A friend loaned me this novel. Before reading half of it, I purchased my own copy. "Y" City, set in the real town of Y City, Arkansas, is written by author Wade Rivers, also from Arkansas. I just have this thing about supporting Arkansas authors, some sort of kinship there, maybe? But I digress...
Based on a character who has been accused of killing his employer (hint: relationship actually took a romantic turn), the novel, while only spanning a time period of about 24 hours, takes its reader on an emotional journey into the mind of several characters, in particular Harley (the accused) and Hollis (the one sworn to protect the innocent).
A native of Arkansas and one who lived in Hot Springs for two years (a mere 68 miles from Y City...and, no, I had never heard of Y City before reading this novel!), I was quick to note locations and names of note, just part of the appeal to me as a reader. Had many opportunities for text-to-me connections!
I appreciated this author's writing style, highlighting various passages as I read to share with my students as I present models of what "good" writing might look. Just another reason I purchased my own copy of this novel....so I could really make it mine as I annotated within the book.
A NOTE: good editors are a grand thing! Did note a few misspellings and puntuations errors. This seems to happen in first editions of first books...maybe in the race to publish, one gets anxious? (By the way that is the voice of experience commenting on that last sentence!) Another teachable moment for the classroom, though.
If you are one who enjoys a good "who did it," then this is a good read for you.
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