Branches

The Texas Trilogy #2

by Mitch Cullin, Ryuzo Kikushima (Illustrator)

Branches is a novel at once cautionary and starkly provocative, set in the “gnarled hide of West Texas” near the end of the 20th century. Sheriff Branches finds himself returning to his childhood home, revisiting his bleak childhood while contemplating a series of mysterious dog poisonings in his small community. In discovering the painful truth behind the crimes, he must also delve into his own violent past. As both a boy and a man, Branches embodies the very arbitrary nature of Justice; he roams through a grim landscape where nothing is as it appears, taking the reader headlong toward an unsettling, horrific resolution.

Genres: Fiction

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2000

About the author

Mitch Cullin is an American writer. He is the author of seven novels, and one short story collection. He currently resides in Arcadia, California and Tokyo, Japan with his partner and frequent collaborator Peter I. Chang. His books have been translated into over 10 languages.

Reviews

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rarely give 4 stars to a book, but if any book deserves it, this is the one. Do not be put off that this is written in verse--it doesn't rhyme. The verse part is more an aid to show how certain ideas and actions are clumped together while others are separated. And the ideas! This is a book you will not soon--if ever--forget.

If you like Jim Thompson or Patricia Highsmith or Millar or any of the noir giants, you will be blown away by this.

(A little tip: when someone says they can count the bad things they've done on one hand--it doesn't necessarily mean they are someone you'd want to hang around with.)

[Jeffrey McCord · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are dark corners within every concentration of authority, not to mention every mind on Earth. The eternal maccabre of the well. Beatiful art, strangley fitting and out of character for the lit/art combo, which so often falls below expectations.

I still can't make sense of the verse line. I feel that he could've lengthened them--they seem to lack purpose, but what do I know.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed the format-- a novel in verse-- and enjoyed the writing. As others have noted it's very dark and disturbing, but Cullin did a wonderful job of stepping you into the twilight, giving you some hope of some good/redemption in the characters, then plunging you off into the abyss. I found it well crafted, though not exactly an enjoyable experience.

[Jonathan Herbrecht · Rating 5 out of 5]

Une œuvre aussi courte qu'elle est puissante d'émotions, vibrante d'atrocités sans nom. Un choix esthétique comme un long poème de 100 pages autour d'un homme de loi qui ne se comprend pas et cherche très peu à se remettre en question, malgré tout. Mais qui prend le temps de se raconter ses fautes, sans jamais les regretter. Un grand livre.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's hard to rate this book. The subject matter is so dark and gruesome I felt icky after finishing it. I read the entire book in about 45 minutes. It's so disturbing I don't even the words. It's dark, dark, dark.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a pleasant book to read. It's gruesome and ugly and miserable. But the poetry, irony, and tragedy are fantastic if you can stomach it.