Gone South

“It was hell's season, and the air smelled of burning children”

Returning Vietnam Vets had it rough, as Dan Lambert is apt to tell you. They weren’t always welcomed home with open arms or steady employment. The flashbacks that destroyed fleeting families didn’t help. After Dan loses his cool and temporarily “goes south” at the bank, he’s now on the run with no end (at first) in sight. Dodging two unique bounty hunters and meeting up with a young woman aiming to change the face of her future, the story keeps running all four of these main characters into more quirky, minor ones.

McCammon wrote on his website in an Introductory Letter that this book is the story of a journey of several main characters, so even though we start show more in Dan’s head, the book doesn’t reside there alone. The premise is that four characters start out in dark paths and continue on treacherous roads until they possibly find a light. The author did clever things with this, not only telling a tale but sharing a journey. Spirituality and God are frequent, especially once Arden is met and the Bright Girl legend unfolds. The ending is one of peace and redemption of sorts, which helps soothe the reader’s soul after experiencing a decent percentage of grimness and tragedy.

The author doesn’t keep it all dark and unfair, though - we get ample humor through interactions of Flint (and Clint) with Pelvis. The two were funny as soon as they walked on the page, and the funniest scenes were mainly through these two trying to get along and find their bounty. While Dan was the more traditional Vietnam Vet with a conscience, Flint and Pelvis were two outcasts of a completely different mold.

I always dug stories told with “freaks” - I hesitate to use the word - but Flint (with Clint) is the epitome of the term and he even describes himself thus throughout the book. He was more frustrating than anything at first but I slowly warmed up to him as he started relaxing and opening his mind. It’s debatable who had the rougher deal when it comes to him and Arden. With the young woman, her face is revealed for all to see and judge, but Flint can at least pretend unless someone gets too close or his shirt is removed.

Pelvis was, in a way, the happiest acting while being a sad case. Him and Mama had a long journey of their own and I can’t even accurately describe the sheer joy of this character on the page through this review alone. It’s really something you have to read for yourself.

One could think he threw in such unusual characters for humor effect - and that’s true - but also I think it was a nod to the times with the obsession of Elvis and having to move on since the singer was dead, as Dan had to move on from something he couldn’t (the memories of the war). Flint had to move on from his memories of being a carnie and find himself peacefully. Their quirkiness came in handy for saving their hides more than once, especially the shock of Pelvis walking in and looking like Elvis. Flint’s life was saved more than once due to this, but Flint repays the favor along with Clint at the end.

It’s a strange book, and it’s awesome. You can’t get more serious and tragic than war and the affects of Agent Orange and broken families, nor as bizarre of some of the situations surrounding Flint, but you get charm with Pelvis and hope with Arden to balance it all out.

The villains are horrors during the climb and climax - one sad scene we could have done without - but they sum up the demented South Bayou feel the author was trying to put to. While Down South may mean going insane in Vietnam, it means going dead in the deep, southern U.S.

It’s not an intense book in terms of any creepiness or much suspense, but it’s emotionally wrenching while being charming, dark while being hopeful, and a great delight overall to read. McCammon’s beautiful writing style enhances. show less

Although I seem to recall enjoying a previous novel by this author, long before joining Goodreads, I'm afraid that wasn't the case with this book. The beginning was very promising: the Vietnam veteran who has fallen on hard times (the story is set in 1991) and is reduced to waiting around in punishing heat in a remote area outside town in the hope that someone will offer him work. But when he gets home from another day without an offer, a letter awaits from the bank threatening to impound his car and without that he can't reach any jobs he is offered. So he goes to the bank to beg for more time to make a payment but the man who used to cut him some slack has been 'let go' himself and a ruthless replacement installed. Things play out show more badly and the next thing he knows, he is on the run with a fifteen thousand dollar reward on his head.

So far so good, but then it all 'went south' from there with the introduction of a couple of peculiar bounty hunters one with an embedded twin in his chest and a not very good Elvis impersonator with a lapdog. The story became increasingly unconvincing and roped in just about every cliche of American Gothic. The final action shoot-em-up, reminiscient of a low budget movie was quite well written, but I found most of the characters one dimensional and the whole thing very predictable apart from the slightly odd ending. So I can only rate this as a 2-star OK read. show less

Gone South is my first (not-Corbett) McCammon Novel and based on the strength of it I am planning on taking a deep dive into his catalogue. Gone South is a love letter to my home state of Louisiana…so obviously I am going to have a soft spot for it. There are some silly stereotypes amongst the swampy pages. Coming from a Heavy Cajun background I could find issue with it….but I decided to overlook that. With that being said in regards to plot there are some chinks in the armor and at times it got a little wishy washy. McCammon is often compared to many writers of the time and so far I find him slightly more able than some. The plot: A man suffering not only financially but physically and mentally from the dregs of post traumatic show more stress from Vietnam kills a man and runs. He finds himself hunted by bounty hunters and is accompanied by a young girl searching for a mythical faith healer deep in the swamps. The bounty hunters were the weakest part of the book. They were both just laughable. Clint was genuinely creepy. These guys don’t seem like they could have caught a Teletubby. They were so inept. No physical presence, not very smart and very Abbott and Costello. I think this is the way the author wanted it…but it weakened the story. I will say that the mention of my hometown brought tears to my eyes. Being from a part of the state which most people are unaware it even exist, it made me happy to see it mentioned. Thank you Mr. McCammon. show less

It's gotta be me.I see this book getting constant rave reviews. I remember expressing concern to a friend when it first came out. "It'll never measure up to Boy's Life," I said. I was told that it not only held up, but was better.

So I read it back then. I was disappointed.

Almost twenty-five years later, I gave it a second go.

What you have to understand is, there are very few novels like Boy's Life. The story, the characters, the setting, the time, the dialogue, the narrative, the word choice...all of it was absolutely magical. It was so many miles above the other novels that McCammon had released to that point that I'd almost swear it was a different author.

For me, reading Gone South reinforces the belief that McCammon didn't write show more that previous novel. Because, for me, this one just dropped right back down to his regular output.

For me, Gone South simply doesn't go anywhere. It's another road novel, much like Mine, though that one, to my mind, was better. It's got very damaged characters, much like Swan Song though again, that book did them better. I didn't even mind that the promise of the ending wasn't held up. I can take that.

What I couldn't take was Flint and Clint, and Pelvis. I'm sorry, I couldn't get past the stupidity of these two characters. Hell, I could even muster up a modicum of sympathy for Pelvis, but Flint and Clint simply didn't need to be the way they were. It didn't serve the story.

And the story itself, though present as Dan's, really ended up more Arden's.

Bottom line, McCammon is a good enough author to make this book work at a basic level, but there was, at least for me, no wonder and no magic.

Again, maybe it's just me. show less

"Gone South" starts on familiar enough ground: a Vietnam veteran with a terminal disease, trapped by poverty and divorce, lashes out and kills someone, then goes on the run.

It is the places he runs to, and the people who pursue him, that take this tale out of the dreariness of ordinary life into a modern quest.

Although the story rocks along at a good pace, the characters we meet on the ride are sketched with depth and sympathy. And the ending deftly avoids the twin traps of anticlimax and disbelief.

Gone South is a bit of a departure from Robert McCammon’s usual horror fare. The story is part adventure, part fantasy (at least hinted at), and strongly character centric. Dan Lambert is a Vietnam vet slowly dying of Agent Orange. After his wife leaves him, and the bank is going to repossess his truck, his sole source of income, he freaks out and kills the bank loan officer. He then goes on the run, and is being tracked by a pair of strange bounty hunters – one who has the unformed arm and head of his unseparated twin and the other an Elvis Presley impersonator. On the way, Lambert links up Arden, a pretty girl with a disfiguring birth mark. They go deep into the swamplands of Florida searching for a legendary faith healer. In the show more process they are chased by drug dealers.

McCammon did a nice job with the characters in this novel. Despite the horrible act committed by Lambert, he’s a very sympathetic figure. Even though you know he should pay for his crime, he comes off as honorable and kind. He selflessly tries to help Arden. The bounty hunters are also likeable characters. What this novel mostly suffers from is a lack of believability. Some of the action is a bit hard to swallow. The writing is strong, which is what I would expect from McCammon. Although not up to par with his other work, I would recommend Gone South.

Carl Alves – author of Blood Street show less

McCammon is a sentimental writer. I enjoy his books immensely, especially the ones that don't employ supernatural elements. This is one of those. It's so easy to picture the characters in your mind. The settings are clear. The story moves along at a brisk pace.

It's pretty much everything you need in a good book.