My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book. I’ve read other titles by Henry, and her prose here is simply amazing. She doesn’t just tell the story, she *inhabits* it. The mood, the tone, the pacing–all of it is spot on. But this is not an easy book to read–Elijah both makes some terrible decisions and has some pretty terrible stuff done to him. It’s a five star read for me because the beautiful prose made this like watching a Deadwood episode–uncomfortable but in a really, really splendid way. However, some readers may not like the Grady/Harlan triangle competing for Elijah and easily triggered readers may have difficulty with some of things Elijah suffers. They might prefer trying one of Henry’s great, lighter titles. For the rest of us, the Deadwood and Breaking Bad and Shameless fans and lovers of dark, unpredictable heroes, this book is simply a gem.