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Wiley Cash

Author of A Land More Kind than Home

6 Works 2,610 Members 248 Reviews 6 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: photo by Tiffany B. Davis

Works by Wiley Cash

A Land More Kind than Home (2012) 1,295 copies
This Dark Road to Mercy (2014) 565 copies
The Last Ballad (2017) 496 copies
When Ghosts Come Home (2021) 251 copies

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Common Knowledge

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Reviews

Serviceable but undercooked suspense/thriller about a Southern town, a bag full of money stolen from a crime boss, kidnapped sisters, a psychopathic killer hunting them and their father down, and a tragic ex-cop looking for redemption. It's set in the South and is by a Southern writer, but it didn't feel particularly Southern. It's a thriller, but it wasn't particularly thrilling. It could have definitely been noir, but shied away, as if its editor thought it would be a more lucrative idea to aim this at the Oprah crowd, so let's not make this too hard and violent, mkay?

I love the idea of the confrontation building to a climax at Busch Stadium in St. Louis as McGwire and Sosa battle for the home run record as the season winds down, but the execution was disappointing. The protagonists are hardly settled into their seats before they get shown on the jumbotron, and before you know it psychopathic killer has stupidly attacked his target in the men's room and been apprehended and all danger is over. Seriously, he hunts him halfway across the country only to attack him in a jam packed baseball stadium as soon as he sees him? No stalking? No chase? No suspense! That could have been such a better scene; instead it felt nearly wasted.

He wasn't ever going to recover any stolen hillbilly mafia money that way. It is suggested that psychopathic killer had personal reasons at play, stemming from a minor league beaning incident that may have ended his playing career, but that angle needed considerably more exploration than it received.
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lelandleslie | 63 other reviews | Feb 24, 2024 |
Small southern town. Snake handling preacher. Dead child.

The book tells the story from the POV of the town sheriff, the little brother of the dead boy, and an elderly woman who is part of the preacher's congregation. Dark, sad, compelling.
 
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hmonkeyreads | 111 other reviews | Jan 25, 2024 |
I enjoyed this engaging semi-thriller. The author drew me into the story by introducing characters, throwing them into the action while making the reader gradually pick up each character’s full backstory and motivations through hints, interactions, and character reflection as events unfold. I was relieved to find it avoids the tiresome folksiness of many contemporary novels set in the American South. Although final events wrapped up a little too cleanly and with disappointing clarity of good guys vs. bad guys, it was still a fun ride.

Audiobook, borrowed from my public library. The multiple readers were all quite good, but Jenny Lamia is a standout as always. The sound editing is very poor for one of the male readers as we hear every breath and swallow in between sentences.
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Doodlebug34 | 63 other reviews | Jan 1, 2024 |
A small southern town, an evangelical nutjob of a preacher with control issues, a marriage on the decline, an aging midwife and a sheriff who see that trouble may be coming, and two young boys who get caught up in the impending tragedy.

A little darker than my usual fare, but I loved this novel for its excellent writing and its commentary on the abuses of fanatical religion. Great character studies, too. If I come across more of Cash’s stuff, I’ll very likely pick it up.
½
 
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electrascaife | 111 other reviews | Nov 16, 2023 |

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Karen White Narrator

Statistics

Works
6
Members
2,610
Popularity
#9,844
Rating
3.8
Reviews
248
ISBNs
91
Languages
3
Favorited
6

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