Thriller set in South East USA
- Book: The Long Count
- Location: Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas
- Author: J M Gulvin
The Long Count is an excellent psychological thriller set in the South East United States (Alabama, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas). It will appeal to all those who enjoyed the first season of True Detective, the cult TV series.
Isaac returns homes from fighting with the US Military in Vietnam to find that his twin brother Ishmael has survived a fire that destroyed the mental hospital in which he was being treated – and is going on a murderous spree across several States. Isaac, together with Texas Ranger John Q, is determined to track him down and limit the damage. The fast moving action takes them across State lines as they pursue Ishmael. The twins father is murdered and Ishmael is the prime suspect. Isaac searches out his long estranged mother and seeks to protect her…
The book takes us back to an age when attitudes to mental illness were not as they are today, and where racism was still deeply embedded in the American South (if, indeed, that has changed…). It is an interesting book that explores mental illness and the impact it has on family and those involved. It is also a very frightening book… John Q is an excellent and empathetic detective, and The Long Count is the first in a series that will be featuring him.
The denouement is both well worked, and extremely surprising. One you just don’t (or, rather, I didn’t) see coming. Reading back I guess there are clues, but not that you’d really focus on. I would pretty much challenge anyone to spot what is going to happen. And that makes for a great thriller.
The Long Count is certainly a book I would recommend. It will make you think.
This review first appeared on our blog, where we chat to the author:
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