Desperation Road

I hear words singing in DESPERATION ROAD, the way John Hart makes them sing. Mr. Smith uses a sentence fragment like a spear or a scalpel, depending upon his intent. Like Hart, he makes me know the South as people, not places, as spirit, not cliche. It does not matter that I know, more or less, where the story will go, where the people I learn to root for will wind up. I hope they will, anyway, and intuiting where they may wind up keeps me reading, keeps me hoping they are able to fix it, to win. That is the key to a good read for me, to hope for the characters, to believe in them because I have erred like them, I have not overcome as I hope they will, and be inspired by them.

A great introduction to this author for me!

Two damaged and desperate people are heading to McComb Mississippi on the same night. Russell Gaines is heading home after spending eleven years in prison for a drunk driving accident that left a man dead. He is met at the bus stop by the brothers of the dead man who are intent on revenge. Maben Jones, homeless and a recovering addict, is also headed home with her young daughter. An encounter with a corrupt deputy will result in his death and force Maben to go on the run. Inevitably, the pair will cross paths but the outcome of their meeting is not simple - it could easily lead to either their salvation or destruction.

Desperation Road by author Michael Farris Smith takes us on many deserted backroads and winding highways. It is a dark show more and gritty examination of the human capacity for hate, cruelty and just plain stupidity as well as hope, the possibility of change, and, in the end, redemption. Smith is a true craftsman making the reader feel like they know this place, these people – despite the fact that both Russell and Maben are, in many ways, responsible for their circumstances, it is not as simple as personal failure - there is a sense of ‘there but for the grace of God’ to their stories making it impossible not to empathize with them. This is one beautifully written and plotted tale full of complex characters and wonderfully descriptive prose and it throws one heck of an emotional punch. It is the kind of read that demands your full attention, that keeps you up at night and still thinking about it long after you have finished reading. This is what literary crime fiction can and should look like and I recommend it highly.

Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown & Company for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review show less

When I read [b:Rivers|16130400|Rivers|Michael Farris Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1374595954s/16130400.jpg|21955410], [a:Michael Farris Smith|4309584|Michael Farris Smith|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1494000801p2/4309584.jpg]’s debut novel, I knew he was going to be an author I could count on. Got to say, he didn’t let me down. This is another gut-wrenching read, in which you hope things will turn out better for the characters than you expect them to. After all, life isn’t handing out any bouquets in these hard lives.

Russell Gaines is a very realistically drawn ex-con, who has seen the tough side of justice and lived to tell; Meban and Annalee, her daughter, are just two beaten souls who cannot catch a break. show more Fate seems to have determined that these two individuals must collide into one another, and the reader cannot help feeling the tension and danger in the situation for all involved.

I held my breath, and held onto my hope, right through to the last sentence. In the end, Smith has painted a true picture of the virtues and flaws of a small southern town, in which everyone knows you and the rules are bent for or against you with the luck of the draw. He has forced you to root for the underdog, while showing you time and again that the chances are slim that your team can win. He has put on paper a portrait of life at its best and worst, how thin the line between can be, and how arbitrary even survival is from day to day.

Can’t say anything more than highly recommended. Read it. show less

After spending eleven years at Parchman in payment for a liquor-fueled accident that killed a young man, Russell Gaines returns home. He’s served his sentence for that long-ago tragedy, he’s paid his debt to society. But as Russell steps off the bus, his welcome-home greeting is a beating, courtesy of two brothers of the young man who lost his life all those years ago. Clearly, the past is still demanding revenge.

On that same day, Maben and Annalee are trudging along the side of the road, all of their possessions shoved into the garbage bag that Maben carries. The mother and young daughter are trudging toward home, many miles and countless steps away. However, series of seemingly-innocuous events lead to tragedy, leaving a deputy show more sheriff dead and the panicked woman on the run.

With Russell and Maben on a collision course, events play out in the small town, setting troubled spirits, violence, retribution, regret, and years of secrets on a collision course. Can Maben find refuge for herself and her young daughter? Can Russell escape the heartbreak of his past? Must payment for the mistakes of the past linger into eternity? Can the truth set them free?

McComb, Mississippi, the setting for the telling of the tale, is so well depicted it comes to life in this emotionally-charged narrative of desperation. The beautifully-drawn characters, broken yet imbued with dignity, will resonate with readers as their compelling stories unfold, spinning out hope in the face of despair. Sparse dialogue, heartbreakingly-realistic characterizations and a compelling story combine to create a book readers will find impossible to set aside.

Highly recommended.

I received a free copy of this book through the Goodreads First Reads program show less

Desperate no more!

2017 (aka The Year of the Reading Slump) has been wearing me down with lots of mediocre books and very few 5-star standouts. Reading "Desperation Road" back-to-back with S.M. Hulse's [b:Black River|20256635|Black River|S.M. Hulse|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1389051818s/20256635.jpg|28068623] has put me on a new course!

After serving more than decade in prison, Russell Gaines tries to start his life anew in his small Mississippi town. Unfortunately for him, a few people in town don't think Russell has paid for his crime, and are intent on their own brand of justice. When Russell meets a young woman and her daughter he confronts choices that put him at odds with his own self-interest and he has to decide just who show more he really is.

Farris Smith's "Desperation Road" is everything one wants in a solid grit-lit novel: mistakes, regrets, flawed characters, ambiguity, redemption, "good guys" who haven't always been on the right side of the law, and awful SOBs who don't deserve mercy.

4.5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown and Company for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. show less

Russell Gaines has just been released from serving eleven years in prison for killing a man when he was driving whilst drunk. Although he does still feels some guilt and remorse, he believes that he has now paid his debt to society and is just very relieved to have been released from the brutalities of prison life. However, when he returns to his home town of McComb, Mississippi he discovers that the brothers of the dead young man have never forgiven him and are intent making his life difficult, and on exacting revenge. On the same day a young woman called Maben and her small daughter, Annalee are walking alongside the highway in the hot summer sun. She is trying to escape a violent past and is making her way to a women’s refuge, show more where she hopes to be able to find a way to turn her life around. However, she and her daughter are exhausted and can walk no further so she decides to spend some of her last dollars on a motel-room for the night. Little does she know that this decision will result in the death of a deputy and that she and her daughter will soon be on the run from the local police force. Before long the paths of Russell, Maben and Annalee cross and Russell is faced with a decision about how involved he is prepared to become in their fate – will he be prepared to take action to protect their interests at the cost of his own? What neither Russell nor Maben realises is that their paths have crossed in the past, with life-changing consequences for each of them.
This wonderful novel drew me in from its very first sentence and kept me in its grip throughout. Through the voices of each of its well-drawn characters it is full of reflections on revenge, forgiveness, redemption, good and evil, the nature of God, religion and faith, and the desperation of poverty. Above all it reflects the need for a belief that good will prevail over evil, and that justice will eventually be done. A thread which runs through the story is that the characters are dealing with the harsh truth that actions carry consequences, some predictable and others unexpected. Throughout the story it is clear that for none of the characters has life ever been fair and that it is unrealistic to believe that it will be. However, along with the recognition that there are no easy answers, there is an ever-present hope that maybe life will become better in the future.
I have never been to Mississippi but the power of the author’s writing is such that I now feel as though I have. He brought McComb, in the southern area, to life in such a way that I could almost smell the food, the countryside and could feel the poverty and desperation many of his characters were experiencing. Through their strong, compelling voices, he made each of them, even the most minor ones, come alive in an entirely credible way. Most of this was due to the fact that the story was told from the perspective of each character, lending powerful insights into their individual conflicts and dilemmas. I felt almost as though I was walking in their footsteps, being subjected to the pressures they faced and seeing their lives through their eyes. By the end of the book I felt as though I knew each and every one of them inside out. Even the most violent behaviour of one of the characters, whilst unacceptable, became understandable once I got to know his history and I found myself having some sympathy with what had led him to behave as he did, and wishing that life could have turned out differently for him. I know that all of these characters, many of them flawed and damaged, are going to live with me for a long, long time.
Michael Farris Smith’s compelling, evocative prose is a joy to read; it is lyrical and unhurried and his “show, don’t tell” style allows the reader to put flesh on the bones of the characters. He conjures up “warts and all” images in a profoundly humane way, enabling the reader to see beauty as well as ugliness in situations. It is not often, even in books I have enjoyed, that I have retained such vivid images of minor characters who appear only very briefly in the narrative. As I read this story I found myself torn between wanting to know how it developed and wanting to slow down time, to linger and savour the wonderful prose. This ranks as one of the most memorable novels I have ever read and I will definitely be seeking out more of this author’s work, in the hope that he has yet more treats in store for me!
I notice that this novel has been submitted for major literary awards – in my opinion it deserves to win all of them!

Many thanks to Real Readers for allowing me the privilege of reading this book in return for an honest review. show less

Story of two people returning home, separately, to their small town in Mississippi after much hardship: one from eleven years in prison and the other from a nomadic self-destructive life. Both are haunted by past mistakes. Both want to get their lives together. Russell is trying to figure out how to come to terms with a significant error in judgment that changed the lives of many people. Maben is trying to get her life together to provide for her young daughter. Filled with bad decisions, revenge, misfortune, and redemption.

The author has a knack for character development. The story is compelling. The prose is straight-forward and suited to the content. The setting is vividly pictured and plays a large role in the narrative. While one show more could question the plausibility of a few of the plot points, I was able to overlook them in the vein of “yet another poor decision” by one of the protagonists. The story contains emotional depth. Some deep questions run under the surface of this novel. What is the role of fate in life? How does a person cope with mistakes that have momentous irreversible consequences? Is there a force of good operating behind the scenes, counteracting a force of evil? How can lives be changed by helping others?

Content includes profanity, drinking while driving, drugs, sex, rape, and graphic violence. Recommended to readers that enjoy thought-provoking dark novels or struggles to overcome adversity and self-destructive tendencies. show less