I have read several books by Allen Eskens and to date, I have loved every single one of them….seriously, they are all on my favorites list and it’s made me put Eskens on my list of very favorite authors. I saw that he had a book I hadn’t read and I wanted to remedy that immediately so I burned an Audible credit and bought Nothing More Dangerous.
The book reminds me much of a 70’s version on To Kill a Mockingbird. For me, that is HIGH praise as that’s one of my all time favorite books. It’s a coming of age story only this time it’s a boy as the main character. This boy has a mom…but a father that has passed away. There’s a mystery, there is prejudice but most importantly, there are good people trying to do the right thing. I loved the book.
Here’s what Amazon has to say:“After 15 years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn’t being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him.Â
Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady’s life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins – a black family settling into a community where notions of “us” and “them” carry the weight of history – forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he’s taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle.Â
But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of Lida Poe, the African-American woman who keeps the books at the local plastics factory. Word has it that Ms. Poe left town, along with a hundred thousand dollars of company money. Although Boady has never met the missing woman, he discovers that the threads of her life are woven into the deepest fabric of his world.Â
As the mystery of her fate plays out, Boady begins to see the stark lines of race and class that both bind and divide this small town – and he will be forced to choose sides.”
Amazon readers give the book 4.7 stars, I completely and totally think that isn’t enough. This was a 5 star book for me. I really liked it and have been thinking about the book days after I finished listening to it. For me, that’s what a great book is!
Here is a list of Eskens books that I have read and highly recommend:
Nothing More Dangerous
The Life We Bury
The Shadows We Hide
Happy news…there are more for me to read and Hoopla has one I can read for free!!
The Guise of Another
The Heavens May Fall
The Deep Dark Descending
Just finished “The Life We Bury,” after reading your recommendation. I’m starting “The Shadows We Hide” tonight. Now you have more recommendations by the same author. I have trouble keeping up with you, Jo, as I read the books not listen to them!
Jo, to Kill a Mockingbird was one of the most thought provoking and interesting books I have read outside the Bible. It raised questions and showed me the dark side of prejudice. Thank you for showing me another author that seems to have picked up and carried the thoughtfulness oh To Kill a Mockingbird
I just finished listening to The Life we Bury. I agree with you very thought provoking, I was awake at 2am thinking about it. What a great book thanks for recommending it!
My son just bought me Kindle Unlimited for a year, so I’ve got to get reading. Love this suggestion. Also, my sister’s name is Trudy Rae. I thought the girl spelling of Rae was always with the “e” and the guy version was with a “y” . And, as far as Jo’s go, my dad’s name is Joe and my middle name is Jo. Love the quilts that Ray finished. Have a great day!
Please give Gannon’s mom a hug for me. She has been through a rough, rough rough week and with no adult support there. I know all of the family is support now that they are home. Will pray for every one as the new chapter begining.
I like Esken’s books, too. The Life We Bury was his first book and the others that followed have been equally good. Although he is well educated, the blurb on the flap mentioned that he took writing classes before he began writing a novel. That small bit of info on told me he was interested in giving readers an enjoyable, well crafted tale. It motivated me to try that book and I was glad I did.