This Dark Road to Mercy in Around the World in 80 Books

Oct 30, 2013 Tony rated it really liked it

Shelves: novels, setting-us-south

Set in 1988, against the running backdrop of the McGuire/Sosa chase for baseball's home run record, this assured second novel from Cash has a curiously familiar feel to it. It's the kind of collision of greed, need, redemption, and foolishness that the Coen Brothers handle so well in film (here I'm thinking of Fargo, Blood Simple, and especially their faithful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men). However it's somewhat less clinical than their films can be, and at times strays Set in 1988, against the running backdrop of the McGuire/Sosa chase for baseball's home run record, this assured second novel from Cash has a curiously familiar feel to it. It's the kind of collision of greed, need, redemption, and foolishness that the Coen Brothers handle so well in film (here I'm thinking of Fargo, Blood Simple, and especially their faithful adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men). However it's somewhat less clinical than their films can be, and at times strays dangerously close to sentiment or cheesiness.

The story revolves around sisters Easter and Ruby (ages 12 and 6), who are placed in a group house for orphans following the overdose death of their mother in Gastonia, NC. Their long-absent ex-minor-league ballplayer father signed away his parental rights under duress, but is now anxious to keep them from being adopted by their maternal grandparents in Alaska. He stumbles across a large cache of cash that's his only possible ticket to starting a new life with his girls. Of course, we all know that finding piles of cash usually doesn't work out so well in film and fiction, and soon enough a steroid-fueled bouncer is on his trail. The other person in pursuit of the father and girls is their current court-appointed legal guardian, an ex-cop seeking his own redemption.

The story unfolds in alternating chapters narrated by the older girl, the bouncer/hitman, and the ex-cop/guardian. Cash does a very nice job balancing the girls' distrust of, and hope for their father. Easter's voice is entirely believable, as are her shifting moods, while the father's frantic desperation is entirely understandable, pathetic, and heartbreaking all at the same time. The bouncer on their tail is terrifying in the way that all single-minded psychopaths are, while the guardian is probably the weak part of the book -- he's kind of stereotypically adrift, and his backstory is kind of cliched.

Perhaps it's just the southern setting, but when I was trying to put my finger on what this book reminded me of, I kept getting back to other southern-set stories. The two that came most immediately to mind were the fantastic classic film The Night of the Hunter, and the excellent recent film Mud. Both are stories about children in peril as they are caught up in the affairs of adults. There's a little bit of the kind of mythic tone of the first, coupled with the realistic consequences of the latter. ...more

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May 09, 2014 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio

3.5 stars but for GR purposes, I'm bumping it because I would recommend it to others. Wiley Cash is going to be one of those authors whose books I eagerly await. I really fell in love with all of these characters (well, except for the bad guy, of course). ...more

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Jan 07, 2014 Beverly rated it really liked it

Shelves: reading-bingo-challenge

This was a 3.5 read for me.

A suspenseful sometimes meandering tale of three adults looking to rectify their past and two young sisters concerned over their dubious future. Twelve year old Esther and six year old Ruby have not seen their father for many years. By using the same charm that has kept the ex-minor baseball player and deadbeat dad Wade one step ahead of complete disaster convinces the sisters to steal away from their foster care institution with him for parts unknown. But it is Wade’ ...more

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Dec 26, 2017 Stacey rated it really liked it

I listened to this on audio, I only listen when I run or knit, so it takes me forever to finish, haha. I did enjoy these characters, except Pruitt...I also didn't enjoy his narrator, but I think that was on purpose as we are not supposed to like him perhaps? ...more

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