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Red Light Run: Linked Stories
A fatal drunk driving accident in the suburbs of Chicago sets in place a series of events that echo through the lives of those close to both the victim and the perpetrator in this radiant novel-in-stories debut from a prize-winning short story writer.
When Sonia, the prominent wife of a local cemetery owner, is killed in the worst accident anyone can remember, Hartley Nolan, a lifelong teetotaler, is hardly the person police expect to find behind the wheel. After all, Hartley’s something of an inspiration in a town that hasn’t seen much luck in decades, the local boy who made it big in Chicago as a commodities trader without ever forgetting his struggling family back home.
But Tower Hill, Illinois, close knit and alive with old rivalries, is fertile ground for resentments. With Hartley up for parole four years after his arrest, an old friend of Sonia’s takes justice into his own hands.
Set in the days leading up to Sonia’s death and those surrounding Hartley’s release from prison, Baird Harper’s linked stories reveal the perspectives of townspeople harboring wildly different knowledge about the same events. Dazzlingly told and teeming with stunning twists, Red Light Run brilliantly unravels the mystery behind the town’s most notorious crime and examines how far its residents will go to rectify it.
When Sonia, the prominent wife of a local cemetery owner, is killed in the worst accident anyone can remember, Hartley Nolan, a lifelong teetotaler, is hardly the person police expect to find behind the wheel. After all, Hartley’s something of an inspiration in a town that hasn’t seen much luck in decades, the local boy who made it big in Chicago as a commodities trader without ever forgetting his struggling family back home.
But Tower Hill, Illinois, close knit and alive with old rivalries, is fertile ground for resentments. With Hartley up for parole four years after his arrest, an old friend of Sonia’s takes justice into his own hands.
Set in the days leading up to Sonia’s death and those surrounding Hartley’s release from prison, Baird Harper’s linked stories reveal the perspectives of townspeople harboring wildly different knowledge about the same events. Dazzlingly told and teeming with stunning twists, Red Light Run brilliantly unravels the mystery behind the town’s most notorious crime and examines how far its residents will go to rectify it.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
1 pages, Audio CD
First published August 8, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
August 1, 2017
I love connected short stories and I love stories told from different perspectives showing how different the world looks for different people. I adored the first two stories and was sure that this'll be a book I just love. But while there was plenty to enjoy and I absolutely devoured this book, I still ultimately found the experience uneven.
The first and the last story in this collection were my absolute favourite and I love how the last story recontextualized what came before. I adore how Baird Harper slowly built these characters and connections and connected this to a larger whole that is perfectly framed by those two stories.
The middle part however was uneven for me and the stories started to not add a whole lot to the overall story while at the same time not really working as short stories in their own right. Ultimately this is my biggest issue: the short stories were not strong enough on their own; without the context of the work they would not make much sense. I find short stories to be a difficult genre to excel in; for me, short stories need to have a clear point or message or metaphor, the characterization has to be on point and the language must be absolutely crisp and without wasted words for them to make a lasting impression. This did not always happen here which leaves me in this weird place where the sum of this collection's parts was stronger than its parts. I enjoyed reading this book overall, but not the whole time if this makes sense.
____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Scribner in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
The first and the last story in this collection were my absolute favourite and I love how the last story recontextualized what came before. I adore how Baird Harper slowly built these characters and connections and connected this to a larger whole that is perfectly framed by those two stories.
The middle part however was uneven for me and the stories started to not add a whole lot to the overall story while at the same time not really working as short stories in their own right. Ultimately this is my biggest issue: the short stories were not strong enough on their own; without the context of the work they would not make much sense. I find short stories to be a difficult genre to excel in; for me, short stories need to have a clear point or message or metaphor, the characterization has to be on point and the language must be absolutely crisp and without wasted words for them to make a lasting impression. This did not always happen here which leaves me in this weird place where the sum of this collection's parts was stronger than its parts. I enjoyed reading this book overall, but not the whole time if this makes sense.
____
I received an arc of this book curtesy of NetGalley and Scribner in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for that!
September 1, 2017
After spending four years in prison for vehicular manslaughter, Hartley Nolan is released and back at home with his parents and his wife. Supposedly he was driving drunk when involved in a car accident and where the wife of a prominent resident was killed. But she had been racing from another town to get to her hometown in the middle of the night.
This is basically a story that is written in a series of short stories showing how if you pull one thread, the sweater unravels. This one action touched many different people in one way or another. Each of the voices has a story to tell, from their own viewpoint.
This was an interesting reading experience. The idea of writing a story within a set of short stories has never occurred to me. The beginning (or first short story) drew me in. But the middle is bit jarring, not evenly paced. The ending put everything in place. I have to confess, there were few characters that I actually liked or felt empathy for. The main characters were cleverly written, secondary characters not so much.
Many thanks to the author / Scribner / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
This is basically a story that is written in a series of short stories showing how if you pull one thread, the sweater unravels. This one action touched many different people in one way or another. Each of the voices has a story to tell, from their own viewpoint.
This was an interesting reading experience. The idea of writing a story within a set of short stories has never occurred to me. The beginning (or first short story) drew me in. But the middle is bit jarring, not evenly paced. The ending put everything in place. I have to confess, there were few characters that I actually liked or felt empathy for. The main characters were cleverly written, secondary characters not so much.
Many thanks to the author / Scribner / Netgalley for the digital copy. Opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.
February 2, 2018
The synopsis (on Goodreads) is a gross exaggeration. The last few chapters were incomprehensible, at least to me.
September 12, 2017
I love characters who make bad decisions. If literary fiction aspires to presenting some unique condition of humanity that is grounded in a common reality, then character flaws are of paramount importance. Yet, characters who make bad decisions don't have to be unlikable. In fact, it's those moments of frailty that allow us to empathize with them and bring them to life on the page. And bad decisions mean these characters are doing things. The various plots woven throughout this collection serve a narrative whole that tells a complex, nuanced story of great emotional depth.
This book is filled with compelling characters whose decisions big and small shape their lives and their futures. It is one of the few collections of linked stories I've read that function more as a novel and less as a collection threaded by some flimsy conceit. In fact, I thought some of the stories would not quite stand alone without the color of the others to provide narrative cohesion.
The writing in this book is top notch, the characters unique and fascinating and the stories wonderfully enriching. Highly recommended.
This book is filled with compelling characters whose decisions big and small shape their lives and their futures. It is one of the few collections of linked stories I've read that function more as a novel and less as a collection threaded by some flimsy conceit. In fact, I thought some of the stories would not quite stand alone without the color of the others to provide narrative cohesion.
The writing in this book is top notch, the characters unique and fascinating and the stories wonderfully enriching. Highly recommended.
September 2, 2017
Baird Harper est nouvelliste, il a d'ailleurs été récompensé par le prix Raymond Carver en 2014 . Il enseigne l'écriture à l'université Loyola à Chicago. Il nous propose ici son premier roman.
Bello se rend à la prison de Grassland près de Chicago car c'est aujourd'hui qu'est prévue la sortie d'Hartley Nolan, un homme qui purge depuis quatre ans une peine suite à un homicide involontaire.
Une jeune femme, Sonia avait trouvé la mort suite à un tragique accident de voiture. Un acte qui a provoqué bien des ravages dans les deux familles, celle de l'accusé et celle de la victime.
La sortie de prison d'Hartley Nolan est reportée de 24 heures et pourrait changer le cours des choses...
Difficile de vous en dire plus pour ne rien dévoiler, ni vous gâcher le plaisir de la découverte. Baird Harper nous distille au fil des chapitres, des informations sans continuité apparente concernant les deux familles.
Onze chapitres qui vont peu à peu créer des liens, une toile qui va rassembler les différents personnages décrits peu à peu à chaque fois dans la structure d'une nouvelle. C'est un peu comme si onze nouvelles tissaient le corps du roman.
On voit apparaître de nouveaux personnages, on se demande qui ils sont, et très vite on comprend le lien qui existe avec les personnages précédents.
J'ai vraiment été happée par le style, une écriture tendue par moment, hachée, un style saccadé qui m'a tenu en haleine.
Le scarabée "Agrilus Quercata" connu sous le surnom "le tueur des chênes" est un fil rouge intéressant. L'auteur nous parle de ces insectes qui détruisent peu à peu la vie du chêne vert en le "mangeant" de l'intérieur, une belle métaphore en lieu avec les divers protagonistes du roman.
La vie tient parfois à un fil, et le cours des choses peut être modifié par un élément extérieur...
Autre fil conducteur, une ombre qui plane du début à la fin, celle de l'étrangleur du champ de soja...
Un premier roman que j'ai dévoré. L'auteur dresse bien le profil psychologique de chaque protagoniste.
Rester maître de son destin, reprendre les choses en main en dépit des rumeurs, des préjugés, pas toujours simple dans le petit village de Wicklow...
Un très bon moment.
Ma note, pas très loin du coup de coeur 9/10
Les jolies phrases
Je veux seulement dire que j'ai connu la situation dans laquelle se trouve maintenant Glennis. J'ai été un type allongé dans le caniveau pendant que tous mes amis l'attendaient pour l'aider.
- Elle n'est pas exactement dans le caniveau, dit Hartley. En ce moment elle est sans doute dans un bar à vins. On y sert aussi des sushis.
-Tous les caniveaux sont différents. Rick se pencha en arrière pour lancer un cracker dans sa bouche. Mais c'est toujours un caniveau.
Le maïs nu lui fit le même effet que la main sur sa joue, l'éveilla une fois de plus à cette vérité selon laquelle les gens ont peu de contrôle sur leur propre vie mais exercent parfois un énorme pouvoir sur la nôtre.
Pourquoi, se demanda-t-elle, la douleur d'autrui nous permet-elle d'atténuer la nôtre ?
https://nathavh49.blogspot.be/2017/09...
Bello se rend à la prison de Grassland près de Chicago car c'est aujourd'hui qu'est prévue la sortie d'Hartley Nolan, un homme qui purge depuis quatre ans une peine suite à un homicide involontaire.
Une jeune femme, Sonia avait trouvé la mort suite à un tragique accident de voiture. Un acte qui a provoqué bien des ravages dans les deux familles, celle de l'accusé et celle de la victime.
La sortie de prison d'Hartley Nolan est reportée de 24 heures et pourrait changer le cours des choses...
Difficile de vous en dire plus pour ne rien dévoiler, ni vous gâcher le plaisir de la découverte. Baird Harper nous distille au fil des chapitres, des informations sans continuité apparente concernant les deux familles.
Onze chapitres qui vont peu à peu créer des liens, une toile qui va rassembler les différents personnages décrits peu à peu à chaque fois dans la structure d'une nouvelle. C'est un peu comme si onze nouvelles tissaient le corps du roman.
On voit apparaître de nouveaux personnages, on se demande qui ils sont, et très vite on comprend le lien qui existe avec les personnages précédents.
J'ai vraiment été happée par le style, une écriture tendue par moment, hachée, un style saccadé qui m'a tenu en haleine.
Le scarabée "Agrilus Quercata" connu sous le surnom "le tueur des chênes" est un fil rouge intéressant. L'auteur nous parle de ces insectes qui détruisent peu à peu la vie du chêne vert en le "mangeant" de l'intérieur, une belle métaphore en lieu avec les divers protagonistes du roman.
La vie tient parfois à un fil, et le cours des choses peut être modifié par un élément extérieur...
Autre fil conducteur, une ombre qui plane du début à la fin, celle de l'étrangleur du champ de soja...
Un premier roman que j'ai dévoré. L'auteur dresse bien le profil psychologique de chaque protagoniste.
Rester maître de son destin, reprendre les choses en main en dépit des rumeurs, des préjugés, pas toujours simple dans le petit village de Wicklow...
Un très bon moment.
Ma note, pas très loin du coup de coeur 9/10
Les jolies phrases
Je veux seulement dire que j'ai connu la situation dans laquelle se trouve maintenant Glennis. J'ai été un type allongé dans le caniveau pendant que tous mes amis l'attendaient pour l'aider.
- Elle n'est pas exactement dans le caniveau, dit Hartley. En ce moment elle est sans doute dans un bar à vins. On y sert aussi des sushis.
-Tous les caniveaux sont différents. Rick se pencha en arrière pour lancer un cracker dans sa bouche. Mais c'est toujours un caniveau.
Le maïs nu lui fit le même effet que la main sur sa joue, l'éveilla une fois de plus à cette vérité selon laquelle les gens ont peu de contrôle sur leur propre vie mais exercent parfois un énorme pouvoir sur la nôtre.
Pourquoi, se demanda-t-elle, la douleur d'autrui nous permet-elle d'atténuer la nôtre ?
https://nathavh49.blogspot.be/2017/09...
August 8, 2017
Run Light Run is a novel presented as a series of interconnected stories, mostly radiating from one central event; the running of a red light. As a whole, this is a well written exploration of family drama set in a suburb of Chicago.
I enjoy when situations are examined from various view points and perspectives, and Harper does a good job of shifting these around. Each story/chapter is from the point of view of a different character, all of whom have some connection by varying degrees. The author manages to keep things interesting while not over complicating the narrative. It's not at all difficult to recall a passage that another story may reference.
I'm on the fence in regards to the "linked stories" format. From what I've gathered, Harper is better known as a short story writer. So, it make sense that this format may be more comfortable to him for a debut novel. And as a novel it works. I think I struggle a bit with the word "stories" only because these rarely have the ability to stand on their own. The first story in the book possibly could. And maybe the last as well. But the middle drags a bit. It seems that these middle sections in particular could never stand as stories on their own without the others for support. Fortunately, being presented as a novel made of stories, this is a minor issue.
**Full disclosure: I received an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the book.**
I enjoy when situations are examined from various view points and perspectives, and Harper does a good job of shifting these around. Each story/chapter is from the point of view of a different character, all of whom have some connection by varying degrees. The author manages to keep things interesting while not over complicating the narrative. It's not at all difficult to recall a passage that another story may reference.
I'm on the fence in regards to the "linked stories" format. From what I've gathered, Harper is better known as a short story writer. So, it make sense that this format may be more comfortable to him for a debut novel. And as a novel it works. I think I struggle a bit with the word "stories" only because these rarely have the ability to stand on their own. The first story in the book possibly could. And maybe the last as well. But the middle drags a bit. It seems that these middle sections in particular could never stand as stories on their own without the others for support. Fortunately, being presented as a novel made of stories, this is a minor issue.
**Full disclosure: I received an advanced review copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review. Thanks to Scribner and NetGalley for the book.**
February 27, 2024
This was a solid three star read for me. I liked a lot of the stories and felt myself getting into it in the middle. Because of how it's written, we get really interesting snapshots of time and need to piece it all together - it made a story that wasn't really a mystery kind of feel like one and that was really neat.
Unfortunately, the biggest drawback for me was the assumption that I, as a reader, knew where I was in the story. But I mostly didn't. I really struggled with keeping track of the timeline and characters. I was constantly forgetting who was who - we had dads and step dads and wives - and because of how the stories were told they didn't have a lot of defining features. In fact a lot of them were dealing with similar issues (due to drugs, alcohol, age, 3-4 of the characters experienced memory loss/confusion). I had such a hard time keeping track of everyone. A family tree at the beginning to go back and refer to, and month/year listed at the beginning of each of the stories, would have done wonders.
Also had some points that seemed important that were never resolved which was super frustrating. Or it's possible I missed some of the resolution in my character confusion.
Still, it was a fast read with some effective writing, I'll definitely remember a few of the stories for a while.
Unfortunately, the biggest drawback for me was the assumption that I, as a reader, knew where I was in the story. But I mostly didn't. I really struggled with keeping track of the timeline and characters. I was constantly forgetting who was who - we had dads and step dads and wives - and because of how the stories were told they didn't have a lot of defining features. In fact a lot of them were dealing with similar issues (due to drugs, alcohol, age, 3-4 of the characters experienced memory loss/confusion). I had such a hard time keeping track of everyone. A family tree at the beginning to go back and refer to, and month/year listed at the beginning of each of the stories, would have done wonders.
Also had some points that seemed important that were never resolved which was super frustrating. Or it's possible I missed some of the resolution in my character confusion.
Still, it was a fast read with some effective writing, I'll definitely remember a few of the stories for a while.
August 23, 2017
A heavy and intense book, Red Light Run is a rumination upon the web-like structures of loss and recovery (or rather, the lack thereof) that connect our lives, and it demonstrates how pulling on one life untethers the apparently solid hold those around it have upon their own individual senses of reality. Within these pages, Harper also deals with guilt and blame as ephemeral, illusive qualities that often require an overly simplistic, surface-level understanding of the complexity of life and human relationships to be tenable at all. Here, the innocent and the guilty exist singularly within narrow contexts, identifiable only from specific angles and when viewed through just the right lens. Harper’s work doesn’t become so unmoored from reality that morality and ethics sink out of view entirely, but he certainly questions their veracity and seems to wonder how the world would still turn if we could dive into every painful event, every unfair, seemingly meaningless disaster and search the wrecks within for the kinds of broad-ranging stories that he provides readers with here.
Read the full review at thecontemporaryclerk.com.
Read the full review at thecontemporaryclerk.com.
November 24, 2017
I almost quit this book during the first story/chapter. But I sojourned on and man, it paid off. It is a powerful tale of loss and pain and grief. Sounds depressing but the author keeps the wheels spinning so skillfully. The characters are a bit difficult to keep track of, partly because of the many time jumps. The linked stories all revolve around a case of vehicular manslaughter. Sonia Senn was killed in a horrific crash, and Hartley Nolan, the other driver, has spent 4 years in prison. Depending on the chapter, this central tragedy either: 1. happened years ago, 2. it hasn’t happened yet, or 3. it is happening now.
We meet friends and foes and family, in-laws and outlaws and a creepy “handyman.” The characters are all damaged and suffering and capable of making bad decisions, each in their own way. A couple of stories focus on people having serious breakdowns, losing their grip on reality. There is alcohol and drugs and much time spent in Oak Hill Cemetery. There is the lingering story of a serial killer from years ago and an infestation of beetles destroying all the oak trees in town.
Powerful storytelling.
We meet friends and foes and family, in-laws and outlaws and a creepy “handyman.” The characters are all damaged and suffering and capable of making bad decisions, each in their own way. A couple of stories focus on people having serious breakdowns, losing their grip on reality. There is alcohol and drugs and much time spent in Oak Hill Cemetery. There is the lingering story of a serial killer from years ago and an infestation of beetles destroying all the oak trees in town.
Powerful storytelling.
October 19, 2018
I really enjoyed this book, from multiple angles. First, it's an engaging story, with believable, interesting characters. And the shifting viewpoints are handled well. I was also impressed with the fact that each chapter/ story, while all revolving around the same set of events, really did feel like it could stand on its own, even though the whole thing read more like a novel than a set of short stories.
[Slight spoilers below]
I guess the only parts that didn't resonate with me were the oak beetles and the "Soyfield Strangler." I thought that one or both of those elements was going to come together in some more meaningful way to the overall story; when they didn't, they felt a bit like elements that would be used in an inferior work of fiction as a superficial way of connecting stories. This book and the stories would hold together quite well without those elements.
[Slight spoilers below]
I guess the only parts that didn't resonate with me were the oak beetles and the "Soyfield Strangler." I thought that one or both of those elements was going to come together in some more meaningful way to the overall story; when they didn't, they felt a bit like elements that would be used in an inferior work of fiction as a superficial way of connecting stories. This book and the stories would hold together quite well without those elements.
October 8, 2018
The oak slayer beetle that knits these stories together works beautifully, mirroring the emergence of our instinct to kill out of survival, desperation, grief, or vengeance. As when Bello, in a casino hotel, asks for aspirin at the front desk, instead gets Tylenol, and "pours it in to his riddled stomach, and summons again the sour, vengeful man." Try as we might, we can't fight it, and yet we do, as when Victor concocts a pesticide potion and rigs it to a sprayer on the back of his pickup, and drives, relentlessly, spraying yellow swirling clouds around the cemetery he owns, trying to save it from oak slayers. And as when Billy, the father of the imprisoned Hartley, while in the same cemetery, tells himself, "there's a rich man inside you," unable to see the poison around him.
August 11, 2017
Lecture particulière.
L'histoire commence avec un homme qui sort de prison. Nous allons comprendre ce qui s'est passé à travers une série d'histoires interconnectées : à chaque chapitre, le point de vue d'un personnage ayant tous un lien à un degré différent.
Une écriture originale même si j'ai trouvé le style haché, saccadé, qui n'était pas évident à suivre.
Je pense que je suis passée à côté et je n'ai pas compris où voulait nous emmener l'auteur, je laisse passer du temps et je le relirai un peu plus tard.
Dans le même genre, je dirais que pour sa construction il m'a fait penser à "Je me suis tue" de Mathieu Menegaux ou "3 jours pour une vie" de Pierre Lemaitre
L'histoire commence avec un homme qui sort de prison. Nous allons comprendre ce qui s'est passé à travers une série d'histoires interconnectées : à chaque chapitre, le point de vue d'un personnage ayant tous un lien à un degré différent.
Une écriture originale même si j'ai trouvé le style haché, saccadé, qui n'était pas évident à suivre.
Je pense que je suis passée à côté et je n'ai pas compris où voulait nous emmener l'auteur, je laisse passer du temps et je le relirai un peu plus tard.
Dans le même genre, je dirais que pour sa construction il m'a fait penser à "Je me suis tue" de Mathieu Menegaux ou "3 jours pour une vie" de Pierre Lemaitre
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 6, 2018
A collection of interrelated short stories by a prize-wining author. The stories explore the impact of an auto accident which kills Sonia Senn. Cleverly done, these tales pivot around Sonia but we don’t meet her until the last story. A thoughtful, incisive look at life in a Chicago suburb which is like all American suburbs—full of ambition, accomplishment, frustration, and the haunting fear that there’s never enough and failure has already arrived or is just around the corner.
June 6, 2019
I wanted to like this book more because I'm a driver's ed teacher and think there are some great driving novels out there that could potentially benefit me or my students. But this story was just confusing. I think I was over half way through listening to it before I figured out who all the characters were. The ending made me mad. Yes, it's understandable why she ran the red light, but I hated knowing that there would be years more child abuse because of her death. Bleh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2023
2.5*
I really should have quit this book and if it had been longer I likely would have. There are a lot of characters, trying to connect them all and remember how they fit was challenging. Probably partially because I just didn't care enough to remember. I liked the idea, the execution not so much.
I really should have quit this book and if it had been longer I likely would have. There are a lot of characters, trying to connect them all and remember how they fit was challenging. Probably partially because I just didn't care enough to remember. I liked the idea, the execution not so much.
October 7, 2017
This started out quite promising, but the ending was just strange and deteriorated delusions and hallucinations with a bunch of philosophical gibberish on life and death. Just strange. Too bad because it had some potential. 2/5 stars
December 17, 2017
A series of interconnected short stories surrounding an oddball collection of characters.Some of them worked for me others not so much .
February 14, 2018
I liked that the stories were linked but overall it was kind of confusing. Interesting idea, maybe I just didn't understand it.
March 10, 2018
The structure of the story was quite interesting. The complex storyline unraveled the fascinating relationships and connections among the characters in this sad story.
April 1, 2021
Baird Harper is the master storyteller of forgotten America, where fathers live in storage containers, graveyard owners brew their own beetle poison, and death touches everyone
August 5, 2017
I really enjoyed Red Light Run. The novel rolls from one point of view to another - one per chapter - running like a narrative maypole around the imminent and actual release of Hartley Nolan from jail. Some character points of view feel even and rational; others border on virtual psychotic episodes.
The writing is fabulous and the scope is fairly epic in exploring the lasting effects a single accident can have on such a massive number of lives. Harper uses humour and poetic prose in equal measure to tell the stories of everyday people in an everyday small town whose lives are blown apart by death.
What are 'linked stories' anyway?
I was mildly suspicious of this book at first, simply because I'm not usually a huge fan of short stories and this book is billed as 'linked stories'. However, it didn't feel like a series of short stories. It feels more like a traditional split narrative with a couple of caveats - there are about a dozen or so points of view and you never get to return to a narrator once you've left them.
Disclosure: I received a copy from the publisher for the purpose of review.
The writing is fabulous and the scope is fairly epic in exploring the lasting effects a single accident can have on such a massive number of lives. Harper uses humour and poetic prose in equal measure to tell the stories of everyday people in an everyday small town whose lives are blown apart by death.
What are 'linked stories' anyway?
I was mildly suspicious of this book at first, simply because I'm not usually a huge fan of short stories and this book is billed as 'linked stories'. However, it didn't feel like a series of short stories. It feels more like a traditional split narrative with a couple of caveats - there are about a dozen or so points of view and you never get to return to a narrator once you've left them.
Disclosure: I received a copy from the publisher for the purpose of review.
November 17, 2017
Un livre à la construction désarmante mais qui m'a quand même accroché.
Read
June 28, 2017The interwoven stories provided insight and suspense regarding the end of the book. The main characters were delineated quite well while minor characters revealed no depth. This is a fascinating method of novel writing somewhat jerky. The author displays moments of magic and of descriptions of setting. I would recommend it to readers who wish to try a different approach to novel writing.
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April 15, 2018Read Dylan Louis's book review of Red Light Run: Linked Stories: https://tetheredbyletters.com/book-re...
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