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alisonlaw's review against another edition
Listen to my interview with [a:Chris Offutt|10188|Chris Offutt|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] about [b:Country Dark|36556924|Country Dark|Chris Offutt|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1515529694s/36556924.jpg|58292558] in Episode 36 of the Literary Atlanta podcast.
holmstead's review against another edition
3.0
Read this one while taking a trip driving to Charleston for a couple days with the fam to Folly Beach. The country bumpkin-ness of this story was a great theme to my ride.
Favorite line in the whole book: “....fold a cow’s pussy over his head and let a bull fuck some sense into him.”
Tucker is one tough fucker. I think the reason for my lack of stars with this one is I wanted to hear more about some of the other characters.... just didn’t connect to the book like I would have preferred. But it was still a decent read for its purpose. 3 tough-ass stars.
Favorite line in the whole book: “....fold a cow’s pussy over his head and let a bull fuck some sense into him.”
Tucker is one tough fucker. I think the reason for my lack of stars with this one is I wanted to hear more about some of the other characters.... just didn’t connect to the book like I would have preferred. But it was still a decent read for its purpose. 3 tough-ass stars.
beefmaster's review against another edition
4.0
I hated the epilogue and have mixed feelings about the role of the protagonist’s wife. But otherwise this was an incredible read, the kind of slow but violent shit that McCarthy made into poetry.
mtthwsmth's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
janedreader's review against another edition
3.0
This definitely was dark. I felt anxious reading it and sometimes melancholy or just plain sad. The writing was okay-ish but I hated how I felt while reading it. I only finished it because I’m stubborn. No thank you I will not be reading more from this author.
ridgewaygirl's review against another edition
3.0
So the premise of Country Dark, Chris Offutt's Appalachian Noir, is promising. A young man, newly returned from military service in Korea, is walking home when he encounters a man attacking a young woman. Intervening, he ends up taking her and the man's car with him when he continues on his path home. As a married man, soon with children, in the hills of rural Kentucky in the middle of the last century, he finds the only work he can, running illicit alcohol and other goods across state lines. When his life and his family are threatened, what will he do to protect them?
Country Dark was pretty good. The setting and plot certainly fit right into the genre. But Tucker, the central character doesn't fit into the role; he's flawless. Taciturn, with enviable skills in everything from nature lore to street fighting, he's an Appalachian Jack Reacher. He also loves his family with a perfect and gentle love, able to generate remarkable violence one moment, and be a loving family man directly afterwards. He was too perfect and it lessened the tension of the exciting plot once it became clear that Tucker would always figure out the best way out of a jam, would never lose a fight and would always be a great husband and father.
But the setting and plot, as well as a few interesting secondary characters did redeem this novel somewhat. I look forward to Offutt's future novels, and seeing how his work develops. He's no Donald Ray Pollock or Daniel Woodrell, but there's certainly room for more authors writing about the darkest corners and deeds of rural Appalachia.
Country Dark was pretty good. The setting and plot certainly fit right into the genre. But Tucker, the central character doesn't fit into the role; he's flawless. Taciturn, with enviable skills in everything from nature lore to street fighting, he's an Appalachian Jack Reacher. He also loves his family with a perfect and gentle love, able to generate remarkable violence one moment, and be a loving family man directly afterwards. He was too perfect and it lessened the tension of the exciting plot once it became clear that Tucker would always figure out the best way out of a jam, would never lose a fight and would always be a great husband and father.
But the setting and plot, as well as a few interesting secondary characters did redeem this novel somewhat. I look forward to Offutt's future novels, and seeing how his work develops. He's no Donald Ray Pollock or Daniel Woodrell, but there's certainly room for more authors writing about the darkest corners and deeds of rural Appalachia.
sjj169's review against another edition
5.0
I don't even know where to start with reviewing this book and since I can't quote the whole book to you....just know
THIS. BOOK. IS. PERFECTION.
Not enough stars exist for rating it the amount I loved it.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
THIS. BOOK. IS. PERFECTION.
Not enough stars exist for rating it the amount I loved it.
Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.
dburley37's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
His writing is easy to read. It has a host of well developed characters. It reminds me of looking at a slice of life from a group of families in the hills and hollers of Kentucky.