Jessup Dolly is AWOL which might not be a problem if it wasn't for the fact that he's due in court and put his house up as bond. At home, sixteen-year-old Ree is raising her little brothers and caring for her mentally ill mother, and when she finds out her father is missing, she sets off to find him, uncovering the small town's seedy underbelly in the process.
I saw the film adaptation of this a couple of years ago and loved it pretty hard, so picking up the novel was a bit of a no brainer. The film does the book justice, but beyond it, the book is a wonderful example of Southern Noir. Gritty and mean, harrowing, but not without it's bright spots, Woodrell does a wonderful job of opening up this small town and spilling it's guts on the page. Ree is a champion of a protagonist too, emphatic and steely and all sorts of wonderful, as is her relationship with her best friend, Gail, a woman of her own strength that shows itself in different ways. It's an awesome book, and one I wish was more popular!
5 out of 5 gutted squirrels.
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