This month’s theme for The Book Bum Club is ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ – pick any book set in a cold, winter, or Christmas setting! Based mainly on the cover, The Life We Bury was the book I chose to read. Renee @ It’s Book Talk said to clear my schedule because this is a one-sitting read; Eva @ Novel Deelights said this was a good one – and I can happily report, they were both correct, 5 stars of correctness!
Book Description:
College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe’s life is ever the same.
Iverson is a dying Vietnam veteran–and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.
As Joe writes about Carl’s life, especially Carl’s valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory.
Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?
My Thoughts:
What starts out as an English assignment becomes Joe’s chance at redemption; when Joe first met Carl Iverson, Vietnam war veteran and convicted murderer, he never imaged it would lead to him digging into a thirty-year-old case in the hope that Iverson is innocent.
The beginning of this novel reminded me of stories of the wrongfully convicted, that search for evidence, that unsureness of whether said person is guilty or innocent. You warm to Iverson quite quickly and this has you hoping he’s innocent, and this urges you to will Joe on even more. Joe is also a very likeable character and him and his neighbour, Lila, make a great investigative pair – I enjoyed seeing how they went from just neighbours to friends, and the events that caused them to bond. You can see this protective nature in Joe and this makes your heart warm to him.
As my read progressed, this novel took a turn I wasn’t expecting, it moved from being a heavily character-driven novel, into a thriller that had me flying through the pages. This transition in tempo worked really well; Eskens grabbed my attention in the first part of this novel, made sure I was invested in the plot, and then took me on a dangerous thrill ride in the latter parts. All the while, the plot never lost its emotion, you remain connected to the story at all times.
Alongside the main plot, we have Joe’s mother, this woman is abysmal and does not care in the slightest about her autistic son, Jeremy, who is in her full-time care. Joe is struggling to find the balance between college and being there for his younger brother; these brotherly parts of the story were so heart-warming and added even more emotion into this novel to make it the moving read it was. The characters came across as very real people and forming this attachment to them is essential for this novel to work.
I loved the settings Eskens included in this novel, the snowy landscapes and the haunting scenes in Vietnam. Overall, I adored this novel and found it utterly captivating, it’s a tender story with enough mystery and suspense to keep you excited. I highly recommend you clear some time in your schedule, get comfortable and absorb this novel in one-sitting.
This book is available to buy from: Amazon UK / Book Depository
Great review I’m glad they were both right!
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Thank you. I loved getting recommendations from fellow bloggers 😊
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Proof that sometimes you should totally listen to my words of wisdom 😂
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“Sometimes” being the key word in that sentence 😉
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I wasn’t going to give you extra ammunition so I covered my back 🤣
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SO happy you loved it!! I totally agree about the beginning and the wrongful conviction vibe, of course that will pull you and I in any day:) The end turning into a thriller was really unexpected and awesome. Great review Janel!
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Thanks Renee, and thank you for the recommendation 😊
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For some reason this didn’t notify me that my post was tagged in it! Weird!
I’m glad you enjoyed your December read for the BookBum Club! 🙂
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Me too 😊
Looking forward to seeing what January’s theme is, I haven’t missed the announcement have I?
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Nope! I’m going to announce it tomorrow, keep ya eyes peeled!! 👀
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Oh my gosh! We picked the same book …yay…I have one more chapter!
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I hope you’re loving it as much as I did, I look forward to reading your review 🙂
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I am! I worried about poor Joe right now!! Yikes
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I’m so glad you enjoyed this one Janel!
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It was fab! I’ve never heard of the author before, have you read any of his other books?
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I’ve read them all! You don’t have to read them in order per say, but there are continuing characters that make it worthwhile to do so. I love them!
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Oh, that’s interesting, I had no idea, I’ll have to take a closer look at the order of them. Thanks 🙂
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Oh, doubts about someone’s guilt, secrets to unravel, what seems to be great characterization, I need this!!!
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You do need this one lol, such a great read 😊 And I love the emotion in your reviews so if you love this one, then I already can’t wait to read your review of it!
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I love a one-sitting thriller! This looks great and I love the cover. For some reason I thought it was a new release. I’ve seen it pop up a few times lately. All great reviews. Add to the TBR…
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Oh, I’ve been wanting to read this book and have it on my Kindle! You did such a wonderful review, now I have to bump it way up my TBR.
Happy Holidays!
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Awh thank you, I’m so glad you found my review helpful! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Happy holidays to you too 😊
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Loved every minute of it and have to lead our group’s discussion on Wednesday!❤️👍❤️
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I hope you enjoy your discussion on Wednesday 😊
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Enjoyed the book very much. Thank you so much for sharing your creativity.
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Just finished reading this book. Its a real thriller. Eazy to read. Excellent story line.
Highly recommend to all.
Read every chance I got to finish it. We worth it.
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I’m so pleased to see you enjoyed it too! He’s published a sequel now so I’m eager to get my hands on that!
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