James Wade (1)

The novel stretches my grasp from the standard detective novels and westerns I enjoy. I have taken writers’ league classes from the author, who presents as an excellent teacher and conscientious writer. He originally hails from my part of the world, so I want to see him progress to literary giant status.
The reviews intrigued me. Hall Ways described the novel as an immersive experience, an apt assessment. I would add in my non-learned, non-MFA degree holder opinion, a concept I call a show more heavy-handed narrator. The combination initially turned me off, however I later felt compelled by such devices and the prose to continue as opposed to returning to my usual whodunnits and thrillers where plot developments keep me turning the pages.
The story’s tone hints that any moment the author will reveal some great insight into the human condition, ultimately, I failed to see it. Permit me a further caveat to my recommendation. Thirty years in the legal profession, much of it in prosecution, have taught me human beings are capable of unspeakable evil. Fair warning, the novel peels back the veneer with which humanity tries to see itself, namely, all people are essentially good. Scoundrels and the parties to their crimes using religion to justify wickedness serves as the next logical step.
I concede my bias of a Christian worldview because I find faith and grace the only redemption capable of defeating evil. However, I’m willing to evaluate, question, ponder, and consider some grand comment on the human condition. Despite such, the novel presents a grand effort beautifully written. show less

Gritty, genuine, historical crime fiction set in Depression-Era East Texas.

Hollow Out the Dark by James Wade is a complex and compelling crime fiction novel set during the Depression, near the end of Prohibition, in sparsely populated deep East Texas. With its genuine characters, desperate storylines, and atmospheric setting, readers will feel transported almost 100 years into the past.

I was immediately absorbed by this story and one of the first aspects that made this happen for me was that show more every character read like they were a real person, many of whom felt familiar and personally known. Their words, the cadence of the language, the small bits of humor, and the fears all combined to create a feeling that these were genuine people. For the most part these are sturdy people, toughened by life and circumstance. The men are hard, products of short childhoods and early responsibility. You had to be tough to last into adulthood and tougher still to stick around long enough to get old. Or someone really had to be looking out for you.

The author gives us some truly evil characters, and the good guys are forced to choose between compromising their integrity and ideals or risking everything or everyone they love: impossible situations with impossible choices. But how far will good men go to protect those they love or do what needs doing? And at what cost?

The action takes place in an atmospheric rural setting and small town in East Texas, small because most of the population is spread out over the surrounding farmed as well as unfarmable land. While everyone knows everyone else and their business, neighbors aren’t right next door, making it the perfect location for bootlegging and other activities that don’t suffer an audience well. The Depression comes alive in this story and just when you think the hard times can’t get any harder, they do. The plot twists were sudden and often shocking.

I recommend HOLLOW OUT THE DARK for readers of historical crime fiction, especially those who would enjoy an East Texas or Depression Era setting.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advanced Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Book Blog Tours. show less

An historical fiction novel with a desperate quest, loyal companions, and coming-of-age.

Narrow the Road by Texas author James Wade is a wonderful work of historical fiction, and with its engaging main characters and gripping plot, it reminded me of a true-to-life, epic fantasy quest set in 1930s Depression-besieged East Texas. The storytelling is mesmerizing, the language immersive, and the atmospheric setting had me glued to the tale from start to finish.

With the bank on the brink of show more foreclosing on their farm, his cotton crop doomed and rotting in the fields, and his mother slowly dying in her bed as she refuses to travel to Houston for treatment, fifteen-year-old only child William Carter sets out on a journey through East Texas, a last-ditch effort to find his absentee father. Thomas Carter had joined hundreds of fellow WWI veterans to march on Washington, D.C., and appeal to lawmakers to provide benefits to those who’d fought and were left hanging when they returned home. While their protests were disregarded, Thomas had failed to return home to his wife and son; his last communication to them was a cryptic letter sent from another East Texas town, some distance from their farm outside Manning. With his mother on her deathbed, refusing to budge until her husband returns home, William sets out for his father’s last known location, accompanied by his best friend, Ollie Leek.

William is a young man with much too much on his shoulders and long out of options. During their journey, he and Ollie, and later Lena, meet an abundance of characters, both good and bad, including men who had served with or met Thomas Carter. Through the men’s commentary and diary entries, William discovers another side to the man he knows as his father. Ollie is William’s boon companion, and a truer “ride or die” friend would be hard to find. While William is the serious, goal-focused, straight man, Ollie is the much-needed comic relief, the wild hair, the accidental genius, and steadfast, loyal friend who knows William like a brother.

Early on, the action tends to pause at times as the author sidesteps to fortify the overall historical foundation of the story or expand the main characters’ exposure to life at that particular time, resulting in a more immersive experience for the reader. This development proves timely as the action really ramps up later in the story.

The East Texas setting provides a diverse terrain for the main character's quest, with farmland long overdue for rain, deep, dark forests, swampland, and small, barely there towns. Wherever the location, though, the author delivers vivid word pictures that place the reader in the moment alongside his characters. While this is not the first novel of this author that I’ve read, it is my favorite.

I recommend NARROW THE ROAD to readers of historical fiction, especially those who enjoy coming-of-age stories, Depression era, or East Texas settings.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from the author through Lone Star Literary Life Book Campaigns. show less

This is the second book by author James Wade that I’ve had the pleasure of reading. Set in rural East Texas during the Great Depression, I knew on page one that this book was gonna break my heart, and I wasn’t wrong.
Sixteen-year-old William lives on a farm with his sick mother. His father, Thomas Carter, is away, as he always seems to be, trying to help WWI veterans get money owed to them. When the local doctor says there’s no hope for his mom, except to get her to a hospital in show more Houston, William goes in search of his father. What he finds instead is something entirely different.
A bit like the Odyssey, reminiscent of Huckleberry Finn and more recently This Tender Land by William Kent Krueger, the tale of William, his loyal friend Ollie, and girl on the run, Lena, will leave a mark on you, long after the last page is turned.
The writing is evocative. You can see the cotton, feel the heat and humidity of a scorching East Texas day. The description of the Big Thicket and its backward inhabitants pull you in so deep, you feel you’re walking along the railroad track with William.
Along the way, the trio meet and interact with a wide cast of characters — a few kind souls, most not, and some downright evil people. I especially appreciated the ‘witch in the woods.’ A diminutive, shotgun-toting healer with the ‘sight’. It is the witch who finally opens William’s eyes about his father and his demons, his own personal struggle, and sets him on the path home.
I highly recommend this book to lovers of Texas history, coming of age stories, and just a darn good read. show less