G48 Book Review of The Carrion Birds by Urban Waite
Author:Urban Waite
ISBN: 978-0-06-221688-5
Publisher: William Morrow
Type of book: 1990s, New Mexico, pointless, violent, bloodbath, mystery, cartel, drugs, family, chase, action
Year it was published: 2013
Summary:
Set in a small town in the Southwest, a soulful work of literary noir rife with violence, vengeance, and contrition from a fresh voice in fiction-the author of the highly acclaimed The Terror of Living
Life hasn't worked out the way Ray Lamar planned. A widower and father who has made some tragic mistakes, he's got one good thing going for him: he's calm, cool, and efficient under pressure, usually with a gun in his hand. A useful skill to have when you're paid to hurt people who stand in your boss's way.
But Ray isn't sure he wants to be that man anymore. He wants to go home to Coronado, New Mexico, to see the twelve-year-old son he hopes will recognize him. He wants to make a new life far from the violence of the last ten years. One last job will take him there. All he has to do is steal a rival's stash. Simple, easy, clean.
Ray knows there's no such thing as easy, and sure enough, the first day ends in a catastrophic mess. Now, the runners who have always moved quietly through this idyllic desert town on the Mexican border want answers. And revenge. Short on time, with no one to trust but himself, Ray must come up with a clever plan or Coronado's newly appointed lady sheriff will have a vicious bloodbath on her hands.
Relentlessly paced and beautifully orchestrated, with refreshingly real, vulnerable, and very human characters and a vivid sense of place, The Carrion Birds is an unsettling and indelible work of literary noir in the tradition of Cormac McCarthy, Elmore Leonard, and Dennis Lehane.
Characters:
Wait a minute, there were characters? Oh yeah, there were, but I can't recall much about them to be honest besides the fact that a lot of end up contributing to the horror of bloodbath in this particular town.
Theme:
Wait, there was supposed to be a lesson I should have learned?
Plot:
The story is in third person narrative, and if I recall correctly, the author wasn't able to keep track of who's talking. The tale is very descriptive, but at the same be prepared for senseless violence that adds very little to the character development. I also was so tired of reading this book, that I even skimmed the ending.
Author Information:
(From the book)
Urban Waite is the author of the critically acclaimed novel THE TERROR OF LIVING. His short fiction ahs appeared in THe Best of the West Anthology, the Southern Review, and other literary journals. He grew up in Seattle, attended the University of Washiongton, and studied writing at Western Washington University and Emerson College. He lives in Seattle with his wife.
Opinion:
Ugh. I think the author is more in love with making this tale a blood-bath than something good and worthwhile. When I first won this book, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I did expect grit, but I also expected to learn lessons or to be challenged or to actually like the book. This book is nothing like the other western tale I read that had me questioning a ton about survival and seeing people, both bad and good- as human beings. I ended up being disappointing in reading this book, especially when the only thing I recall is the obsession with murders and creating this unbelievable gory bloodbath. Are there any lessons from this book? None that I can pass on, ultimately.
I won this from goodreads firstreads
0 out of 5
(0: Stay away unless a masochist 1: Good for insomnia 2: Horrible but readable; 3: Readable and quickly forgettable, 4: Good, enjoyable 5: Buy it, keep it and never let it go.)
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