James A. McLaughlin’s deeply evocative writing in Bearskin (2018) earned him an Edgar Award for finest first novel, and now he turns his consideration from Appalachia to Colorado for an much more bold second novel. The title of Panther Gap suggests one thing savage and non secular inside its pages, and as soon as you start, you’ll uncover a thriller wealthy with character element, metaphor and even a bit of magic.
Flashbacks scattered all through the novel reveal the troublesome, generally mystical childhood of siblings Bowman and Summer. They grew up on a ranch referred to as Panther Gap, the place their father stored them off the grid and taught them to work the household land, generally at an excellent private worth. In the current, Bowman has grow to be a wanderer obsessive about the pure wonders of the world, whereas Summer has stayed behind to try to maintain Panther Gap afloat with the assistance of her uncles.
Everything adjustments when Summer will get a name a few mysterious inheritance in a secret abroad checking account, one thing tied to their grandfather’s misadventures in organized crime. The cash might save Panther Gap, however different forces are vying for the windfall—forces that would jeopardize Bowman and Summer’s reunion and destroy their difficult household legacy.
What’s instantly placing about Panther Gap is how firmly McLaughlin grasps his characters, not within the sense that he’s a grasp puppeteer who gained’t allow them to stray, however in that he appears to know each inch of their souls. Even when the narrative blasts off into the thriller stratosphere, he by no means loses his contact. It’s a remarkably assured novel, with each web page enriched by McLaughlin’s confidence in these characters.
Panther Gap comes alive in McLaughlin’s arms, rising and shifting till, by the tip, you’re feeling like you possibly can step proper into it. It definitely evokes the crime novels of Elmore Leonard and George Pelecanos however, most significantly, reaffirms McLaughlin’s personal vibrant, assured voice.
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