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39th out of 66 books
—
17 voters
Cypress Grove (Turner #1)
by
James Sallis
As he has shown so often in previous novels, James Sallis is one of our great stylists and storytellers, whose deep interest in human nature is expressed in the powerful stories of men too often at odds with themselves as well as the world around them. His new novel, Cypress Grove, continues in that highly praised tradition.
The small town where Turner has moved is one of A...more
The small town where Turner has moved is one of A...more
Paperback, 256 pages
Published
April 1st 2004
by Walker & Company
(first published 2003)
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Jul 03, 2008
Mike
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
fans of old-school noir
Recommended to Mike by:
my dad
I initially notched this up as an atmospheric but convention-bound noir, with enough familiar landmarks and the occasional clunky bit of generic dialogue to make it a pleasurable but unsurprising read. Wrong.
Sure, there's the much-touted allure of Sallis' prose, line by line lovely whether casually noting a thrum of cicadae, pecan shells thick on the ground, or the stunned look of a man who's just had a knife shoved up under to pin his bottom jaw to the top. None of it's gratuitous or showy; th...more
Sure, there's the much-touted allure of Sallis' prose, line by line lovely whether casually noting a thrum of cicadae, pecan shells thick on the ground, or the stunned look of a man who's just had a knife shoved up under to pin his bottom jaw to the top. None of it's gratuitous or showy; th...more
Cypress Grove is oddly captivating. It’s not a page-turner in the sense of a high powered thriller, but rather it hooks the reader in a quiet, understated way. Sallis’ storytelling kind of just drifts along regardless of dramatic moments, sketching out a portrait of an essentially good man whose life has been punctuated by terrible moments: being drafted to Vietnam, killing his partner, killing a prison inmate just prior to being released; all of them somehow beyond his control. Sallis’ is a not...more
Here's how I arrived at this book: I read a very positive review in the last year or so of Sallis's "Salt River"; the review mentioned the book was the third in a series involving the same protagonist. So, I thought I would start with the first book in the series. Bad mistake.
Cypress Grove is a mannered tale of a retired policeman, living in a rural southern environment, who gets dragged into a local murder investigation. It cuts back and forth between the local investigation and the policeman...more
Cypress Grove is a mannered tale of a retired policeman, living in a rural southern environment, who gets dragged into a local murder investigation. It cuts back and forth between the local investigation and the policeman...more
3 likes · like · see review
First in the Turner trilogy.
Turner is an “ex” lot of things: ex-Vietnam soldier, ex-cop, ex-con, ex-therapist. Trying, as he says, to become “exempt” from what he sees as a meaningless life, he chooses to live in a cabin by a lake in a near a small, rural Tennessee town, near Memphis, pretty much like the place where he grew up. But violence has a way of following Turner, and when a bizarre murder occurs in the town, Sheriff Lonnie Bates asks Turner to help.
That’s the matrix for a book that then...more
On the day I knew I would finish this book I spent 45 minutes walking from my offices to the nearest bookstore in the rain so that I could pick up the second and third books in the trilogy which I think says everything I need to about the way this book sucked me in.
The action and the most recent events in the story seem to play second fiddle to a slow meditation on inertia, the weight of memory and the perceived need for motion to define existance that run throughout the novel. The plot exists f...more
The action and the most recent events in the story seem to play second fiddle to a slow meditation on inertia, the weight of memory and the perceived need for motion to define existance that run throughout the novel. The plot exists f...more
There are people who insist crime fiction can have no serious literary merit. These people have obviously never read James Sallis' books.
The Story
In CYPRESS GROVE, John Turner is a man who has fled his old life as a former cop and therapist, who did prison time for a mistake he made while on the force. Turner is quietly living in the woods – as far from other people as he can get. Things take a turn, when the sheriff from a small town near Memphis shows up and asks Turner for his help on a murde...more
The Story
In CYPRESS GROVE, John Turner is a man who has fled his old life as a former cop and therapist, who did prison time for a mistake he made while on the force. Turner is quietly living in the woods – as far from other people as he can get. Things take a turn, when the sheriff from a small town near Memphis shows up and asks Turner for his help on a murde...more
This is the first James Sallis book I've read. I like his style and vocabulary. Only 250 pages, a quick read. After finishing this book I finished another of his the same day. When I find an author I like I tend to order all the others I can find at the library. I have one more of his on hand.
"Chasing endorphins."
"I'm sorry?"
"Supposedly they come to you when you push yourself to the limit. I ran for years, smacked up against my limit more than a few times. But I never so much as caught sight of...more
"Chasing endorphins."
"I'm sorry?"
"Supposedly they come to you when you push yourself to the limit. I ran for years, smacked up against my limit more than a few times. But I never so much as caught sight of...more
I had never read James Sallis before and now I'm glad that I have. I understand that he has a series with a detective (?) named Lew Griffin which I may read now that I've read Cypress Grove. But first I'm going to read the sequel to this one: Cripple Creek.
Sallis came highly recommended but at the beginning of Cypress Grove I wasn't really impressed. That soon changed and I ended up as a huge fan. This novel is written in the first person, which I like in a detective novel (I like to get inside...more
Sallis came highly recommended but at the beginning of Cypress Grove I wasn't really impressed. That soon changed and I ended up as a huge fan. This novel is written in the first person, which I like in a detective novel (I like to get inside...more
Poetic mystery novel set in the Delta, written by a Helena, Arkansas, native. Sallis is attracting some attention now thanks to the success of the film adaptation of his novel, "Drive."
"Cypress Grove" is the first in a series of books revolving around Deputy Sheriff John Turner, a vet, former Memphis Police Detective, ex-con, ex-therapist. He's a guy who seeks quiet in the Delta, but keeps finding bodies and questions. I'm looking forward to the next novel, "Cripple Creek," and on to "Salt River...more
"Cypress Grove" is the first in a series of books revolving around Deputy Sheriff John Turner, a vet, former Memphis Police Detective, ex-con, ex-therapist. He's a guy who seeks quiet in the Delta, but keeps finding bodies and questions. I'm looking forward to the next novel, "Cripple Creek," and on to "Salt River...more
While the back and forth narrative style, showing Turner now and then, was, at times, hard to keep track of, but it's how Sallis wraps everything up that deserves much praise. Also, this is a deceptive book. I came into it expecting a crime/noir story, moody in the way that "Drive" was, but this is a different read. Sallis spends more time with the little details of Turner's world, gets us in there, shows us the inner struggle of the character as opposed to straight up crime and violence. Nicely...more
In this first-of-series, we meet the lone man Turner, newly turned up somewhere near Memphis, with a past as patched as a Mississippi country two-lane road. Ex cop, ex-con, psy therapist, this guy has more lives than Felix. The locals need help breaking a murder case, and the gendarmes turn to (who else), Turner.
I really like the way the author turns (there we go again) a phrase, and the atmospherics are all of a piece. I'm going to be interested to see where our man next turns (!) up,; he is s...more
I really like the way the author turns (there we go again) a phrase, and the atmospherics are all of a piece. I'm going to be interested to see where our man next turns (!) up,; he is s...more
Aug 02, 2011
Bonnie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Who-dun-it fans
Recommended to Bonnie by:
Book Lovers Book-a-day Calendar
Kind of raw work, but good. Stories about murder and prison are always that way, I feel. A page turner for certain. First in a series. I continually say that I don't usually read series, but I hear about one in a series, so find myself having to read the first and sequentials ones just to get to the one that was recommended (so very ocdish of me).
Glad I found this author. Looking forward to his next two. And books from the South always hook me in.
Glad I found this author. Looking forward to his next two. And books from the South always hook me in.
This is a thin slice of vinegar pie. The story and pace is simple and slow, but underneath it all is a depth of character and a real sense of place.
Beautifully written, I get a real sense that Sallis is telling exactly the story he set out to write (that may sound like an obvious thing for a writer, but it's actually rare).
The book is both slow and quick. The even pacing going by quickly. And while I don't think it hits the level of the best of the Lew Griffin books, this is still a very solid r...more
Beautifully written, I get a real sense that Sallis is telling exactly the story he set out to write (that may sound like an obvious thing for a writer, but it's actually rare).
The book is both slow and quick. The even pacing going by quickly. And while I don't think it hits the level of the best of the Lew Griffin books, this is still a very solid r...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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Aug 31, 2009
Patty
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
2009,
audiobook,
crime-fiction,
fiction,
mystery,
relationships,
tennesee,
southern-fiction
This was my first encounter with James Sallis. He is the author of two mystery series - one set in New Orleans and then this one set in Tennessee. Turner, the main character in this series, has lived a varied life. He has been cop, therapist and spent time in jail.
Sallis tells Turner's story in segments, what is happening in his life now and flashbacks through his thoughts to past events. I thought Sallis used this technique well - I had problems because I was listening in short bursts, but that...more
Sallis tells Turner's story in segments, what is happening in his life now and flashbacks through his thoughts to past events. I thought Sallis used this technique well - I had problems because I was listening in short bursts, but that...more
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I liked the main character, someone who has been on both sides ( don’t want to give to many details), still trying to find himself. Came to mind an old jalopy, it has pings, dents, noises ride is not too good, but you love driving it, brings you familiarity and comfort. Hope I made some sense. Looking forward to reading the next 2 Turner books.
Really liked the style of writing here and the way the character's past history was laid out. Very curious to me though as a 'crime novel' as it seemed like it spent all of 20 pages on anything directly involved in the main murder. So as a crime novel its not all that detailed or full of drama but the style of writing, God. Just brilliant.
Boring. Overly pretentious, unrealistic conversations and heavy on the philosophizing. Somewhat interesting current story that takes forever to unfurl. Okay back story, but ruined by an unrealistic climax that explained how he became the man he is.
Better off reading one of the New Orleans noir: moth or the long legged fly.
I was intrigued by Sallis when I found out he had written Drive. I decided to read this one rather than Drive because I had so recently seen the movie. The book is full of pain but very well written. It grabs you and pulls you through Turner's world. Don't read it if you are melancholy.
This was a wonderful book. The author has the elements of the story come together like partners in a tango. Deep emotions held in control as the music of life swirls around and the past and the present are brought together in a satisfying climax. Already the next in the Turner series is in the mail, I look forward to it.
I did not know it but the three books in this series were available in an omnibus, the cost of which is now is not in my range.
I did not know it but the three books in this series were available in an omnibus, the cost of which is now is not in my range.
Turner has retired to a small town near Memphis to live in peace and seclusion. He's an ex-cop, ex-psychotherapist, and ex-con. When the local Sheriff call upon him for help solving the murder of a drifter, Turner is reluctantly drawn out of his isolation.
No cliches, no stilted prose or awkward plot twists, just well-developed characters speaking English like real people, and a story that makes you wish it wouldn't end.
This was my first mystery by James Sallis and I'm sorry to say it'll be my last. He's a great writer, with lush prose and an interesting story to tell. His protagonist, Turner, is a man with many demons and he's come to this quiet place outside Memphis to escape them. Unfortunately, for me, there's too much yammering and not enough action/dialogue. This book was published in 2003 and that surprised me because it feels very noir-ish and while characters talked about cell phones etc., somehow the...more
man moves from Memphis to small town, gets involved in solving murder - story of his life interspersed with main story
Mystery secondary to setting up this series. Loads of background information on the main character which is the main story.
Mar 09, 2008
Mary Helene
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Mary Helene by:
Nick Mele
Shelves:
mysteries
This is the most eloquently written mystery I've read. Here's a quote, from p. 119
"I've been wondering how you were able to go three months without ever noticing no bills had been paid."
"Point taken." We watch a bat flap across moonlit sky. Scooping up gnats, mosquitoes and moths as it went, no doubt. Joyful is a human word, but it was hard to watch the bat's flight without its coming to mind.
Despite its beauty, it is also a dark book. Nick advised against reading his novels back to back, so I w...more
"I've been wondering how you were able to go three months without ever noticing no bills had been paid."
"Point taken." We watch a bat flap across moonlit sky. Scooping up gnats, mosquitoes and moths as it went, no doubt. Joyful is a human word, but it was hard to watch the bat's flight without its coming to mind.
Despite its beauty, it is also a dark book. Nick advised against reading his novels back to back, so I w...more
This was a bit dry, character-wise for me. I much prefer the Craig Johnson Walt Longmire Series. Not bad...but lacked the essential spark Longmire possesses.
I thoroughly enjoy this character. I will continue to look for stories by this author, especially in this series.
I listened to this. Interesting book. Sometimes hard to follow - chapters alternated between present day and flash backs that gradually built the story to explain present day. Some interesting, vivid imagery.
Along with Ken Bruen, the best literary "style" in contemporary noir.
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James Sallis (born 21 December 1944 in Helena, Arkansas) is an American crime writer, poet and musician, best known for his series of novels featuring the character Lew Griffin and set in New Orleans.
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Jul 03, 2008 06:50am