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Bent Road

by Lori Roy (Goodreads Author)

3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 · rating details · 1,626 ratings · 392 reviews

For twenty years, Celia Scott has watched her husband, Arthur, hide from the secrets surrounding his sister Eve's death. As a young man, Arthur fled his small Kansas hometown, moved to Detroit, married Celia, and never looked back. But when the 1967 riots frighten him even more than his past, he convinces Celia to pack up their family and return to the road he grew up on,...more

Hardcover, 368 pages

Published March 31st 2011 by Dutton Adult (first published December 15th 2010)

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Apr 09, 2011 Janet rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club-pick, debut-novels, 2011, 2011-libfavs

The story begins with Celia Scott driving through darkness searching for the tail lights of her husband's truck. They are moving back to his rural childhood home on Bent Road, Kansas and he's sped ahead, leaving her without a guide. It's a road that's tricky to navigate even in the day, much less in the dark of night. And this darkness is full of moving, unidentifiable shapes and shadows.

This brooding atmosphere underpins the entire novel. Celia's husband, Arthur, left home over twenty years ag...more

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Aug 02, 2011 Trish rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

In the last month I have picked up 3 books by first time authors, and this is by far the best of the three (I couldn’t even finish The Borrower by Rebecca Makki.). Lori Roy does an outstanding job of bringing American Gothic to life in this novel of secrets, lies and despair in the Heartland of America. Roy does a wonderful job of creating tension and dread throughout the novel. The landscape is desolate with tumbleweeds blowing up against fences making them look like monsters; the characters wa...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Wendy Sumner-Winter rated it 2 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this. I really did. I seem to always be that person in book club who finds fault with the book. And, this book, as a friend said, did have potential. Some of the writing was good, the story was, eh, kind of interesting.

Others have noticed/noted the abysmal editing job, so I'll just say, um, when your editor may in fact be your mom, you probably need another reader.

The thing that bugged me most about this book (written by a WOMAN) is the lack of agency that any female ch...more

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Apr 15, 2011 Jonathan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I won this via a Goodreads giveaway. (Thanks Goodreads and Dutton!) In Bent Road Ms. Roy has written a compelling novel with fully drawn characters. The story is part family saga, part (dual) murder mystery. Despite the mystery, which made me want to read right through to the conclusion, I was equally happy to spend time with the characters, even those were quite unlikable! My major complaint with the novel was that it was very choppy. Some scenes were only a few paragraphs long, and at times th...more

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Apr 16, 2011 Aaron (Typographical Era) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, nook

Author Lori Roy’s debut novel follows Arthur Scott and his family as they pack up their city life in Detroit, Michigan and move to a small town in Kansas. The book’s description is a bit misleading as it states:

“But when the 1967 riots frighten him even more than the past…”

What actually frightens Arthur, and it’s stated multiple times throughout the novel, is that black men begin calling after his oldest daughter Elaine. Right or wrong, this fact is ultimately what prompts him to uproot his fam...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Brittany Burke rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was made to show how difficult life can be when one holds secrets in too long. It also shows that other people can get hurt or blamed because a certain someone didn’t tell the truth. Bent Road, by Lori Roy, is about a little girl that almost shadows her dead aunt that she’s never met. In this small town, her Uncle Ray was accused of murdering two innocent girls, and beating his own wife. Was Ray the one that killed Aunt Eve? Did he also kill the little girl, Julianne? Read and find out...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Michelle rated it 3 of 5 stars

From the description that I read of this book, I imagined it to be
a variant of Truman Capute's "In Cold Blood". It is similiar to
that work in that it very well depicts the bleakness and desolation
of life on the Kansas prairie.
The story is told mostly in the voices of the young children, Daniel and Evie, whose parents Celia and Arthur Scott decide to relocate the family from Detroit to Arthur's childhood home on a Kansas farm when the race riots begin in the mid 1960's.
The father and eldest d...more

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May 31, 2012 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book in less than 3 days. They were not boring, sick-in-bed with-nothing-better-to-do days either. It was that good. It's seems even better to me because BENT ROAD is this author's first novel.

Like this sentence, Lori Roy styles her story in present tense rather than in the usual past tense. Instead of saying "Arthur slammed his fist on the truck again and held up his other hand to Reesa" the author writes, "Arthur slams his fist on the truck again and holds up his other hand to Rees...more

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May 01, 2012 Bonnie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bent Road's setting, Kansas, evokes lonliness and isolation. Celia, Arthur,and three children
drive to Arthur's home in Kansas to escape threats in 1967 riots from racially divided Detroit. They move into a house near his mother and start a new life. Celia and Evie, the youngest, have difficulty accepting the very different lifestyle where the local Catholic church is the only social contact. Reesa, the mother-in-law, is dominating and belittling to Celia. In a memorable scene, Reesa is frying ch...more

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Sep 06, 2011 Mmtimes4 rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Aug 21, 2011 aPriL MEOWS often with scratching rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, mysteries-suspense-thrillers, literary, metafiction

Aunt Eve is dead. But she appears again in the form of Little Evie, her niece and a dead ringer for Eve. Prejudice brings the Scott family back from Detroit to home, a small Kansas farm. Little Evie soon becomes overwhelmed and haunted by the secrets of the adults in her family and in the small town near Bent Road by her resemblance to her dead aunt. Old hurts begin to ferment and boil. Uncle Ray was always the prime suspect in Eve's death, but while nothing was ever proved against him the shunn...more Aunt Eve is dead. But she appears again in the form of Little Evie, her niece and a dead ringer for Eve. Prejudice brings the Scott family back from Detroit to home, a small Kansas farm. Little Evie soon becomes overwhelmed and haunted by the secrets of the adults in her family and in the small town near Bent Road by her resemblance to her dead aunt. Old hurts begin to ferment and boil. Uncle Ray was always the prime suspect in Eve's death, but while nothing was ever proved against him the shunning and whispers destroyed his life, and now his malice has a focus. Arthur Scott, his wife Celia, his children Elaine, Daniel and Evie have returned to Bent Road where Arthur's sister Ruth and his mother Reesa still live, and strangely, Ruth has married Ray, the man suspected of murdering her sister Eve twenty years before. Shortly after finding a farm to rent and enrolling the children in school, the community is upset by the disappearance of another child who resembles both Eve and Evie. Celia feels the hidden things unsaid in Arthur's family, but is unable to free herself from the quicksand of being outsider. Daniel finds himself ostracized but believes it's from being a city kid of 14 in a farming town of hunting and muscled farm kids, while Evie is tormented by the other children because she looks like the murdered Eve. Father Flannery, Grandma Reesa's priest and guide, is divisive and frightening. Somehow, the family succeeds in the business of staying together, but barely, and in the meantime the mystery of who killed Eve begins to threaten everyone with exposing prejudices the Scott family had used to sustain their roles with each other. Once the unraveling begins soon after the book opens, the story picks up with the speed of a Mack truck without brakes going down a hill. Exciting and thrilling. by April 0 minutes ago

It's a good murder mystery involving an attractive family despite the secrets haunting their survival as a family. Each character, Arthur Scott, his wife Celia, and their children Elaine (while she is the cause of their moving from Detroit to Bent Road, Kansas, Arthur's childhood home, where his mother Reesa and sister Ruth still live, she barely figures in the rest of the book since she quickly changes from troubled teen to happy teen), Daniel and Evie are people easy to connect with and understand. Secret prejudices are at the heart of the secrets that maintain accepted behaviors in this small farming community, so truth is unwelcome. However the Scott family starts changing unavoidably when Ruth, Arthur's sister and Reesa, Arthur's and Ruth's mother are part of the family again. The farming community itself has a tremendous impact on citified Celia and her children, especially Daniel and Evie. To survive the changes, the family has to expose prejudices within themselves as well as the community, discover the truth of the secrets they've hidden for twenty years and redefine the moral boundaries that change forces them to examine. Evie, the baby of the family, charmed me the most, with Daniel not far behind. I also adored Arthur and Celia. Ruth was difficult for me because she abased herself in a cause I didn't understand. The statue without hands is, I think, part of the literary tradition of cut off hands signifying the exposure of prejudices that a smug person suddenly discovers have undone him or her. Evie is the haunting conscience, the wailing Cassandra, who remains so little and ignored until the truths are recognized, and she begins to grow into health and strength. Despite the symbolism, it's an exciting weekend book, too.

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Aug 11, 2011 Jenny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2011

It may be a debut novel, but Lori Roy's Bent Road is a masterpiece. Her storytelling, characters, setting and atmosphere -- everything was just fantastic. Bent Road takes place in 1967 when the Scott family moves from Detroit back to Kansas where the father/husband, Arthur, grew up. He hasn't been back in the twenty years since he moved; too many deep-seated feelings abound for him regarding his past and the death of his sister, Eve. He's never discussed this with his wife, Celia, nor ever taken...more It may be a debut novel, but Lori Roy's Bent Road is a masterpiece. Her storytelling, characters, setting and atmosphere -- everything was just fantastic. Bent Road takes place in 1967 when the Scott family moves from Detroit back to Kansas where the father/husband, Arthur, grew up. He hasn't been back in the twenty years since he moved; too many deep-seated feelings abound for him regarding his past and the death of his sister, Eve. He's never discussed this with his wife, Celia, nor ever taken his family back to meet his mother, Reesa, or his other sister, Ruth. Even after the eventual move to Kansas, the situation regarding Eve remains a mystery of which no one will speak. Shortly after the Scott's arrive in Kansas a little girl goes missing and impacts the community and their own family. And a situation between Arthur's sister, Ruth, and her husband, Ray, puts the entire family in danger.

A sense of foreboding manifested throughout the entire novel. That underlying chill contributed so much to the atmosphere of the story. The mystery surrounding Eve revealed itself slowly and managed to equally remain a large part of the plot while simultaneously taking a backseat to the characters current dynamics. Roy's writing was very deliberate; every word and every sentence had a purpose. The character development was superb. The fragility of each of the characters, and of the family as a whole, was remarkably portrayed. The fourteen-year-old son, Daniel, wants nothing more than to be a man and earn his father's pride. And I think he managed to achieve this by the end, but in a surprising way. Nine-year-old Evie, her aunt's namesake, wants nothing more than to know her aunt, wants everyone in the family to love each other. But her extreme naivete is also hurtful to the family. Celia, an incredibly supportive wife, tries to make the best out of the move to the country despite her trouble adjusting, and struggles with the unsuspected dangers lurking in the community.

I've heard Roy's writing compared to that of Tana French's, but since I've yet to read any of French's, I can't comment on that. I found myself reminded initially, however, of Nancy Pickard's novels (The Virgin of Small Plains, The Scent of Rain and Lightning). But really, to compare to anyone isn't too fair because Roy's writing has a distinct quality of its own. The narration was interesting; it's written in third person but moves at times to various perspectives. There aren't any chapter divisions, just whatever perspective should be told for that page or that paragraph. The first time the narration switched characters it sort of caught me off guard, but after that I hardly noticed it and I really liked the way we had a glimpse (only as much as necessary) into another person's thoughts.

The execution of Bent Road was wonderful and I absolutely recommend it. It's one of my favorites of 2011 so far!

Taken from my blog at www.takemeawayreading.com (less)

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Jun 26, 2011 Sue rated it 4 of 5 stars

It’s 1967 and the Detroit race riots, among other things, have convinced Arthur Scott that it’s time to move his family back to Kansas and the town he fled more than 20 years before.
Arthur and his older daughter, Elaine, adapt easily to life in the rural town of Arthur’s childhood, but his wife Celia and children Daniel and especially Evie have a more difficult time. Maybe it’s because Evie looks so much like Arthur’s dead sister Eve, for whom Evie was named. It seems the whole town is still ha...more

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Jun 02, 2011 Kate rated it 3 of 5 stars

There's menace threaded all through this story about a family that moves to rural Kansas from Detroit. Kansas itself seems menacing, with dangerous roads and tumbleweed that looks like a monster hanging from the fence. The disappearance of a young girl the week the family moves back makes everything even more creepy and threatening. And then there's the mysterious death of the family's aunt, decades ago, assorted acts of animal cruelty, a battered wife stalked by her husband, a priest who seems...more

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Apr 23, 2012 Toni Lapp rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Did not enjoy this for a number of reasons. It paints a stereotypical portrait of Kansas, for one. Most of the adults are flat caricatures who use hokey dialogue, for two. The point of view shifts around ineffectively, in some cases the same scene is described -- ploddingly -- by about four different people; I'm ready to move on, but wait, let's have yet another character describe the same scene. In another scene, bits of dialogue were interspersed with description of a character trying to find...more Did not enjoy this for a number of reasons. It paints a stereotypical portrait of Kansas, for one. Most of the adults are flat caricatures who use hokey dialogue, for two. The point of view shifts around ineffectively, in some cases the same scene is described -- ploddingly -- by about four different people; I'm ready to move on, but wait, let's have yet another character describe the same scene. In another scene, bits of dialogue were interspersed with description of a character trying to find a pie to serve. Frequently, the characters' movements were described in detail when it wasn't necessary and sometimes slowed the action. I suppose the point is to build tension... but the result for me was frustration.

Also, too many far-fetched points to be realistic: The main one being that the father has stayed away from his hometown for 20 years because of a tragedy involving his sister. But then he moves back from Detroit because "Negroes" have been calling on his oldest daughter? His sister has been secretly battered by her husband for years, and then he brings her over to her family's house freshly bruised from a beating?

Other elements were obviously introduced solely to create tension. For instance, the family has been given a cow, yet no mention is made of actually milking the cow. No, the purpose of the cow seems to be to introduce mystery as she continually gets out of the unlocked gate. Did the son (again) leave the gate open? Or did the escaped mental patient open the gate?

The story is built around this decades-old mystery about the "murder" of Eve, who has blond hair and blue eyes. Coincidentally (or not) the niece, Evie, seems to hold a strong resemblance to her dead aunt, and the author would have us believe that there are only three people in all of Kansas with fair hair and blue eyes, for when a classmate of Evie's -- also with blond hair and blue eyes -- disappears, everyone in town seems to think that there's a person stalking girls with blond hair and blue eyes.

In the end, after much of the "mystery" has been resolved, the author attempts to build tension again by hinting that Evie's brother Daniel, who has struggled for his father's approval throughout the book, is going to use his dad's shotgun to -- do what? Kill his sister's fiancee who has won the father's approval, and to whom he always seems to measure up short? Fortunately, the "real" bad guy shows up, providing a better target...I could go on, but won't....

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Jan 20, 2012 L-J Johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars

I feel like I've read quite a few books like this the last few years: family psychodramas plus a mystery of the Long-Buried Secret type. None of them have been able to touch this one. This was a first novel, which makes it even more of an accomplishment. Roy thanks Dennis Lehane in her Acknowledgments and he does a jacket blurb; apparently he's a mentor/teacher of sorts to her, and it's clear why. While their styles are entirely dissimilar, she shares his gift for characterization, which is no f...more

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May 12, 2013 Holly rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Hmmm. I tried really hard to like this book, but it just never really grabbed me. I think it was supposed to be suspenseful, but the way it was written didn't really build suspense for me at all. Part of the problem was the spelling & grammar errors that snuck in. Some of them were so glaring and obvious that I got really distracted at points. Another part of the problem was the author's repetition of certain phrases - it felt like she was beating you to death with them. For example, talking...more Hmmm. I tried really hard to like this book, but it just never really grabbed me. I think it was supposed to be suspenseful, but the way it was written didn't really build suspense for me at all. Part of the problem was the spelling & grammar errors that snuck in. Some of them were so glaring and obvious that I got really distracted at points. Another part of the problem was the author's repetition of certain phrases - it felt like she was beating you to death with them. For example, talking about Daniel "becoming a man/being a man" was WAY overused. Also, WTF is so important about Dan "being a man" anyway? I get that this is set in the mid to late 1960s, but seriously, this was obsessive to the point of being irritating, and it's never given any context to show the reader WHY it's so important.

I also didn't connect to the characters. Dad, Arthur, is mainly emotionally absent, Ruth is a non-entity for a lot of the book, Ray is a violent drunk, Dan is obsessed with being a man, Elaine is only into Jonathon, Jonathon is seemingly the perfect, handy Kansas dude, Ian is obsessed with escapees from the nearby mental hospital, Evie is obsessed with her Aunt Eve (a woman who died long before Evie was born) and Reesa is the know it all mother-in-law. The only character that I could relate to for short flashes was Celia, the mom, and those moments were too few and far between. She could be funny and interesting, especially when dealing with Reesa, but most of the time she chose to just drift along and wasn't really interesting.

I think a large part of my problem is that I read Dark Places recently and this book really suffered by comparison. Both books talk about farm life in a small community (Bent Road in Kansas, Dark Places in Missouri), where something terrible has happened. In Dark Places, the main character's family is massacred, Bent Road has the death of Aunt Eve and disappearance of Julianne (a girl that looks a lot like Eve) many years later. The bottom line for me was that Dark Places did a very similar story better. Even though Libby, Dark Places' protagonist, is a horrible person and very unlikeable, she's INTERESTING, and the story keeps you reading because Gillian Flynn crafts a mystery that's focused and coherent. Bent Road has too many tangents that don't really add up to a coherent story. (less)

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May 31, 2012 Connie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: with-reviews

Thanks to Laura for the book :)

Somewhere between 3.5 stars and 4 stars.

This book is all about mood--it's dark and ominous, and as the reader you know that from page 1, it's not going to be a cheerful book. It's the kind of book where you finish a chapter at night, then can't quite make yourself turn the lights off and go to bed. The book does an excellent job at setting this ominous mood, and never breaks out of it from beginning to end.

Bent Road is about a family that moves from Detroit to Kans...more Thanks to Laura for the book :)

Somewhere between 3.5 stars and 4 stars.

This book is all about mood--it's dark and ominous, and as the reader you know that from page 1, it's not going to be a cheerful book. It's the kind of book where you finish a chapter at night, then can't quite make yourself turn the lights off and go to bed. The book does an excellent job at setting this ominous mood, and never breaks out of it from beginning to end.

Bent Road is about a family that moves from Detroit to Kansas, where the father grew up, after he spent 20 years away running from the terrible tragedy that happened to his sister. It turns out that no one in the family--the mother, the surviving sister, the ex-fiance, have gotten over that tragedy, and are still living lives that are very much impacted by the events that happened on that day. Events that no one is willing to talk about. We all know that Eve is dead, that she died 20 years ago, but what happened? When a little girl goes missing, the whole town recalls the events from 20 years before, and it all comes crashing to the surface, spiraling out of control...

There were a couple of things that kept it from a higher rating. First--I thought at times the story suffered for the sake of mood. I found the book written in a way that was often maddeningly and purposely convoluted. There were times I would have to read a paragraph a second time just to make sure I understood what was going on, or would have to go back and reread something that happened 10 pages ago because I realized I misunderstood it the first time. While the deliberate vagueness added things at times, at other times it just was irritating and unnecessary.

More importantly, however--I thought the characters were very patchy. Some of them were great--Celia (the wife), Ruth (the sister), and Daniel (the teenage son) were all excellent characters. They seemed real and believable and conflicted--and throughout the book you were just rooting for them. But, other characters were bizarely there, but never became characters at all--such as the oldest sister Elaine and her always-present boyfriend Jonathan. While their existence served an important point to the story, at the same time--they could have benefited from substantially more character development. I also had a very hard time with the youngest daughter, Evie. Sure, she was supposed to be 9--but the girl was a fricking moron. It ceased being cute after about page 20--and throughout the book she just puts herself in one dumb position after another, while the family scrambles to try to rescue her, again, and again, and again.

Overall though, it was a good read. The ending is fantastic--and comes together on several different levels that make it pack a punch. It's not necessarily happy (nothing in this book ever would be), but it's a good ending. (less)

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May 20, 2011 Linda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mod-lit

Arthur Scott left rural Kansas for the big city shortly after the death of his sister Eve. Now husband to Celia and father of three, he decides that Detroit holds too many dangers for his children, and moves back to the family farm on Bent Road. It's a huge change for Celia, who must cope with the brutality of life and death on a farm, and the interference of her mother-in-law. Her eldest daughter is happy, having fallen for the young hired hand. But the two younger Scotts have trouble making fr...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Ellen rated it 4 of 5 stars

What did they hit that night as the Scott family pulled into Arthur's small Kansas hometown? That and many other dark questions underlie this novel as the family tries to adjust to their new lives after leaving Detroit and its racial troubles in the 1960s. Told from various family members' points of view, we experience their attempts to understand and fit into their new town and anyone who has ever lived in a small town realizes that outsiders are not always completely welcome. Especially the Sc...more

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Mar 28, 2012 Georgette rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: suspense

Oh wow. That's all I can say.

I got this as an advance read(at the store, it was supposed to go to one of our old stores that closed up two years ago). I am SO GLAD I did.

Celia and Arthur leave Detroit and a lifestyle of contented means to go back home to rural Kansas, where Arthur lived until his baby sister Eve was murdered. He never discusses the full story with Celia, just tells her that their family(which also includes their adolescent son Daniel and their youngest daughter Evie, named afte...more Oh wow. That's all I can say.

I got this as an advance read(at the store, it was supposed to go to one of our old stores that closed up two years ago). I am SO GLAD I did.

Celia and Arthur leave Detroit and a lifestyle of contented means to go back home to rural Kansas, where Arthur lived until his baby sister Eve was murdered. He never discusses the full story with Celia, just tells her that their family(which also includes their adolescent son Daniel and their youngest daughter Evie, named after his late sister and who happens to be the spitting image of her) must go home. Upon their return, Arthur realizes his sister Ruth is being physically, mentally, and emotionally abused by her husband Ray. One too many times he hits her, until she finally walks away and Arthur and Celia bring her to live with them, to keep her safe(She also finds out she's pregnant with Ray's child, a fact that should keep her safe, but she's hit the point of no return.).
Work into this the town in Kansas- where a little girl named Julianne disappears the same night that Arthur and his family return to town. In fact, Celia is following Arthur in his truck when a stray figure darts out of the darkness on dark, desolate Bent Road, and they almost crash the car in the process. Looking back on that now, after I finished the book, wow, talk about a metaphor for the ending of the book...

Ray has had to contend with the whispers of the town his whole life, that he was the one who murdered Eve(they were sweethearts before he married Ruth, Arthur's sister), and got away with it. Now Julianne is missing, and the town turns against him. An alcoholic who's trying to save his marriage, he's the only one I didn't get a clear read on the whole book. There were parts where I think his humanity shone through, but I didn't feel any sympathy for the character. Ultimately, I think Lori Roy wrote the character's storyline as the only realistic way for it to play out, and wow, he's a tortured soul if there ever was one.

Arthur- Celia- Ruth- the kids- I can't even fully give this book the review it deserves- it's such a stunning Rubik's Cube of twists and turns, that when the story finally starts to come out- starting with the discovery of Julianne's body and winding back to what happened to Eve(the WHOLE story, wow!) orignially, you cannot set the book down. I thought it was going to be some hokey James Patterson type book, but she really knocked it out of the park with this one. I will totally recommend this book to everyone! Definitely the best suspense book I've read this year so far. (less)

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Jun 29, 2011 Jessica rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mystery

Escaping from the turbulence of 1960s Detroit, Arthur moves his family to the small town in Kansas where he grew up and left 20 years ago after his sister Eve died. When a young girl disappears shortly after the family moves to town, Arthur's brother in law Ray (who was a suspect in Eve's death) is looked upon with suspicion. I can usually see a plot twist coming a mile away but this one caught me by complete and total surprise.

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Dec 08, 2011 Roxanne rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved this suspenseful tale! From the beginning, I had a sense of a dysfunctional, yet loving family with secrets within secrets. Bent Road was beautifully written. Strong plot and strong characters. The book moved at a slower pace, but each chapter seemed to reveal a little more information than expected. I could not have envisioned the ending. I will be looking for more from this author!

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Jun 08, 2012 Jana rated it 1 of 5 stars

I honestly hated every minute I spent reading this book! I read it because my book club had picked it. The member who'd picked it soon started reading it, and when I asked what she thought of it so far, her eyes lit up. Maybe my expectations were too high (they were pretty low, as she and I don't always agree on what makes for a good book), but I kept waiting for the book to get better and got madder and madder when it didn't. Unfortunately, I didn't care one bit about any of the characters, nea...more

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Mar 02, 2012 LORI CASWELL rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2012

Set in 1967. The Detroit riots push Arthur Scott to move his family back to his hometown in Kansas. He has not lived there for more than 20 years. His wife, Celia, knows he has secrets. Secrets that have burdened him for years. She fears moving back will be too much for her family. Celia knows his sister Eve died all those years ago but doesn’t know the details. She acquiesces to her husband’s wishes and packs up her family to return to Bent Road.

Life there is difficult, a local girl disappears...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Karen Skinner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I picked this book up in a hurry...and in a mood. To be honest I chose it for it's title alone. When I got home and looked closer and saw that it was described as a "suspense" novel, I almost put it down to take back to the bookstore, untouched. I am glad I ignored my suspicions about anything "suspenseful". I did not find it to be a suspense novel at all. Yes, there are secrets, hidden pasts, unexplained deaths, but tucked in there, shining it's light, was a story of family, of a young boy and...more

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Apr 16, 2011 L_manning rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a fantastic book! It brings to mind the feelings evoked when seeing "American Gothic" in person. Sure, it looks like a simple painting, but underneath simmers an entire world of secrets and lies. It starts with a fairly simple premise: a family moves from Detroit to rural Kansas, the home of the patriarch Arthur Scott. While there he must face the past he ran away from and the present that may prove even more toxic.

The writing paints a vivid picture. I could see everything happen so clearly...more

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Jun 21, 2011 Pearl rated it 3 of 5 stars

This was a very redneck book. I can't believe I actually finished it. But some of the characters were interesting and I wanted to find out what/who actually killed Eve. Needless to say I didn't get that information until the very end. Poor Ray got what he deserved at the end although a lot of his actions were due to the lost of Eve who he loved and adored and his drinking. After Eve was killed he married Eve sister Ruth. Ray was so abusive to Ruth because he really wanted Eve. Didn't really unde...more

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Jun 13, 2011 Rachel rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the story of a family who moved from Detroit back to the husband's hometown in Kansas.
I see that there are mixed reviews on this book, but I loved it! I liked the characters, and how the events are told from different perspectives throughout the book. There is suspense as you try to figure out what the connections are between the death of a girl 25 yrs ago, and the disappearance of a girl shortly after the family arrives in Kansas.
This is the author's first novel, and I hope to read mo...more

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Apr 19, 2011 JoAnne Pulcino rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction

BENT ROAD
Lori Roy
This outstanding debut novel soars with a keen sense of place, crisply descriptive prose and finely etched strong characters and plot.
Set in the mid 60’s on the wide open plains of Kansas, the author depicts a haunting family drama with shades of Midwestern noir. Almost becoming one of the characters is the harshness and isolation of farm life, and the damage of repressed emotions.
Arthur and Celia Scott return to Arthur’s home town after a 20 year absence. He moved away right af...more

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A Novel Idea Book...: Edgar Allan Poe Award Nomination	3	7	Feb 03, 2012 03:23pm
A Novel Idea Book...: Author Interview	1	3	Jan 27, 2012 07:44am
A Novel Idea Book...: Bent Road Discussion Questions	1	8	Jan 12, 2012 05:35pm
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About Lori Roy

Lori Roy's debut novel, BENT ROAD, was awarded the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best debut novel by an American author. BENT ROAD was named a 2011 Notable Crime Book by the New York Times, a 2012 Notable Book by the state of Kansas and nomiated for the Book-of-the-Month Club First Fiction Award. Her second novel, UNTIL SHE COMES HOME, will be published June 13, 2013, again by Dutton/Penguin.

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