Just Jennifer

This Dark Road to Mercy by Wiley Cash (William Morrow, February 2014)

Following up his much lauded debut, A Land More Kind than Home, Wiley Cash’s sophomore novel tells the story of twelve-year-old Easter and her six-year-old sister Ruby whose mother has just died; the two now find themselves in the foster care system of Gastonia, North Carolina, under the guardianship of Brady Weller.  Their father, former minor leaguer Wade signed away his parental rights years ago, but has recently decided he wants his daughters back in his life, but finds he is unable to assert his rights as their father and kidnaps them in the middle of the night.  Brady Weller, a former cop with a tragedy of his own making in his past, begins to look for the Wade and the girls and quickly finds evidence that links Wade to an armored car heist; Brady is not the only one chasing Wade, though.  Robert Pruitt, who has a long standing grudge against Wade knows Wade has a large part of the armored car take and is being paid to find Wade by the man who considers the money his.  Easter, Brady and Pruitt take turns telling the story, each with a distinctive voice that tells not only the story that is unfolding, but the history that has brought them to the present and put them on a collision course that is unavoidable.  Richly described characters will work their way into readers’ hearts and minds as the plot picks up speed, building suspense, with an urgency to make sense out of the various narratives, but slow down and take in the details that make for a wonderfully moody atmosphere and pay attention to what is happening beneath the surface as families slowly reveal themselves and their tragic flaws.