From Powells.com
Our favorite books of the year.
Staff Pick
The Line That Held Us is a gorgeous and brutal story of love, violence, and loyalty so fierce it has the power to destroy everything in its path. David Joy has a gift for writing Southern noir, and he can hold his own with Cormac McCarthy, Donald Ray Pollock, Daniel Woodrell, and other gods of grit lit. Recommended By Emily F., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
From critically acclaimed author David Joy comes a remarkable novel about the cover-up of an accidental death, and the dark consequences that reverberate through the lives of four people who will never be the same again.
When Darl Moody went hunting after a monster buck he’s chased for years, he never expected he’d accidentally shoot a man digging ginseng. Worse yet, he’s killed a Brewer, a family notorious for vengeance and violence. With nowhere to turn, Darl calls on the help of the only man he knows will answer, his best friend, Calvin Hooper. But when Dwayne Brewer comes looking for his missing brother and stumbles onto a blood trail leading straight back to Darl and Calvin, a nightmare of revenge rips apart their world. The Line That Held Us is a story of friendship and family, a tale balanced between destruction and redemption, where the only hope is to hold on tight, clenching to those you love. What will you do for the people who mean the most, and what will you grasp to when all that you have is gone? The only certainty in a place so shredded is that no one will get away unscathed.
Review
“Unflinching.... Joy writes about rough-hewn men and women eking out a living in an economically depressed area, trying to avoid — but often affected by — violence and drugs that permeate the region. Their lives are tied to the land, its history and their families who established lives there decades ago.” Associated Press
Review
“A suspenseful page-turner, complete with one of the absolutely killer endings that have become one of Joy’s signatures.” Los Angeles Times
Review
“Joy has proved adept with southern noir in his first two novels, and he nails it again here, in the actions of characters who act as they must, for the sake of family and friendship, given their nature. This is fiction as beautiful and compelling as it is searing.” Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
“David Joy’s novel brought me to my knees. Exquisitely written and heart-wrenching, it reminded me of Faulkner in its dark depiction of family loyalty — that “old fierce pull of blood.”... Joy’s descriptions are lyrical and lingering....In the end, the line that holds Joy’s characters may be fraught and frayed, but its pull is fierce.” Minneapolis Star Tribune
About the Author
David Joy’s first novel, Where All Light Tends to Go, debuted to great acclaim and was named an Edgar finalist for Best First Novel. His stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in Drafthorse, Smoky Mountain Living, Wilderness House Literary Review, Pisgah Review, and Flycatcher, and he is the author of the memoir Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey. Joy lives in Webster, North Carolina.