Book Review - Beasts of the Earth by James Wade
Getting into the winter evenings I love crime fiction. There’ll probably be a few more book reviews on the genre from me over the next few months. There’s just something about losing yourself in a crime mystery novel that that has as many layers as I’m wearing in this cold weather. I also like it dark, and thankfully ‘Beasts of the earth’ by James Wade is darker than a miners hankie.
Harland Leblanc
‘Beasts of the earth’ is told from two alternating points of view. Harland Leblanc is a groundsman at a local school in Texas who keeps to himself. The locals aren’t sure what to make of him, as he seems a bit odd and secretive. He’s also trying to keep his head down but finds himself getting involved when a young co-worker is accused of a terrible crime.
Meanwhile Micheal Fisher is doing his best to look after his mom and sister at their ramshackle home in the swamps of Louisiana.. He is dreading the return of his father, recently released from prison, a man who committed a horrible crime and shows no sign of changing his ways.
Dark
‘Beasts of the earth’ is a tough story, make no mistake. It has a number of foul, wretched characters and they inhabit a bleak world. The atmosphere reminded me of that conjured by ‘The last detective’ tv series. There are occasional shafts of light, a little hope so that it’s not completely overwhelming, but they are few and far between.
It felt like a completely believable world, from the fetid swamps of backwoods Louisiana to the small Texan town that was slowly dying as the local industry upped and left. Grim places where life is tough and the people tougher because they have to be.
The alternating chapters are perfectly interwoven, the stories complementing one another. Both are gritty and engrossing, and you get fully drawn into the murder investigation, ensuring you keep turning the pages.
Troubled
I found Harlen LeBlanc a troubled and complicated character. He is wounded and has secrets, and you know that something traumatic has happened in his past. Michael Fisher’s story is haunting and I felt myself desperately wanting for him to escape his home life.
Although ‘Beasts of the earth’ is a dark book, there is humanity here too. There is kindness, of good people reaching out and trying to help, to nurture. It’s also about guilt, about being haunted by the past and trying to escape from it, and seeking some sort of justice.
The language is biblical at times, conjuring up a strong slice of southern gothic. It’s also lyrical, and it’s a strong work of literary fiction, not that crime and mystery books can’t also be beautifully written. But this is exceptional.
Narrator
A word about the the narrator, Roger Clark, who absolutely nailed it in this book. His voice has such a strong cadence and and had the right amount of emotion, and threat, when it was needed. The language is poetic and gritty and I couldn’t place where I’d heard him before - apparently he also voiced Arthur Morgan in red dead redemption 2.
It’s still early December so there’ll be a few more dark nights for me to investigate James Wades first two books, as this is crime fiction of the highest quality.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for my Advanced Reader Copy for an honest book review.
Book review - Beasts of the earth by James Wade
Published by Blackstone publishing 11th of October 2022
7 Hours, 17 Minutes, 45 Seconds
246 pages