ Son, Train Dreams and Gods of Howl Mountain. David Joy’s All Light is right there with the best of them. The blurb enough mentioned Winter’s Bone, and I would say if you enjoyed that one or something like The Devil All The Time, you will enjoy this one. This is technically a coming-of-age story, but only in the central character’s actual age. Jacob McNeeley is 18 going on 55 thanks to the world he has grown up in.

McNeeley lives a life I probably have in an alternate universe with a few different life breaks. And the book ultimately lands on life generally just being one kick in the dick after another when one lets itself muster some hope up. Sorry Jacob, thems the breaks.