Fourth of July Creek

Fourth of July Creek Smith Henderson 4/5	Published 2014 First Sentence "The cop flicked his cigarette to the dirt-and-gravel road in front of the house, and touched back his hat over his hairline as the social worker drove up in a dusty Toyota Corolla."
Publisher's Description: In this shattering and iconic American novel, PEN prize-winning writer, Smith Henderson explores the complexities of freedom, community, grace, suspicion and anarchy, brilliantly depicting our nation's disquieting and violent contradictions. After trying to help Benjamin Pearl, an undernourished, nearly feral eleven-year-old boy living in the Montana wilderness, social worker Pete Snow comes face to face with the boy's profoundly disturbed father, Jeremiah. With courage and caution, Pete slowly earns a measure of trust from this paranoid survivalist itching for a final conflict that will signal the coming End Times. But as Pete's own family spins out of control, Pearl's activities spark the full-blown interest of the F.B.I., putting Pete at the center of a massive manhunt from which no one will emerge unscathed.
Dear Reader, Want to know what a small town Social Workers life is like? This book will give you all the inside info! Corruption, alcoholism, welfare, mental instability, starvation, runaways, homelessness, drug abuse, sexual abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, and any other kind of abuse you could think of... this book has it. I don't mean to say that this book is trying to shock the reader, because everything inside is written very naturally, almost like you see glimpses of horribleness but with understanding behind it. The main character, Pete, isn't the type of Social Worker you would normally think of. He isn't that super sweet, perfectly normal, entirely helpful, the one who thinks there is a cure for every malady out there - even the emotional ones. He is hard, true and knows how to connect with these people. He relates to them, because you see, his life is pretty messed up as well. His wife and daughter have moved away and soon after his daughter ends up running away, completely disappearing. This happens while he has a giant stack of cases that need to be taken care of, some of them harder than others. It's a little like a train wreck, watching Pete try and sort out his own life while playing nice with the other families who are under his care. You feel terrible that he has so many people to look after that he can't even focus on his own life. One of the families has an abusive mother who is having trouble with her teenage son acting out. Another family consists of a wacked out father (total conspiracy theorist) who lives out in the woods with his son and doesn't trust anyone. You know these people exist, that all this is TRUE... somewhere... but I still found myself in disbelief quite a few times. I guess it might be because I don't want things like that to happen, I don't want people to treat others that way. The hard reality of life I suppose. I can't write this review and not mention the emotional pull I felt because of the subject matter. I have had to work very closely with DCF myself when my own family had troubles. I ended up cursing the worker because he'd constantly miss pick up times, give me the wrong information about meet ups, etc... After reading this, I guess I can understand the stress they have to go through and the amount of cases that come across their desks. It's a wonder they can keep anything straight.  I also can't write this review without mentioning how great the writing is. It pulls you in, I have to admit that I found myself plopped down in a town I would never image visiting. However, I need to caution those who pick up this book, there's quite a few ugly things happening and I don't know too many people who could read through it unscathed. I know this book gave me a few scars that I'll take with me, I know It'll make me think twice next time I see a family struggling. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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The Returned

The Returned Jason Mott 3.5/5	First Sentence "Harold opened the door that day to find a dark-skinned man in a well-cut suit smiling at him."
Publisher's Description: Jacob was time out of sync, time more perfect than it had been. He was life the way it was supposed to be all those years ago. That's what all the Returned were. Harold and Lucille Hargrave's lives have been both joyful and sorrowful in the decades since their only son, Jacob, died tragically at his eighth birthday party in 1966. In their old age they've settled comfortably into life without him, their wounds tempered through the grace of time ... Until one day Jacob mysteriously appears on their doorstep—flesh and blood, their sweet, precocious child, still eight years old. All over the world people's loved ones are returning from beyond. No one knows how or why this is happening, whether it's a miracle or a sign of the end. Not even Harold and Lucille can agree on whether the boy is real or a wondrous imitation, but one thing they know for sure: he's their son. As chaos erupts around the globe, the newly reunited Hargrave family finds itself at the center of a community on the brink of collapse, forced to navigate a mysterious new reality and a conflict that threatens to unravel the very meaning of what it is to be human. With spare, elegant prose and searing emotional depth, award-winning poet Jason Mott explores timeless questions of faith and morality, love and responsibility. A spellbinding and stunning debut, The Returned is an unforgettable story that marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.
Dear Reader, What a unique idea The Returned bring us. What would you do if a deceased loved one came back from the dead and returned home to you? And no, this isn't another zombie novel. These people are returned alive and well, exactly as they were. Jason Mott gives us a novel that really makes you contemplate that question, a question that hasn't crossed my mind too much. The story sticks with one family and one small town. This family is of a close knit southern kind, one that wouldn't have been my favorite pick but I can appreciate these characters none the less. The mother is extremely religious, where as her husband is borderline atheist. This was something that I greatly appreciated Mott for doing, giving us a complex relationship atop of a complex situation. When their son, who drowned in a river a decade ago, comes back to them as one of "the Returned", we see what happens when two different mindsets are given something one can only wish for. However, problems start to come up and we see struggle within society on how to deal with this, issues like overpopulation and even where to put the Returned? I think the Author really picked something unique to write about and I could see this as being a cross between being a blast and being emotional to write. Personally, I did find myself thinking about what I would do if someone I loved came back to me. I know it would be a strange situation indeed. However, since I haven't lost a parent, child or significant other... the characters were somewhat hard to relate to. I think this might have been the reason why I didn't give this a 4 rating. The book mostly touched on the emotional aspect of this situation and only skimmed the waters of what this might mean to the country or world as a whole. I really respect this Author for bringing us such a unique novel and writing it with a very strong voice, you just know he had lost someone recently enough to give us such a writing performance. If you read the very ending, you'll get a little blurb by the Author that shows you his loss and what sparked him to write this book. I would definitely recommend this book, especially for those of you who've lost someone close to you. Happy Reading, AmberBug