Review: Beasts of the Earth by James Wade
James Wade, whose first two novels were
praised as “rhapsodic” and “haunting,” delivers his most powerful work to
date—a chilling parable about the impossible demands of hate and love, trauma
and goodness, vividly set in the landscapes of Texas and Louisiana.
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.
PRAISE FOR BEASTS OF THE EARTH
“Wade’s pitch-perfect, personality-driven dialogue sings in the voice of life, and his ability to meld existential thought, situational metaphor, and cinematic setting is a full-bodied experience…A soul-deep exploration of a wounded man in crisis, James Wade’s Beasts of the Earth…secures his position as an author of extraordinary merit.” —New York Journal of Books
“James Wade writes a terrific story, but that isn’t what
makes him so good. Wade is a craftsman. His books should be read slowly, to
luxuriate in his word choices, his sentence structure, his character
revelation. That is why he is a joy to read.” —James L. Haley, Spur
Award–winning author of the Bliven Putnam Naval Adventures
“I found myself rooting for the characters throughout their near-Biblical tribulations, and the storyline kept me turning the pages, desperate to find out what would happen next. Here we have a novel that blends realism with existentialist philosophy to redefine contemporary Southern fiction. Don’t miss this tour de force of modern literature.” —David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Spur and Anthony Award–winning author of Winter Counts
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| "Beasts of the Earth is a beautiful gut-punch of a novel.” —Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas |
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