Black River
A Novel
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4.6 • 7 Ratings
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- $1.99
Publisher Description
This novel of sorrow and suspense, set in rural Montana, is "a complex and powerful story—put Black River on the must-read list" (The Seattle Times).
Wes Carver returns to his hometown—Black River, Montana—with two things: his wife's ashes and a letter from the parole board. The convict who once held him hostage during a prison riot is up for release.
For years, Wes earned his living as a correction officer and found his joy playing the fiddle. But the uprising shook Wes's faith and robbed him of his music; now he must decide if his attacker should walk free.
With "lovely rhythms, spare language, tenderness, and flashes of rage," S. M. Hulse shows us the heart and darkness of an American town, and one man's struggle to find forgiveness in the wake of evil (Los Angeles Review of Books).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This top-of-the-line modern American Western debut explores the themes of violence, revenge, and forgiveness with a sure hand. Security guard Wes Carver, age 60, lives in Spokane, Wash., with his wife, Claire. When she dies after a lengthy battle with leukemia, he fulfills her request to transport her ashes to their first home of Black River in the Montana outback. His 34-year-old stepson, Dennis Boxer, a successful farrier, puts up Wes at the old homestead despite the history of acrimony between the two men. Black River is a "prison town" where the majority of its residents are employed by the Montana State Prison operating there. Two decades before, when Wes lived in Black River and worked as a correctional officer, a prison riot erupted, led by sadistic thug Bobby Williams, and Williams tortured the captive Wes for 39 hours before rescuers arrived. Williams, who has been a born-again Christian and model inmate since the riot, is coming up for parole, and Wes intends to speak in opposition to it. Meantime, Wes, also a man of faith, has a moral struggle over accepting the sincerity of his former tormentor's religious conversion. Events take a darker, more tragic turn before any hope for a resolution can arise. From the bluegrass theme to the Western rural setting, Hulse handles his story like a pro.
