Tall Bones

There is something about small town USA that provides a wonderful claustrophobia. The secrets, gossip, pettiness and viciousness of people in small communities provide a perfect tinderbox. Add in the bigotry and hypocritical judgement of small town religion and you end up with a dark and powerful story which Anna Bailey captures in haunting style in Tall Bones.

The main story revolves around a missing 17 year old girl and her best friend. As her friend goes searching for the truth she digs down through the secrets buried within the family and the community.

This is dark and haunting stuff, exquisitely written to catch that underlying paranoia. A fantastic debut!

This was an interesting read, thanks mainly to a town full of some really, really awful characters! Honestly the behaviour of some of the characters made me want to reach into the book and give them a good shake.

I suppose it's credit to author for writing the characters so brilliantly that it was easy to despise them! I should say that this was the older characters and not the younger ones, who had far better attitudes!

The story was really well written and I did enjoy it.

Thank you to PH and Anna for the chance to read this book.

The town of Whistling Ridge! What a place! A community held captive by the homophobic, racist beliefs of those that hold the power, men in powerful positions: Pastor, Sheriff and Business Tycoon. A God-fearing community being led by a man with extreme views leads this community being torn apart. The younger generation desperate to find some escapism turn to alcohol and drugs in their rebellion. However, these drastic measures produce some devastating consequences, including the disappearance of Abigail, a beloved daughter and friend.

This dark, atmospheric novel explores the power of religion and how bigoted views can cause hatred and violence towards other. Some of the scenes in the novel are not only shocking but hard to read at times. The prejudice and satanic nature of some of the characters caused my blood to boil. The intense anger and hatred in the novel was balanced beautifully with the kindness of other characters and ultimately the theme of love. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time as you never truly knew what was waiting for you on the next page.

I loved the mystery of the disappearance of Abi and how that had an affect on the community. The characters were rich in description and fully came alive on the page. The tension builds, creating a highly addictive read. Bailey continues to evoke different emotions throughout the novel, pushing you to uncomfortable levels at times. For me, it was an emotional rollercoaster.

This haunting and heart wrenching novel was a definite page-turner and one that will stay with me for some time. Many thanks to Alison Barrow at Doubleday for my proof copy of Tall Bones, a very poignant and provocative novel yet such a enjoyable read.