DARK RIDE
by Lou Berney
(HarperCollins, $34.99)
Good things come to those who wait, my mum always told me. For readers used to a book a year from many favourite authors, three books in 10 years is glacial. But as Oklahoma author Lou Berney (and thriller raritiesset against the JFK assassination, Berney hits us with another sublime standalone full of heartache, humanity and unforgettable characters. “Hardly” Reed sometimes plays a sheriff at the local amusement park, but he’d be on the shortlist of the last people you’d turn to if in real trouble. He’s a college dropout, shambling through a carefree life in a haze of herbal smoke. But when Hardly spies cigarette burns on two young kids at the local municipal building, something stirs. After notifying an overwhelmed Child Protection Service, Hardly can’t let it go, so begins investigating the family and the father, a tax lawyer in a strip mall who keeps sordid, and very dangerous, company. Berney cajoles us with the nuances of Hardly and a fascinating, rag-tag cast, and takes us on a thrilling and emotional ride. Superb; a best-of-the-year contender.
