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Loading... Long Bright River: A Novel (edition 2020)by Liz Moore (Author)
Work InformationLong Bright River by Liz Moore
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. This was a beautifully crafted, poignant page turner. I LOVED how Liz Moore surprised me over and over with progressive revelations, and kept me engaged in each of the characters' stories. I found myself taking an extra 5 min here, skipping lunch there, staying up way too late the last 2 nights to read as far as I could. It's my first time reading Moore's work, and I'll make sure to read more from her. I am not sure what in the description of this book that led me to choose it as my Book of the Month selection several months ago. I have seen it called a crime thriller or a police procedural, but I don’t think those terms are accurate, or at least they are only partly correct, because it is much more complex and layered. This book packs in a lot. Dysfunctional working class family. Gritty urban landscape — in this case, the Kensington area of Philadelphia. Addiction and prostitution. Corrupt, criminal cops. People who abuse trust, predators on the most vulnerable people. Social commentary on poverty, addiction, gentrification. And a tale of two sisters who take very different paths away from their chaotic childhood. The narrator, Michaela “Mickey” Fitzpatrick, is a single-mom Philadelphia cop. Her younger sister, Kasey, descended into the underbelly of the city. Liz Moore grabbed my attention from the first page and propelled me on her flowing prose to the end. A nice surprise.
Long Bright River is being marketed as a thriller, but, as with the best crime novels, its scope defies the constraints of genre; it is family drama, history and social commentary wrapped up in the compelling format of a police procedural.... At the heart of the novel are questions about moral responsibility, and what it means to be honourable. It’s also an exploration of the vulnerability and strength of women. Moore – who volunteers with women’s groups in the area – has created a memorable portrait of the devastation created by poverty and addiction, and the compassion and courage that can rise to meet it. "This is police procedural and a thriller par excellence, one in which the city of Philadelphia itself is a character (think Boston and Mystic River). But it’s also a literary tale narrated by a strong woman with a richly drawn personal life – powerful and genre-defying.” "[Moore’s] careful balance of the hard-bitten with the heartfelt is what elevates Long Bright River from entertaining page-turner to a book that makes you want to call someone you love.” AwardsDistinctionsNotable Lists
"A suspense novel that also looks at the anatomy of a Philadelphia family rocked by the opioid crisis and the relationship between two sisters--one, suffering from addiction, who has suddenly gone missing amid a series of mysterious murders; the other a police officer who patrols the neighborhood from which she disappeared: a story about the formidable ties between place, family, and fate" -- No library descriptions found.
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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My only complaint about the writing is the awkward writing of the dialogue: "I said..." "...she said" over and over again. I'm not sure if the author was doing that to demonstrate Micki's awkward way of speaking or if it's a limitation of the author. ( )