Everybody's got good and bad in them. In the end, it just depends which side wins out.
Arlene has lived in a small town on the edge of nowhere Georgia her whole life. Now married to her long-time high school sweetheart, Tommy, Arlene is itching to start a family and become the mother she always dreamed of being. But that's proving more difficult than she thought, and Arlene is desperate to find something to do to keep her mind off things. And get some distance from her husband, who is increasingly getting on her nerves.
As the summer gives way to a chilly, lonesome fall up in the mountains of northern Georgia, she takes a part-time job bagging evidence at the local police department, which involves about twenty minutes of actual work, and the rest of her shift she reads over old cold cases. One in particular fascinates her: the mysterious deaths of three young brothers murdered on Deck River, followed by the suicide of Mitchell Wright, the prime suspect in the murders.
Arlene becomes obsessed with the case, and with the help of the police department's receptionist and a family friend of the Wrights, she sets out on discovering the truth. She can't help but feel that if she solves the case of the Broderick boys' deaths, she'll find her footing in her young marriage and maybe find what she's been looking for all along.
From the author of The Floating Girls, a finalist for the Townsend Prize for Fiction and a Reader's Digest Editor's Pick, Lo Patrick has once again crafted a story bursting with charm, heartbreak, and memorable characters that leap off the page, a true delight for fans of Southern fiction.
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I just finished The NIght the River by Lo Patrick and here is my review.
When Arlene starts working part time at the local police department, she gets access to a cold case. It's the murder of 3 little boys, all brothers on Deck River. Becoming obsessed with the case, Arlene sets about to solve it, even when her husband isn't on board.
Arlene is a really odd duck. She comes across neurodivergent whether she is, it's not explained but it is one of the reasons she comes across annoying. After her miscarriage, she ends up needing to focus on something and solving a crime is where she puts her energy.
The murder is quite disturbing and the more you learn, the sicker it gets. I actually thought the book was very good, I didn't much like some of the supporting characters but it worked for me. I think the whole point was to not let you get comfortable while you read.
I liked the ending, it worked really well and it tied up the loose ends well enough without being too neat.
All in all I think it was a great book and it was my first by the author but it won't be my last.
4 stars
Thank you to @bookmarked for my gifted copy. It is out now and I was a bit late getting this review up thanks to instagrams insanity for the past month!
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