The Long and Faraway Gone: A Novel

By Lou Berney

WINNER OF THE EDGAR AWARD, THE MACAVITY AWARD, THE ANTHONY AWARD, AND THE BARRY AWARD FOR BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINAL

NOMINATED FOR THE 2015 LA TIMES BOOK PRIZE

With the compelling narrative tension and psychological complexity of the works of Laura Lippman, Dennis Lehane, Kate Atkinson, and Michael Connelly, Edgar Award-nominee Lou Berneys The Long and Faraway Gone is a smart, fiercely compassionate crime story that explores the mysteries of memory and the impact of violence on survivorsand the lengths they will go to find the painful truth of the events that scarred their lives.

In the summer of 1986, two tragedies rocked Oklahoma City. Six movie-theater employees were killed in an armed robbery, while one inexplicably survived. Then, a teenage girl vanished from the annual State Fair. Neither crime was ever solved.

Twenty-five years later, the reverberations of those unsolved cases quietly echo through survivors lives. A private investigator in Vegas, Wyatts latest inquiry takes him back to a past hes tried to escapeand drags him deeper into the harrowing mystery of the movie house robbery that left six of his friends dead.

Like Wyatt, Julianna struggles with the pastwith the day her beautiful older sister Genevieve disappeared. When Julianna discovers that one of the original suspects has resurfaced, shell stop at nothing to find answers.

As Wyatt's case becomes more complicated and dangerous, and Julianna seeks answers from a ghost, their obsessive quests not only stir memories of youth and first love, but also begin to illuminate dark secrets of the past. But will their shared passion and obsession heal them, or push them closer to the edge? Even if they find the truth, will it help them understand what happened, that long and faraway gone summer? Will it set them freeor ultimately destroy them?

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Feb 10, 2015
• ISBN: 9780062292445

Lou Berney

Lou Berney is the multiple award–winning author of November Road, The Long and Faraway Gone, Double Barrel Bluff, Dark Ride, as well as Gutshot Straight and Whiplash River. His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. He lives in Oklahoma City.

Book preview

Julianna

CHAPTER 3

October 2012

One of Julianna’s only vivid memories, from that time so long ago, was the psychic. October of 1986, the living room of the little house on SW Twenty-­seventh, just off Olie. The psychic wore a gauzy black dress that swirled around her when she walked and a silver ring on every finger, even her thumbs. This was before anyone wore rings on their thumbs, anyone in Oklahoma City at least, and the psychic had also dyed her long hair a shade of deep, unnatural black, so black it was almost purple. You could tell that the psychic thought she made a striking and dramatic impression, but she didn’t, not really. Her upper arms were pimply, her gray roots showed. She owned a shop called Moon Breeze, on a run-­down stretch of Classen Boulevard, that sold New Age crystals and feathered dream catchers.

Yes, yes, the psychic had said. She sat on the sofa with her eyes closed, rocking back and forth. I see, I see.

What do you see? Carol whispered, leaning closer. Carol lived next door and had arranged for the psychic. She’d always been friendly enough with their mother, but after what happened, Carol had made it her mission to be their mother’s best friend. Carol had landed her dream job.

I see her, the psychic said. She’s alive.

Genevieve’s alive! Carol said.

I smell the ocean. I see her. She’s smiling.

Julianna remembered that their mother had remained expressionless, her face slack and heavy, like a drop of water trembling on the lip of a faucet. Carol reached over to squeeze her hand.

Genevieve’s smiling! Carol said.

I hear the waves, I see—­ The psychic stopped. Carol made a big deal of holding her breath and waiting for the next revelation. The psychic sneezed. Sorry, she said. Darn allergies.

It probably wasn’t allergies that made the psychic sneeze, but all the patchouli oil she was wearing.

Who else was there that morning? Their Aunt Nancy and the psychic’s boyfriend, who had an enormous belly and needed a cane to walk. And Joe, Carol’s husband. He stood apart from the others, leaning against the wall, his arms folded across his chest.

It was a chilly, rainy day. Every now and then, the wind flung a spray of rain hard against the living-­room window and made Julianna jump. She was sitting cross-­legged on the dusty wood floor, right beneath the window.

She had been skeptical when the psychic arrived. The pimply arms, the gray roots. Julianna and Genevieve had driven past the run-­down shop on the run-­down stretch of Classen Boulevard many times. Now, though, when the psychic said she could smell the ocean and hear the waves, her voice was clear and certain, like the chime of glass on glass.

The sofa was faded red velvet. It, and the house, had belonged to their grandmother. When she died, the summer of 1983, the three of them moved in, Julianna and Genevieve and their mother. The house smelled like mildew, and the wood floors were warped, the neighborhood was so-­so, but both the house and the neighborhood were a step up from the place they’d been renting before.

Their grandmother’s house had a finished basement with wood-­paneled walls and a linoleum-­tile floor, separated from the rest of the house by two doors and a flight of steep, narrow steps. Genevieve had staked her claim right away. She dragged her mattress down to the basement, her boxes of records and clothes and makeup. For the first time in her life Julianna had a room to herself, though she still spent most of her time downstairs with Genevieve.

That red velvet sofa that used to be Grandma’s. Remember it? Remember the linoleum floor in the basement? Remember how we went to the carpet store and begged them and they gave us some of the carpet squares they used for samples? Each square was a different color, a different kind of carpet. You made a joke about that, about used carpet, something dirty and hilarious, but I can’t remember what it

Reviews for The Long and Faraway Gone

[fhudnell-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a terrific mystery, but it is also the story of two people unable to move on from past tragedies until they get some resolution. It's not surprising that this author also writes screenplays, because this book would make a wonderful movie. In fact there is enough going on in this book for an entire television mini-series. There are three intricately plotted mysteries here, linked primarily by their setting in Oklahoma City and tangentially by the involvement of a Las Vegas private detective named Wyatt. All of the characters in this book are realistic and well developed, but my favorite was Wyatt who dealt with his pain with humor and intelligence. Nothing in this book was predictable. I found the ending of the book a little too tidy, but all in all this was a very enjoyable book and I would definitely like to read more by this author. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

[ko40370 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Excellent, will look for more by this author.

[cameron · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A nicely written dual narrative story. I'd recommend it to all.

[Ronald j stanard · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was real.And so well written. Best in a while.

[lynn koenig · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The writing and the characters were wonderful. The story went back and forth between Julianna, whose older sister disappeared 26 years prior, and Wyatt, the only survivor of an armed robbery of the movie theater that employed him when he was a teenager. Both events occurred in Oklahoma City. I finished the book in a day and a half because I had to find out what happened next. Highly recommend this book.

[creighley_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Story explores the mysteries of memory and the impact of violence on survivors-and the lengths they will go to find the painful truth of the events that scarred their lives. In the summer of 1986, two tragedies rocked Oklahoma City, six movie-theater employees were killed in an armed robbery, while one inexplicably survived. Then, a teenage girl vanishes from the annual state fair. Neither crime was ever solved. Twenty-five years later, the reverberations of those unsolved cases quietly echo through the survivors’ lives.

[robertalea-223265 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a story! I did begin to suspect the perpetrator of the bar's vandalism.... that was, to me, rather obvious. However, it was anyone's guess who was involved in the young girl's disappearance. The 'who did it' is a surprise.

[kimkimkim-7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I kept wondering how Berney was going to piece together the two different puzzles. In the end it didn’t really matter because both parts were so interesting and well developed. I found it intriguing that the two principals were given such different voices, one strident, one filled with self-deprecatory humor. Two people terribly damaged by events that transpired years ago, events that neither has been able to move beyond with any purpose or clarity. The questions of each repeat throughout “Why me? – Why would she?”

[wagner5sarah35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel consists of two parallel stories, that of Wyatt and Julianna, who sometimes encounter each other but that fall short of truly interacting. Both characters, though, are struggling with the trauma of events which occurred in the same summer more that two decades ago. Wyatt was the lone survivor of a shooting and Julianna's older sister, in a separate incident, went missing. I enjoyed this novel, which made for a compelling read and I liked how the conclusion offered a kind of resolution to the characters.

[mrsmommybooknerd7 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is gripping, in-depth and engaging. I thought it was so deep and moving at times. It has a setting so perfect for the book. It is one of those long books, that doesn't seem so long because you find yourself lost int he pages of the novel and when you poke your head up it has been an hour. A really great read. 4 stars

[ewhatley_3 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Well written with an interesting plot and varied cast of characters. Good early character development made it easy to follow when the story moved back and forth between the past and present.

[debristow · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I received this book as part of the Early Reviewers program. The Long and Faraway Gone is really two individual stories in one book. Both stories focus on separate tragic events that happened during the summer of 1986 in Oklahoma City. However each of the main characters of these stories have spent the last 25 years living in the past trying to understand the "why" of these events. Julianna has spent the last 25 years trying to come to terms with the fact that her sister disappeared leaving her behind. Twenty five years ago, Wyatt was the only survivor of a movie house robbery that left six of his coworkers dead. He has spent the last 25 years always questioning why he was the only one who survived. This story follows their separate lives- occasionally intertwining- as they answer some of the nagging questions they have been asking themselves for the last 25 years. I loved this story- my only regret was that Wyatt's and Julianna's stories didn't intertwine more. But then again, maybe that is what makes this story so great- that the ending is fulfilling even though it doesn't have the ending you would expect. A wonderfully well written story- definitely will read more by this author.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s been twenty-five years since two tragic events occurred in Oklahoma City, but to the people affected by the loss they incurred, the wounds have never healed. Wyatt alone survived a massacre at the movie theater where he worked, and Julianna’s sister disappeared at a fair, never to be seen again. Each is wracked by unanswered questions of why and how and who. Now a private investigator and called back to his home town on a case, all of Wyatt’s old feelings of that fateful night that he has managed to control now surface with renewed vigor. How these cold cases interact with Wyatt’s new cases make for some very compelling reading. But to some questions, there are no satisfying answers and knowing cannot bring back the dead. A suspenseful and gripping tale based on true crimes, this novel may keep you up nights, first reading it and then thinking about it.

[rmarcin-630843 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was my first time reading a Lou Berney book. It was a slow build of 2 stories. Enjoyable.
In 1986, 2 events rocked Oklahoma City. One was a mass shooting in a theater at the mall. All but one of the theater workers was shot and killed in a robbery. Why did one remain alive and unharmed?
Also, in 1986, two sisters went to the fair, and only one came home.
Fast forward to 2012, Wyatt has changed his name and is now a PI in Vegas. Gavin, his employer, asks him to take a case in OKC about a woman getting harassed about her restaurant ownership. He hesitates to return to OKC, as it is the scene of the theater massacre. While in OKC, Wyatt confronts his past.
Julianna has never gotten over the disappearance of her older sister, Genevieve. She decides to investigate the disappearance herself. She gets into some trouble, but ultimately comes to terms with the disappearance of her sister, while discovering the truth.
#TheLongAndFarawayGone #LouBerney

[historycycles · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Two events in Oklahoma City in the summer of 1986, unrelated except for being crimes that attracted the attention of the city, have interwoven threads 26 years later as author Lou Berney introduces us to Wyatt Rivers and Julianna Rosales, two people who are both looking for answers to the same question- why?

As Wyatt returns to Oklahoma City as a private investigator on a case for a friend of a friend, he looks for answers to the “why” that has haunted him since surviving a horrible crime his youth. Julianna, who has never left the city, searches for her own “why,” the disappearance of her older sister one night at the Oklahoma State Fair. Searching for their “why’s” will take both Wyatt and Julianna on paths both into their own pasts, and across each other’s.

Lou Berney writes an amazing story of open wounds, haunting pasts and presents, and searching for answers when answers may never heal.

[thomaspluck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

a great story that grips you to the end, about coping with loss and what you can never truly know.

[decaturmamaof2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent! Can't wait to read more by Berney.

[drapple_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I really loved this book. I loved the characters. I loved the pivotal events in their lives which were based on actual things that occurred in Oklahoma City. I loved the descriptions of Oklahoma City and the mysteries at the center of the novel. I tried to decide if I would have liked this as much if it hadn't taken place in a town with which I am very familiar. I think I would. I think the characters would have kept me engaged.

[mugsynoir · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Filled with poignancy and heart, The Long and Far Away Gone resonates with feelings of love and loss. Told with tenderness and humor, the novel vividly recounts the anguish of two lost souls, Julianna and Wyatt, as they try to rationalize the events of one night almost three decades ago.
Witty and compelling. Highly recommended

[bookmarque · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Subtle is how I’d characterize this book. It’s billed as two mysteries coming together, but it really doesn’t. Wyatt’s and Juliana’s situations connect in the lightest, most tangential way. As individual stories they are quite different and Juliana’s is the most exasperating. She tells herself she’s being stupid (monumentally so), but doesn’t stop and the urge to shake her is great. Wyatt, on the other hand, is trying to be smart, but is blind to certain things that I picked up on, although not totally. Both stories are tales of fate and circumstance and how just one small thing can make a life spin out of control, or end it all together. There are some surprises along the way and both mysteries are resolved in a satisfactory way.

[clue_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

In The Long and Faraway Gone by Lou Berney, 25 years have gone by since two tragedies occurred in Oklahoma City the same year.

Chapters shift back and forth from 1986 to 2011. In the 1986 chapters we learn how the victims were living and how they were thinking before the crimes took place. In 2011 we see how people who knew the victims are still grappling with the unsolved crimes.

Berney does a lot right with this book. He builds tension beautifully, a large empty potato chip bag on my family room floor attests to that. He also manages his characters with compassion and tolerance. And then there is the fact that I didn't figure it all out before the criminals were revealed. I can't think of a crime book that I've read in quite awhile that I liked any better.

[froxgirl · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

With two mysteries wrapped in a novel, this book has a lot going on and a lot going for it. Berney does the alternating protagonist chapter thing very well, probably because he's got two very compelling characters working their ways through two traumatic youthful tragedies in, of all place, Oklahoma City.

Wyatt is the sole survivor of a massacre at a movie theatre, having been conscious and listening when five of his co-workers are murdered by his side. Years later, he is an investigator sent back to Oklahoma City for a case, and he can't prevent himself from working the old and the new simultaneously.

Julianna was only ten, and idolized her teenage sister Genevieve, who disappeared from the midway at a local fair county fair.

Twenty years later, both main characters are damaged, but possibly not beyond repair. The secondary cast is especially well-drawn and there's plenty of humor amid the pathos as Berney juggles multiple red herrings and keeps the reader entranced throughout.

[bookappeal · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In Oklahoma City, during the late summer of 1986, the employees of a movie theater are killed - everyone except Wyatt, a teenager at the time. A month later, a young woman takes her sister, Julianna, to the State Fair, walks away from her, and never returns. Twenty-six years later, Wyatt and Julianna are both trapped by a past they cannot resolve. Why wasn't Wyatt killed along with the rest of his coworkers? Why did Julianna's sister never return? A harassment case brings Wyatt, now a private investigator, back to Oklahoma City in 2012 and Julianna, who has never stopped investigating her sister's disappearance follows a new, potentially dangerous lead. Berney's three storylines illustrate growing up and living in Okalahoma City and question the reliability of memory. A leisurely read that could have been shortened to increase the intensity. Berney's plotting is clever but the novel as a whole develops too slowly to be a thrilling read.

[reggieboo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really thought this was a good book. I enjoyed the premise and the character development.

[lissaj_4 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Set in Oklahoma City, this book follows two different people as they try to unravel their own tragedies that occurred during the summer of 1986. Wyatt was the only survivor of a theatre massacre and he cannot understand why he was spared while the others were killed. Julianna's sister disappeared one night from the fair and the last person to see her lies with every single breath. This book was fast-paced and I really enjoyed all of the side stories and mysteries. I hoped that the two stories would overlap a bit more than they did and the ending wrapped up quickly but the journey to get to the end was well worth the read. I received this book from the LibraryThing Early Reader's Program.

[lmikkel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This was a well written thought provoking mystery that has stayed with me long after I finished it. The author does a wonderful job with the alternating narratives and the main characters are believably conveyed. The minor characters are also memorable. As another reviewer has noted, the story unfolds a little slowly at first. But in a very short time the story exerts it's hold.. A compelling, evocative read.