The Risen by Ron Rash - 3 stars (Subdue)

[Joy D]

The Risen by Ron Rash - 3* - My Review

In 1969 in a small town in North Carolina, brothers Eugene and Bill Matney encounter Ligeia, a seventeen-year-old “flower child.” She will have a major impact on their lives. In 2015, younger brother Eugene is looking back on that fateful summer. Ligeia had been sent by her parents to her strict uncle and aunt to keep her in line. She had gotten involved in drugs in her hometown in Florida. She forms relationships with both brothers, and manipulates them into doing her favors, especially Eugene. He is smitten so he falls for her schemes. We learn about their sibling rivalry and their grandfather’s controlling ways. It is both a mystery and a coming-of-age story. It is a story of guilt and regret. It is nicely written, and the setting is vivid. I enjoyed the first three-quarters, but felt the ending went astray.