Redemption Road by John Hart

"Bent as he was, he looked different yet the same, violent and held together and still somehow lovely. It was a foolish word---lovely---but that, too, came from childhood so she gave it a moment. He was lovely and undone, every tortured inch a mystery. Like the church, she thought, or Crybaby's heart or the souls of wounded children. But childhood was not all good, nor were its lessons. Good came with the bad, as dark did with light and weakness with strength. Nothing was simple or pure; everyone had secrets."              -Elizabeth's thoughts, from the novel

This book was chosen for the group because it was a Book Bundle from our public library (10 copies available) and also it was rated fairly highly on goodreads.com. One more reason I selected it: we just read Little Women and this would be VERY different and hopefully interest the guys in our group a little more. So far the feedback is mixed! I'm guessing our folks are either going to like it or hate it. I have to say it is absolutely a page-turner!

The plot involves a serial killer, identity unknown until near the end, and a few subplots---a detective, Elizabeth Black, accused of using undue brutal force against two kidnappers, and a former cop, Adrian Wall, recently released from prison and lucky to be alive after gross mistreatment by the warden and guards. A young man, Gideon, who wants revenge on the man who killed his mother and Channing, the teenage girl kidnapped by the men Elizabeth is accused of killing, provide even more mystery and angst.

About the time Adrian gets out of prison, a series of murders of young women are dramatically revealed. Since he had been found guilty and  imprisoned for the murder of one woman, fingers started to point in his direction, with some people being convinced he was the perpetrator and Elizabeth being totally sure he is not! For most of the book, we are left to wonder although I admit I leaned toward Elizabeth's opinion.

I had some questions about Elizabeth's attempted martyrdom and I really was shocked to discover the killer. Many of the bad guys in the story get their comeuppance, so that was good. My favorite character was Faircloth "Crybaby" Jones, a retired lawyer, seemingly with a heart of gold. I cannot say too much more about the plot without spoiling the suspense so I will stop....

The violence is graphic and disturbing but the story is riveting. Even at just over 400 pages, I almost inhaled the book! A hard one to put down. I might rate this a 2 for literary value and a 4 for readability so I guess I will say a 3, overall. Wonder what the group will think.....more later.
-----------------------------
Redemption Road provided the Page Turners with a lively discussion even though we had to use generic questions for mystery/suspense. The group's rating was 3.4---votes in the extreme, 5 all the way to 1! Some members of the group found certain elements of the plot implausible and a number of us didn't like the ending. Most didn't find many likeable characters---except Crybaby Jones, and we agreed several were downright despicable, especially the warden and, of course, the murderer. (No spoiler here!)

There was a good bit of speculation about the choice and meaning of the title. One member with a background in publishing reminded us a title is often chosen by the publisher, not the author. Another participant, a retired pastor, shared some very interesting insight into the significance of the word redemption. We were still left questioning which characters were redeemed and to what extent.

Several in our group said they would read another novel by John Hart so we apparently thought the writing was good.