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The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens

(Joe Talbert #1)

303 pages

4.8/5*

Formats Available: physical copy, Large Print physical copy, eBook Libby, eAudiobook Libby, eAudiobook HooplaBASE__COVER-OF

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran--and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home, after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe, along with his skeptical female neighbor, throws himself into uncovering the truth, but he is hamstrung in his efforts by having to deal with his dangerously dysfunctional mother, the guilt of leaving his autistic brother vulnerable, and a haunting childhood memory. Thread by thread, Joe unravels the tapestry of Carl’s conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it’s too late to escape the fallout?

 

I did not go into this book thinking that I would love it, but it was suggested to me by a few of my coworkers, so obviously I had to give it a try. I went into this book believing it would be set up with a true crime feel, and not a police procedural. Once again, I was wrong. I really started to love The Life We Bury about a few chapters in. The book took me back to earlier in the Off the Books Podcast when we were reading a lot of police procedure thrillers, such as The Vanishing Girls. I found The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens to be a good mix of The Vanishing Girls by Lisa Regan and None Shall Sleep by Ellie Marney.

            Like None Shall Sleep, the main characters that were trying to solve the crime were two young adults with absolutely no experience solving cases. I love this kind of perspective because you are just as clueless as these characters are, and it is like you are solving the case with them. I think this book was a great mix of thriller and mystery without being too graphic and scary. I would suggest The Life We Bury for people who have previously read any of the thrillers we have talked about on Off the Books Podcast and really enjoyed them. Overall, I gave this book a 4.8/5, and I will be keeping up with this series.

-Samantha