Rating: 3/5
Review:
Disappointing
I’m sorry to say that I didn’t get on well with Long Bright
River. I like Liz Moore’s work and thought that Heft in particular
was excellent. This one didn’t do it for me, I’m afraid.
The story is
narrated by Michaela (“Mickey”) who is a police officer in a
tough, drug-riddled part of Philadelphia. Mickey’s sister Kacey is
a drug addict and is missing, it emerges that there is a killer
preying on such women and we get her search for Kacey intercut with
Mickey’s history, while the police investigation feels rather like
a minor side-issue.
Liz Moore’s books
aim for deep, insightful character studies and this is a study of
Mickey and a picture of the drug culture in some parts of the USA.
It’s pretty good at both, but I didn’t find it all that original
this time and it is extremely slow to the point of turgidity in
places as we also get pictures of lots and lots of other characters
including Mickey’s extended family - which seems to extend forever
at times – while the crime story is a bit thin and unsatisafctory.
I’m afraid I got pretty fed up and began to skim.
I’m genuinely
sorry to be critical of an author whom I like and who is writing
about important matters, but the truth is that I didn’t like this
one much. If you haven’t read Heft I’d strongly recommend it,
but although others have enjoyed it more than me, I can only give
Long Bright River a very qualified recommendation.
(My thanks to
Penguin for an ARC via NetGalley.)
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