Falling Dark

It was nice to see a novel set in the rural world in the center of the country. There are checkout workers and marginal farmers, low-level drug sellers trying to make ends meet and the disappointing culture of bar-life in the book. A little too much writing-workshop stylism for my taste but the true feeling makes up for it.

This is an exceptionally promising debut novel that takes place in rural Oklahoma. The action centers around a recently widowed mother, Donna Bless, her two children, and their attempts to redefine themselves as individuals and as a family in the wake of tragedy. The threats to newfound hope take various forms, most notably a dope-dealing brooder named Roy Dale, whose rage has serious repercussions for those around him. Tim Tharp's prose is measured and sure, its rhythms reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy and Charles Frazier, and he has a similar feel for his particular landscape, with its scrub oak and swaybacked barns. He maintains the book's considerable energy and tension by employing multiple points of view with remarkable dexterity. Just when you think the darkness may be overwhelming, Tharp extracts a moment of raw beauty and hope.