The Life We Bury

Solid debut novel for Mr. Eskens. The mystery was not completely unfathomable (you figure out where he's going with it pretty quick if you're familiar with the mystery genre in the least), but the characters are likable, the action is swift, and you root for the protagonist because he's trying to rise above the station he was born into. I liked it.

Read this in basically one sitting and couldn't put it down. Some brutal topics and imagery, but beautiful writing as well. Loved it.

This book was well paced and I liked the plot a lot. There were a couple things that bugged me (main character stumbling into danger willfully and repeatedly, the one section written as his school project, dealing with things with violence and it being portrayed as positive) but besides that this was a GREAT read and I found myself unable to put it down.

3.5 rounded up because I ❤️ THE ABI won't lie. I primarily got this because I enjoy a good audio and this one done by [a:Zach Villa 7463493 Zach Villa https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] was pretty excellent. He kept my ears happy. The story itself? It's fine.Joe Talbert has been unlucky in the family department: a nightmare mother, a father he never knew, and the loss, at an early age of his grandfather, his only safety net in a chaotic world. His only bright spot is his autistic younger brother Jeremy. Through din't of hard work Joe has escaped to college, dreaming of a better, bigger life. An assignment in one of his classes is interviewing an older person and write their biography which leads him to a nursing home and Carl Iverson a convicted murderer whose been paroled to a sort of hospice care as he's dying of cancer. If you read, watch or listen to any kind of True Crime or Murder/Mystery/Suspense you know the drill. Carl claims innocence, Joe is scrappy and along with his neighbor (intended paramour) Lila digs up new evidence while dealing with family crisis. I'm not damning this with faint praise. It's good. I does it's job. The thing is that I don't think I'm the intended audience. This is decidedly more of an NA and thus (rightly so) many things that are old hat to me are “explained”. I wasn't annoyed but I could've done without it. Aside from a great audio my lure for reading this was Max Rupert, who I'm curious about, and is first introduced here. I'm sure you can go on to his books without reading this but why miss out on an excellent audio. Yes, I loved the audio. My other favorite thing? Jeremy. I think the author did a very good job of depicting someone on the spectrum without making him a savant or an object of pity.

Much better than I expected. Smart. Fun. Engaging.

At times a little slow and the other characters had interesting pasts that were just sketched. The mystery was good and compelling.

I really enjoyed this book. The story was fast-paced and interesting. The characters were well drawn and fleshed out. I'm looking forward to the next one in the series. Highly Recommend!

This story really grew on me as it developed. Other than ONE scene between the protagonist and his neighbour-turned-girlfriend that read, to me, like something ONLY a clueless bro could write, I was happily pulled along by the twists and turns in the tale. The audio book narrator, however, engaged in a BIT too much upspeak for my tastes (ending statements on an uplift, as if they were questions) and I don't think this verbal tic represented the protagonist particularly well.

Eskens is a great storywriter - I definitely felt the need to go on to the next chapter immediately after finishing one, which is ultimately what you want in a suspense novel such as The Life We Bury. This is not my favorite genre, but my book club will be able to meet the author this month, which is really awesome! I'm very much looking forward to meeting Eskens. Despite the need to keep turning the pages, I gave the book 3 stars because I felt that some of the details were just a little to easy and too predictable. The premise of the book is basically an investigation into a 30-year-old murder case, taken on by a college student. Without giving too much away, I felt like some of the clues he came upon were just a bit too convenient. All-in-all, though, I'd call this one a page-turner.

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Really enjoyable first novel. Descriptive, well-paced, good character development.