The Cooter Farm

The Cooters of upper New York are a family on the verge of falling apart. Hooter Cooter, the patriarch of the bunch, rules the family with cruelty and ruthlessness, ridiculing and attacking those who don't fall in line. While this novel has been compared with To Kill a Mockingbird,I didn't find it all that compelling and there were parts that I found hard to get through (especially the detailed scenes of incest). This one also has all the earmarks of a book written by a newer writer, with sections alternating between sentimentality and dark humor....not always in the smoothest manner. The author shows promise but this one isn't going to have a permanent place on my bookshelf.