Beasts of the Earth in Austin Liti Limits

Jul 12, 2022 Scott Semegran rated it it was amazing

Beasts of the Earth by James Wade is a novel of literary fiction with elements of mystery, crime, and family drama. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School’s grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes o Beasts of the Earth by James Wade is a novel of literary fiction with elements of mystery, crime, and family drama. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School’s grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice. Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael’s life that sends him running from everything he has ever known. He is rescued by a dying poet and his lover, who extract from him a promise: to be a good man, whatever that may require. Beasts of the Earth deftly intertwines these stories, exploring themes of time, fate, and free will, to produce a revelatory conclusion that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.”

Beasts of the Earth is the third novel from acclaimed literary author James Wade. Although a modern Western with similar themes to his previous work, this new novel is leaner and more grounded to its characters and the town they live in. There is a much keener focus to the many characters that inhabit this world as well as the relationships that develop. Tightly plotted and drawn with dreadful suspense, the two plot lines run in distinct parallel lines until the satisfying conclusion which reveals the ties that bind them. There is some rumination about time and fate, although less so than in Wade’s previous novels, but what is here is beautifully written. Wade’s poetic observations about nature are still on display as these unruly creatures of nature and the small town they inhabit come alive.

Main character Harlen LeBlanc is mysterious and reticent yet compelling. The townsfolk as well as the reader will wonder what is simmering underneath that laconic exterior. Once revealed, the town and the reader will never be the same. James Wade is a writer of exceptional talent and this novel is his latest entry toward his path to greatness.

I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars. ...more

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Jan 13, 2023 James Wade rated it really liked it · (Review from the author) · review of another edition

4.25
Getting better. Still not there yet.
Love y’all.
JW

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Oct 10, 2022 Lone Star Literary Life rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction, lone-star-review, sociology

Featured on Lone Star Book Blog Tours.

Reviewed by Lone Star Literary Life for Lone Star Literary Life. ...more

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Oct 12, 2022 Kristine Hall rated it it was amazing

Shelves: adult, mystery, crime, audiobook, dark, murder, lonestarlit, lone, southern-fiction

AUDIOBOOK / PRINT REVIEW: Sometimes, the very best books I read are the hardest to write about once I’ve finished that final chapter; Beasts of the Earth by James Wade is one of those books.

Part of the problem is that turning that last page and closing the cover of Beasts of the Earth doesn’t end the story. Scenes settle back over me and replay in my mind, and I find myself wondering about characters, too, as if I could get into the car and travel the backroads to those melancholy times and pla AUDIOBOOK / PRINT REVIEW: Sometimes, the very best books I read are the hardest to write about once I’ve finished that final chapter; Beasts of the Earth by James Wade is one of those books.

Part of the problem is that turning that last page and closing the cover of Beasts of the Earth doesn’t end the story. Scenes settle back over me and replay in my mind, and I find myself wondering about characters, too, as if I could get into the car and travel the backroads to those melancholy times and places and check on them. But the main difficulty in summing up a book of this caliber is that no words I can string together will do it justice. Wade’s prose is exquisite and a fully immersive experience.

“LeBlanc turned back to the horizon where the far sky had tasted the morning and come aglow in swirls of rose pink.”

The descriptions in Beasts of the Earth are captivating and complex with next-level imagery that often juxtaposes beauty with ugliness, purity with evil, natural with unnatural. Wade’s mastery of figurative language enriches the story and the metaphors found in the recurrence of two animals are stunning. Scenes are haunting, even horrifying, yet there is a sprinkling of hope even in the absence of happily-ever-afters.

“How privileged are we to ponder our own existence. How cursed.”

Wade writes complex, complicated characters that make your heart ache, your head hurt, and certainly spark your ire – sometimes all at once. As with Wade’s other outstanding novels, All Things Left Wild and River, Sing Out, there is much that happens via the characters’ words and actions, but there is much more that happens in their minds and off the page. He is especially talented at creating people who appear simple and are easily overlooked but have so much depth of character. Few words, many thoughts. Wade forces readers to put themselves inside his characters, and it’s uncomfortable to be there.

The delicate, seemingly disconnected threads of the stories ultimately weave themselves together into one perfect reading package. With its dual timelines and multiple, multilayered plots incorporating elements of gritty crime fiction, mystery, and literary fiction, Beasts of the Earth is a true work of art. I’ll be watching for this novel on awards lists.

ABOUT THE NARRATION: The audiobook narration by Roger Clark is excellent. That accent! His g-dropping will have readers hangin' on Wade's every word. Clark’s style is part campfire storyteller, part backwoods preacher, and fully engages the listener with even pacing and voice inflection. Clark also narrated Wade’s second novel, River, Sing Out, and he’s absolutely perfect for narrating Southern fiction. This was the first novel I've listened to via NetGalley's app, and I had no issues at all. I listened at regular speed, but it would have been nice to have an option between 1x and 1.25x.
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May 26, 2023 Ramona rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

A beautifully written novel that called to mind Cormac McCarthy. The natural world that Wade renders bears down on the main character scene after scene. Nature is violent and inescapable in this world, but the story is so well told, the word choices so extraordinary that I was willing, and even happy, to keep reading.

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