Review by Booklist Review
Three points of view converge to create a full story in this atmospheric debut novel. When Tom Horak murders his best friend Rust Hawkins, the action forever changes his life and causes a domino effect, impacting the lives of local pastor Morris Green and "peace officer" Marshal Thomlison. Tom, Morris, and Marshal are wildly different, and Langsfeld skillfully evokes uneasiness in readers as the characters' lives become more intertwined. Tom is an especially compelling character, flawed yet vulnerable, and almost childlike in his reactions. Though his actions are unforgivable, his desire to protect Rust's son is a redeeming factor, and the desire for salvation both he and Morris seek is thought-provoking due to the differences in their circumstances. The Rocky Mountain West setting adds to the tension, the landscape serving almost as its own character in the story. Readers can feel the harsh beauty of the natural world in Langsfeld's writing, especially in scenes where Tom is in survival mode in the bitter winter. Fans of brooding western noir in particular will enjoy this book.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In Langsfeld's elegiac debut, a lifetime of abuse and emotional neglect drives Tom Horak to kill his former childhood friend, Rust Hawkins. After the murder, Tom retreats from his small Colorado town to a cabin in the Rocky Mountains, where he endures a harsh winter with nothing but memories of his painful past and the moose meat he manages to hunt. Tom grew up in a house dominated by his alcoholic father, whose explosive rage and rigid ideas of masculinity prevented him from expressing his love in a healthy way. As a young adult, Tom entered a passionate, on-off relationship with the free-spirited Rose, who eventually married Rust and had his son, Gus, widening the divide between the two friends. Following Rust's death, Gus, long abandoned by Rose, is taken in by Morris Green, a lonely Lutheran pastor grappling with his own existential doubts. Meanwhile, peace officer Marshal Tomlinson reluctantly pursues Tom, aware that the trauma of his childhood makes any hope of justice or closure an illusion. Like the novels of Tom Franklin and Willy Vlautin, Langsfeld's meditative noir sanctifies lives steeped in pain and regret, yet still lit by the faint possibility of a brighter tomorrow. It's an auspicious first outing. (Feb.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Langsfeld delivers a stark, lyrical meditation on fathers and sons and the dwindling chances of redemption in this impressive debut. After Tom Horak kills his former best friend, Rust Hawkins, in the depth of a Colorado winter, he heads for the mountains and his abandoned childhood home. Meanwhile, Gus, Rust's 12-year-old son, finds temporary haven with local Lutheran pastor Morris Green, who is struggling with doubt and a dearth of answers in the face of life's endless tragedies. The narrative shifts among multiple viewpoints and poignant flashbacks, and Tom's and Morris's paths converge via their connection to Gus, who has been abused and neglected by his father. Tom's own troubled history with his father underscores the main theme, about dysfunctional relationships that use violence to settle differences. Short, staccato sentences abound, and the lack of quote marks for dialog requires close reading, but overall, this is a potent and philosophical query into the nature of salvation and how different it is for each person searching for it. VERDICT This debut opens a door into the hearts of men traumatized by their fathers and the ways violence perpetuates itself, despite redemption's proximity.--Peggy Kurkowski
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
After murdering his childhood friend Rust Hawkins, Tom Horak hides out in a cabin in the Colorado Rockies, revisiting his painful past and awaiting his inevitable capture. Life has been a series of cruelties for Tom. His drunken father subjected him to mental and physical abuse; his mother died slowly from cancer; his free-spirited girlfriend, Rose, took up with Rust, married him, and, following a tryst with Tom, had a baby, Gus. The fierce winter passes slowly in the cabin, where the unrepentant killer subsists on moose meat and bad memories. "Even in the daylight, sun obscured by thick clouds and snowfall, Tom saw only darkness." His life's one pleasure, doting on Gus--to Rust's great irritation--is gone. The boy, abandoned by his mother long before Rust's death, is taken in by the faith-torn Lutheran pastor Morris Green. Retiring cop Marshal Thomlison, whose work is mostly tossing drunks in jail, unhappily goes after Tom. In different ways, all of the characters struggle with unanswerable questions concerning belief, family, community, and violence. So powerful is the language and reflection in this, Coloradan Langsfeld's first novel, that the plot is secondary. Here are people who "decided to force themselves through the motions of things no longer felt in the heart." The sounds of Tom's isolation--"thecree-cree of his boots in the hard snow," "the muffled skitter of powdered [moth] wings struggling against cloth and heat"--speak louder than his inner thoughts. Steeped in existential despair, this stripped-down novel at its best rises to the level of roots masters Michael Farris Smith, Tom Franklin, and Brian Panowich--great company for a writer who will only get better. A haunting fait accompli captured by a strong new voice in Western noir. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
