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Scorched Earth
From David L. Robbins, bestselling author of The End of War and War of the Rats, comes a novel of searing intensity and uncompromising vision. Part mystery, part legal thriller, it is a story of crime and punishment set in a small southern town during one brutal, hot, and unforgiving summer that lays bare the potential of the human heart to hate–and, ultimately, to heal.
The inhabitants of Good Hope, Virginia, haven’t felt the cooling effects of rain in weeks. The crops are withering. The ground is parched. There is no relief in sight. With the town a tinderbox waiting to explode, all it takes is a spark to ignite all the prejudice, the rage, and the secrets that are so carefully kept hidden. And then, in the midst of the terrible heat, a tragedy occurs. A baby is born and dies in her mother’s arms. The child, Nora Carol, is buried quickly and quietly the next day in a church graveyard. It should have ended right there–but it didn’t, for Nora Carol is of mixed race.
The white deacons of Good Hope’s Victory Baptist Church, trying to protect the centuries-old traditions of their cemetery, have the body exhumed. That night the church is set ablaze, and the sole witness is the only suspect–Elijah Waddell, Nora Carol’s father.
Nat Deeds, a former prosecutor and an exile of Good Hope, is pressed into service as Elijah’s attorney. With a politically savvy prosecutor and a vindictive sheriff aligned against him, Nat knows it will be nearly impossible to get Elijah acquitted. But Elijah refuses to accept a plea.
As the evidence mounts, Nat begins to suspect there is something his client isn’t telling him, and the next revelation turns Good Hope into a powder keg: a body is found in the ashes of the church. Now Elijah is accused of murder, and the case is no longer a matter of winning or losing, but of life or death.
The only way Nat can save his client is to scratch and claw for any shred of evidence, even if he has to bend the law to find it. As the summer heat intensifies and passions reach their boiling point, Nat must navigate through the incendiary secrets kept by friends and neighbors, by the guilty and the innocent, to an act of justice that has nothing to do with the law.
The inhabitants of Good Hope, Virginia, haven’t felt the cooling effects of rain in weeks. The crops are withering. The ground is parched. There is no relief in sight. With the town a tinderbox waiting to explode, all it takes is a spark to ignite all the prejudice, the rage, and the secrets that are so carefully kept hidden. And then, in the midst of the terrible heat, a tragedy occurs. A baby is born and dies in her mother’s arms. The child, Nora Carol, is buried quickly and quietly the next day in a church graveyard. It should have ended right there–but it didn’t, for Nora Carol is of mixed race.
The white deacons of Good Hope’s Victory Baptist Church, trying to protect the centuries-old traditions of their cemetery, have the body exhumed. That night the church is set ablaze, and the sole witness is the only suspect–Elijah Waddell, Nora Carol’s father.
Nat Deeds, a former prosecutor and an exile of Good Hope, is pressed into service as Elijah’s attorney. With a politically savvy prosecutor and a vindictive sheriff aligned against him, Nat knows it will be nearly impossible to get Elijah acquitted. But Elijah refuses to accept a plea.
As the evidence mounts, Nat begins to suspect there is something his client isn’t telling him, and the next revelation turns Good Hope into a powder keg: a body is found in the ashes of the church. Now Elijah is accused of murder, and the case is no longer a matter of winning or losing, but of life or death.
The only way Nat can save his client is to scratch and claw for any shred of evidence, even if he has to bend the law to find it. As the summer heat intensifies and passions reach their boiling point, Nat must navigate through the incendiary secrets kept by friends and neighbors, by the guilty and the innocent, to an act of justice that has nothing to do with the law.
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
23 people are currently reading
224 people want to read
About the author
David L. Robbins
40 books141 followersDavid L. Robbins was born in Richmond, Virginia, on March 10, 1954. He grew up in Sandston, a small town east of Richmond out by the airport; his father was among the first to sit behind the new radar scope in the air traffic control tower. Both his parents, Sam and Carol, were veterans of WWII. Sam saw action in the Pacific, especially at Pearl Harbor.
In 1976, David graduated with a B.A. in Theater and Speech from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Having little actual theatrical talent, he didn't know what to do for a living. David decided to attend what he calls the “great catch-basin of unfocused over-achievers”: law school. He received his Juris Doctorate at William and Mary in 1980, then practiced environmental law in Columbia, S.C. for precisely a year (his father demanded back the money for law school if David practiced for less than one year – he quit two weeks before the anniversary but got Sam to agree that the two weeks' vacation David had accumulated could be included). David decided to attend Psychology school, having an affinity for people's stories and a fascination with woe. However, while waiting for admisison in 1981, he began a successful freelance writing career. He began writing fiction in 1997, and has since published twelve novels. He's currently working on the thirteenth, the third in his U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen series, as well as several scripts for the stage and screen. He has won awards for his essays and screenplays, and has had three stage plays produced.
David is an accomplished guitarist, studying the works of James Taylor and Latin classical. At six feet six inches tall, he stays active with his sailboat, shooting sporting clays, weightlifting, traveling to research his novels. He is the founder of the James River Writers (Jamesriverwriters.org) a non-profit group in his hometown of Richmond that helps aspiring writers and students work and learn together as a writing community. He also co-founded The Podium Foundation (thepodiumfoundation.org), a non-profit which brings writing and critical reasoning programs to the students of Richmond’s city high schools, as well as support programs for city educators. He also teaches advanced creative writing as a visiting professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's Honors College. David resides in Richmond, near the James River.
In 1976, David graduated with a B.A. in Theater and Speech from the College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. Having little actual theatrical talent, he didn't know what to do for a living. David decided to attend what he calls the “great catch-basin of unfocused over-achievers”: law school. He received his Juris Doctorate at William and Mary in 1980, then practiced environmental law in Columbia, S.C. for precisely a year (his father demanded back the money for law school if David practiced for less than one year – he quit two weeks before the anniversary but got Sam to agree that the two weeks' vacation David had accumulated could be included). David decided to attend Psychology school, having an affinity for people's stories and a fascination with woe. However, while waiting for admisison in 1981, he began a successful freelance writing career. He began writing fiction in 1997, and has since published twelve novels. He's currently working on the thirteenth, the third in his U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen series, as well as several scripts for the stage and screen. He has won awards for his essays and screenplays, and has had three stage plays produced.
David is an accomplished guitarist, studying the works of James Taylor and Latin classical. At six feet six inches tall, he stays active with his sailboat, shooting sporting clays, weightlifting, traveling to research his novels. He is the founder of the James River Writers (Jamesriverwriters.org) a non-profit group in his hometown of Richmond that helps aspiring writers and students work and learn together as a writing community. He also co-founded The Podium Foundation (thepodiumfoundation.org), a non-profit which brings writing and critical reasoning programs to the students of Richmond’s city high schools, as well as support programs for city educators. He also teaches advanced creative writing as a visiting professor at Virginia Commonwealth University's Honors College. David resides in Richmond, near the James River.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
April 11, 2015
I was enthralled by this book. The language is pitch perfect; the narration is vivid, each character has a unique voice, and the dialogue feels authentic - truly charged with all that is left unsaid. The story itself is such a maze or moral questioning and compromise. I found myself constantly wondering what I would do in the place of various characters. An interesting question that seemed to come up a lot was how far one can go to remain loyal before entering the territory of corruption, denial, or delusion. This is not just a book about a crime, but about the role people play, passive or otherwise, in the smaller but equally painful injustices that fill daily life. Entertaining, thought-provoking, and certainly not easily forgotten!
June 27, 2022
Whoa … I did NOT see that ending coming! I was hooked from the beginning. Tragedy strikes a small town and an innocent man is blamed. The story unfolds as evidence is gathered, secrets discovered, and the morality of the townspeople is unveiled. You’ll think you’ve got it figured out but don’t pat yourself on the back until the end because you might just be wrong! Good book and a recommended read!
August 17, 2010
I greatly admire this book. Robbins transcends the mystery genre with language as sweet and rich as a mint julep on a starry night.
A child is born to a black man and a white women in a small Virginia town. The child dies, and is buried in the Baptist church cemetery. But the elders insist on unearthing the child, because only whites are allowed in their cemetery. The night after the child is exhumed and moved to the black cemetery, the church burns down. The father of the child, a black man, is arrested for the crime, and claims he is innocent.
Nate, a heart-bruised lawyer returns to his home town to defend this man accused of burning down a church. When a charred body is found in the rubble, Nate finds himself with a murder case on his hands. As Nate peels back layers of history, grudges and racism, he encounters his ex-wife (with whom he is still in love), a corrupt prosecutor, a psychologically tortured priest, and a sheriff with a huge reason to see this black man put to death.
It's not your grandmother's crime novel. Sit beneath a magnolia tree, and enjoy.
A child is born to a black man and a white women in a small Virginia town. The child dies, and is buried in the Baptist church cemetery. But the elders insist on unearthing the child, because only whites are allowed in their cemetery. The night after the child is exhumed and moved to the black cemetery, the church burns down. The father of the child, a black man, is arrested for the crime, and claims he is innocent.
Nate, a heart-bruised lawyer returns to his home town to defend this man accused of burning down a church. When a charred body is found in the rubble, Nate finds himself with a murder case on his hands. As Nate peels back layers of history, grudges and racism, he encounters his ex-wife (with whom he is still in love), a corrupt prosecutor, a psychologically tortured priest, and a sheriff with a huge reason to see this black man put to death.
It's not your grandmother's crime novel. Sit beneath a magnolia tree, and enjoy.
December 21, 2013
a novel Morgan bought at a book exchange while in Malawi & what an absolute page turner it is—right down to the last page. A small community Baptist Church deacons remove a biracial child from the “church cemetery”, the church burns, the father is accused. The defense attorney is asked to come home to represent the father and a whole bunch of chaos ensues. This book was not only engrossing but also insightfully written on SO many levels. I could go on and on. 2002 paperback, 338 pgs., read Mar. ’13, #15. Others by this author: SOULS TO KEEP, WAR OF THE RATS, THE END OF THE WAR (there might be more by now).
(what I wrote in 2002): SCORCHED EARTH, David L. Robbins: black man married to white woman accused of burning church after death of their deformed child and needing child to be removed from white cemetery. This is much more complicated than I am writing and is v. v. good. Would read more of his stuff for sure: combination mystery + novel. Author is a former attorney. (2002, 383 pgs.) Read June, 2002
(what I wrote in 2002): SCORCHED EARTH, David L. Robbins: black man married to white woman accused of burning church after death of their deformed child and needing child to be removed from white cemetery. This is much more complicated than I am writing and is v. v. good. Would read more of his stuff for sure: combination mystery + novel. Author is a former attorney. (2002, 383 pgs.) Read June, 2002
May 19, 2019
What an uncredible story: racism, love, selfishness, mistakes, bullying, opportunities, peer pressure, bloodlines, importance of family and forgiveness is all there. Definitely worth Reading!
March 14, 2013
Reading this book is like a roller coaster ride. It never stops giving you surprises down to the very last page.
David L. Robbins is a writer who knows how to pull in the reader. His characters are believable and so are their actions. I have never had the pleasure of reading his novels before, but I definitely plan to read more of his work.
David L. Robbins is a writer who knows how to pull in the reader. His characters are believable and so are their actions. I have never had the pleasure of reading his novels before, but I definitely plan to read more of his work.
September 30, 2015
Sleep or read?
I couldn't just go to sleep, I was compelled to continue reading. Mr.Robbins has a different way of looking at life with the words he uses. I felt shamed, encouraged, and I wanted to tell everyone to Read This Book!
Thanks Mr. Robbins for the inspiration!
I couldn't just go to sleep, I was compelled to continue reading. Mr.Robbins has a different way of looking at life with the words he uses. I felt shamed, encouraged, and I wanted to tell everyone to Read This Book!
Thanks Mr. Robbins for the inspiration!
December 16, 2021
A poetic legal thriller
This legal thriller by David L. Robbins has a ring of truth--probably owing to the author's work as an attorney--punctuated by Mr. Robbins' poetic observations of rural Virginia. And the twist at the end doesn't disappoint. I highly recommend this book as another of the author's amazing contributions to fiction.
This legal thriller by David L. Robbins has a ring of truth--probably owing to the author's work as an attorney--punctuated by Mr. Robbins' poetic observations of rural Virginia. And the twist at the end doesn't disappoint. I highly recommend this book as another of the author's amazing contributions to fiction.
January 5, 2018
Page-turner marred by increasingly melodramatic plot twists. A lumpen ending.
January 12, 2018
didn't like the subject matter as the story had to do with race relations but it was well written, as always with David Robbins.
April 5, 2022
The quality of the story-telling far exceeds what's usual for the who-dunit genre.
August 27, 2023
This book had a bit of a slow start, but once it got going I flew through it. Beautiful story about love, hate, greed, redemption…..I absolutely recommend.
April 14, 2013
A Well-Crafted Mystery With Too Many Words (2013)
Robbins, David L. (2002). Scorched Earth. New York: Bantam.
This mystery and courtroom drama takes place in a small town in contemporary Virginia. It opens with scenes of Clare and Elijah living an idyllic life, filled with love, in their country house. They tend their garden, fish in the stream, repair the house, and make love outside in the grass. Elijah is a big, strong, quiet black man who works at the paper mill during the week. Clare is a tall, thin white woman of 22 years. We never learn much about where they came from, their families, or how they met.
Clare gets pregnant, the baby is delivered, but dies within minutes. The couple is devastated. The child is buried in their church’s ancient graveyard. But the deacons of Victory Baptist Church are not pleased when they learn that a mixed-race baby has been buried in the church’s cemetery. There is a coloreds graveyard two miles up the road. The new pastor of the church, a recovering alcoholic, was not aware of the policy. The church elders decide the infant must be exhumed and moved to the other place. The pastor opposes the decision eloquently, to no avail. Clare and Elijah are appalled as they watch their baby dug up and re-buried.
Shortly thereafter, the church is burned to the ground. Arson. The sheriff arrests Elijah, drunk, watching the fire and cheering. But he says he didn’t torch it.
His court-appointed defense attorney is a home boy who used to work for the county prosecutor before he left some years ago. The case for the defense seems hopeless. Elijah refuses any plea-bargain because, he insists, he is innocent. Gradually, and for reasons not entirely convincing, the attorney comes to believe him. Very slowly, new information is introduced into the story and tiny clues appear, which could possibly mean Elijah is innocent, although the whole town has, at this point, the mentality of a lynch mob. The surprise ending is to learn whodunit. I certainly didn’t see it coming.
The story is well-crafted, with good clues, good red herrings, and believable character motivation. The problem-solving investigation is a little slow to get going, and is a little off-center, focusing on possible prosecutorial misdeeds, because the defense actually has nothing to go on. The evidence against Elijah is overwhelming. The southern town racism trope is well-worn and not very original as a story theme or character motivation, but the author refrains from moralizing. Elijah and Clare remain throughout as representations, not well-rounded characters. Nevertheless, once you believe Elijah is innocent (and you must), the mystery keeps the pages turning.
It’s hard to write a good, satisfying mystery within the strict boundaries of realism and plausibility, but Robbins pulls it off. The writing is completely adequate, although for my taste, overwritten. There are long backstories dumped out in flashbacks and reminiscences. Characters soliloquize about religion, justice, racism, and small town life. The scenery and the weather are described in detail. The defense attorney’s troubled marriage, separation, and reconciliation is mundane, although I think it is supposed to be some sort of symbolic representation of how anger can lead to self-destructive revenge when your church/wife betrays you, but I didn’t need a symbolic representation. The story was plain enough without it.
All the extra writing slowed everything way down for me. This 350 page novel would be more readable in 250 pages that stuck closer to the plot line. The superfluous narration is fairly well-written actually, sometimes insightful, often well-observed, but it’s by no means scintillating or lyrical enough to justify itself.
The main storyline is narrated in third-person, present tense, which seemed stilted to my ear. “Elijah’s hand comes to the baby’s cheek. Clare hears him whisper…The baby gurgles.. Clare laughs…,” and so on. The reader is welded to the here and now because of that ever-present present. So when backstory and other narration appear in the past tense, the effect is like being booted off the field.
Overall, if you skim over the parts that most readers don’t read anyway, you find a well-crafted mystery with a satisfying, surprise ending.
Robbins, David L. (2002). Scorched Earth. New York: Bantam.
This mystery and courtroom drama takes place in a small town in contemporary Virginia. It opens with scenes of Clare and Elijah living an idyllic life, filled with love, in their country house. They tend their garden, fish in the stream, repair the house, and make love outside in the grass. Elijah is a big, strong, quiet black man who works at the paper mill during the week. Clare is a tall, thin white woman of 22 years. We never learn much about where they came from, their families, or how they met.
Clare gets pregnant, the baby is delivered, but dies within minutes. The couple is devastated. The child is buried in their church’s ancient graveyard. But the deacons of Victory Baptist Church are not pleased when they learn that a mixed-race baby has been buried in the church’s cemetery. There is a coloreds graveyard two miles up the road. The new pastor of the church, a recovering alcoholic, was not aware of the policy. The church elders decide the infant must be exhumed and moved to the other place. The pastor opposes the decision eloquently, to no avail. Clare and Elijah are appalled as they watch their baby dug up and re-buried.
Shortly thereafter, the church is burned to the ground. Arson. The sheriff arrests Elijah, drunk, watching the fire and cheering. But he says he didn’t torch it.
His court-appointed defense attorney is a home boy who used to work for the county prosecutor before he left some years ago. The case for the defense seems hopeless. Elijah refuses any plea-bargain because, he insists, he is innocent. Gradually, and for reasons not entirely convincing, the attorney comes to believe him. Very slowly, new information is introduced into the story and tiny clues appear, which could possibly mean Elijah is innocent, although the whole town has, at this point, the mentality of a lynch mob. The surprise ending is to learn whodunit. I certainly didn’t see it coming.
The story is well-crafted, with good clues, good red herrings, and believable character motivation. The problem-solving investigation is a little slow to get going, and is a little off-center, focusing on possible prosecutorial misdeeds, because the defense actually has nothing to go on. The evidence against Elijah is overwhelming. The southern town racism trope is well-worn and not very original as a story theme or character motivation, but the author refrains from moralizing. Elijah and Clare remain throughout as representations, not well-rounded characters. Nevertheless, once you believe Elijah is innocent (and you must), the mystery keeps the pages turning.
It’s hard to write a good, satisfying mystery within the strict boundaries of realism and plausibility, but Robbins pulls it off. The writing is completely adequate, although for my taste, overwritten. There are long backstories dumped out in flashbacks and reminiscences. Characters soliloquize about religion, justice, racism, and small town life. The scenery and the weather are described in detail. The defense attorney’s troubled marriage, separation, and reconciliation is mundane, although I think it is supposed to be some sort of symbolic representation of how anger can lead to self-destructive revenge when your church/wife betrays you, but I didn’t need a symbolic representation. The story was plain enough without it.
All the extra writing slowed everything way down for me. This 350 page novel would be more readable in 250 pages that stuck closer to the plot line. The superfluous narration is fairly well-written actually, sometimes insightful, often well-observed, but it’s by no means scintillating or lyrical enough to justify itself.
The main storyline is narrated in third-person, present tense, which seemed stilted to my ear. “Elijah’s hand comes to the baby’s cheek. Clare hears him whisper…The baby gurgles.. Clare laughs…,” and so on. The reader is welded to the here and now because of that ever-present present. So when backstory and other narration appear in the past tense, the effect is like being booted off the field.
Overall, if you skim over the parts that most readers don’t read anyway, you find a well-crafted mystery with a satisfying, surprise ending.
April 7, 2016
Scorched Earth is a compendium of man’s inhumanity to man, a fable about the stoniness of the human heart and the racism and bigotry of an insular small town that reads like Scott Turow crossed with Harper Lee, or maybe John Grisham with William Faulker. In this mournful story, an interracial married couple in the town of Good Hope, Virginia, give birth to a baby without a brain, who dies within minutes of being born. A church elder and matriarch for the community, who also happens to be the grandmother of the baby, arranges for the child to be buried in the cemetery of the all-white Victory Baptist Church, but within a day the church deacons vote to have the body exhumed and move to an all-black church 3 miles away. The child’s father, Elijah Waddell, is found that same night, drunk and cheering as he watches the Victory Baptist Church burn to the ground. He is the only suspect, and although he proclaims his innocence, he is arrested and thrown in jail. The not-so-prodigal son, Nat Deeds, is coerced into coming back to Good Hope to defend Waddell, which he has fled after discovering his wife’s infidelity a year earlier. What begins as a difficult case becomes almost impossible when the troubled daughter of the town’s sheriff is found dead in the church’s smoking ruins.
What follows is a narrative of unerringly well-crafted prose, thoughtfully considered, and wisely knowing. While the various characters stumble through the story as if the victims of a great conflagration, dazed and incredulous, author David L. Robbins knows exactly what he wants to achieve, and in the economical space of some 350-odd pages, he fully dissects and provide a post-mortem on the kind of quiet hatred that nevertheless poisons the ground of any community that defines itself by what it excludes. While it was written fifteen years ago, it resonates even now as the country uncovers more and more pockets of racist indoctrination and partisan hatred and mistrust. One can sadly imagine the tabloid-lurid secrets that lie buried at the heart of this story being uncovered practically anywhere, for they are the result of the worst elements of the human condition, elements that will always be with us.
But there is also found within these pages: inclusion, determination, fairness, dignity, love and sacrifice. Though the odds against them are great, Elijah refuses to confess to a crime he insists he did not commit, and Nat puts his integrity, and even his personal safety, on the line to represent his client in an honorable and just way.
What ends up being so satisfying and compelling about Scorched Earth is that, while it has all of the drive and suspense of a first-rate legal thriller, and the deft plotting of a murder mystery, it is at heart a meditation on what it means to be human in a place where others blithely deny you that humanity, and how to endure in the face of such adversity. The mystery at the heart of this excellent novel is the same one that confounds us every day: how can people hurt each other the way they do?
What follows is a narrative of unerringly well-crafted prose, thoughtfully considered, and wisely knowing. While the various characters stumble through the story as if the victims of a great conflagration, dazed and incredulous, author David L. Robbins knows exactly what he wants to achieve, and in the economical space of some 350-odd pages, he fully dissects and provide a post-mortem on the kind of quiet hatred that nevertheless poisons the ground of any community that defines itself by what it excludes. While it was written fifteen years ago, it resonates even now as the country uncovers more and more pockets of racist indoctrination and partisan hatred and mistrust. One can sadly imagine the tabloid-lurid secrets that lie buried at the heart of this story being uncovered practically anywhere, for they are the result of the worst elements of the human condition, elements that will always be with us.
But there is also found within these pages: inclusion, determination, fairness, dignity, love and sacrifice. Though the odds against them are great, Elijah refuses to confess to a crime he insists he did not commit, and Nat puts his integrity, and even his personal safety, on the line to represent his client in an honorable and just way.
What ends up being so satisfying and compelling about Scorched Earth is that, while it has all of the drive and suspense of a first-rate legal thriller, and the deft plotting of a murder mystery, it is at heart a meditation on what it means to be human in a place where others blithely deny you that humanity, and how to endure in the face of such adversity. The mystery at the heart of this excellent novel is the same one that confounds us every day: how can people hurt each other the way they do?
July 27, 2012
In diesem Buch geht es vor allem um Elijah und Clare Waddel – er ein Schwarzer, sie eine Weiße -, die geheiratet haben und nun ein Kind erwarten. Das geborene Mädchen kommt allerdings ohne vollständig ausgebildetem Gehirn auf die Welt, da ihre Eltern in einer Papierfabrik arbeiten, wo viele Chemikalien eingesetzt werden. Nora Carol, so nennen sie ihre Tochter, lebt gerade mal zehn Minuten lang. Clares Großmutter ist eine der Kirchenältesten der Victory Baptist Church veranlasst eine schnelle Beisetzung der Kleinen ohne großes Tamtam. Als die anderen Kirchenältesten davon erfahren, sind sie empört, da das Mädchen schließlich halb weiß und halb schwarz ist und somit nicht auf den Friedhof ihrer Kirche gehört. Sie fordern dieExhumierung und Verlegung auf einen anderen Friedhof. Dies geschieht gleich am nächsten Tag. Elijah und Clare nimmt das sehr mit. Elijah geht nach der zweiten Beisetzung nicht nach Hause und irrt durch die Kleinstadt Good Hopes. Clare macht sich Sorgen um ihren Mann und bittet Hilfssheriff Monroe, von allen nur Money genannt, um Hilfe, ihren Mann wiederzufinden. Dieser macht sich sofort auf die Suche und findet Elijah neben der brennenden Victory Baptist Church. Er freut sich über das Feuer, beteuert bei seiner Festsetzung aber immer wieder, dass er das Feuer nicht gelegt hat. Keiner glaubt ihm.
Vom Gericht wird ihm der Anwalt Nat Deeds zugewiesen, ein ehemaliger Bewohner von Good Hopes. Dieser ist anfangs auch davon überzeugt, dass Elijah den Brand gelegt hat, ändert seine Meinung allerdings recht schnell. Nun macht er sich auf die Suche nach dem wahren Täter.
Der Schreibstil von David L. Robbins ist sehr gut und somit lässt sich das Buch leicht und flüssig lesen. Alles ist schön bildlich beschrieben, ohne dabei zu sehr in nervige Details zu verfallen.
Im Kopf hatte ich immer zwei mögliche Täter und je mehr das Buch sich dem Ende entgegenneigte, desto mehr kristallisierte sich einer der beiden auch tatsächlich heraus. Doch ganz zum Schluss erst kommt der wahre Täter ans Tageslicht, mit dem man niemals gerechnet hätte. Demnach eine sehr gelungene Wendung und auch der komplette Schluss gefällt mir außerordentlich gut.
Wer die Justizthriller von John Grisham mag, wird auch dieses Buch mögen!
Vom Gericht wird ihm der Anwalt Nat Deeds zugewiesen, ein ehemaliger Bewohner von Good Hopes. Dieser ist anfangs auch davon überzeugt, dass Elijah den Brand gelegt hat, ändert seine Meinung allerdings recht schnell. Nun macht er sich auf die Suche nach dem wahren Täter.
Der Schreibstil von David L. Robbins ist sehr gut und somit lässt sich das Buch leicht und flüssig lesen. Alles ist schön bildlich beschrieben, ohne dabei zu sehr in nervige Details zu verfallen.
Im Kopf hatte ich immer zwei mögliche Täter und je mehr das Buch sich dem Ende entgegenneigte, desto mehr kristallisierte sich einer der beiden auch tatsächlich heraus. Doch ganz zum Schluss erst kommt der wahre Täter ans Tageslicht, mit dem man niemals gerechnet hätte. Demnach eine sehr gelungene Wendung und auch der komplette Schluss gefällt mir außerordentlich gut.
Wer die Justizthriller von John Grisham mag, wird auch dieses Buch mögen!
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July 27, 2011I loved this book! The story begins with the untimely death of the child of an inter-racial couple, a couple who had seemed to be perfectly accepted in their Virginia town, even being held up as examples in the workplace diversity council. Suddenly all the racism that had been hidden surfaces, in the refusal of the deacons of the white church to accept the child for burying (in fact, digging up the dead body and rejecting it). There follow reprisals (the church is burnt down) and a gripping investigation and trial. The story builds the way a story should, with an inevitability to each action and discovery that makes the whole thing supremely believable. The story is the classic un-putdownable one. The plot is well crafted, with enough information being doled out along the way to keep you interested – as opposed to stories that deliver all the answers on the last page. The author also builds a superb picture of the town, built as it around its main industry, an evil smelling paper plant. And to top it all, the weather (the scorched earth of the title) is hot throughout the novel, only breaking at the end with the breaking of the case. What a superb read!
December 2, 2015
There is small town drama between church and race, husband and wife, father and daughter. All the while arson and murder is infused into it all. The loss of a parent's child adds a layer of grief to the mix. I was sitting on the edge of my seat. I almost couldn't bear it at times. I couldn't see a way out..But the author knows. He did a great job keeping the suspense up.
However, I finally finished this book (after three years)..It was a decent courtroom mystery. I wish I didn't wait so long to find out how it all ends. When I finished the book I remember why I stopped reading after 80 or so pages. I knew who dunnit already (why did I want to read all 339 pages if I already knew?). Reading to the end only proved my suspicion correct. David Robbins did a good job throwing the scent off, but if my original suspect is the culprit in the end, I figured it out too quickly.
However, I finally finished this book (after three years)..It was a decent courtroom mystery. I wish I didn't wait so long to find out how it all ends. When I finished the book I remember why I stopped reading after 80 or so pages. I knew who dunnit already (why did I want to read all 339 pages if I already knew?). Reading to the end only proved my suspicion correct. David Robbins did a good job throwing the scent off, but if my original suspect is the culprit in the end, I figured it out too quickly.
September 24, 2008
Good Hope, Virginia is a small town with a number of big problems. The problems are nothing new to small towns - interracial marriage, babies dying, church controversy, murder and maybe rape. What small town hasn't had at least some of these troubles. However, the community of Good Hope manages to combine all these issues so that the rest of Virginia knows their problems and that is not good.
Robbins held my interest through his entire story. He is a good storyteller. I have to say, however, that I think these issues have been addressed before, and probably will be again. I am not sure why some people are so blown away by the troubles of Good Hope.
I will always wonder - how much of the town of West Point, VA is actually in this book about Good Hope?
Robbins held my interest through his entire story. He is a good storyteller. I have to say, however, that I think these issues have been addressed before, and probably will be again. I am not sure why some people are so blown away by the troubles of Good Hope.
I will always wonder - how much of the town of West Point, VA is actually in this book about Good Hope?
July 20, 2010
Every now and then you run across a book that features intriguing characters, a compelling plot, and a riveting ending. Scorched Earth is such a book. Grieving parents, a frightened town, and a reluctant hero come together in a quest for that most powerful of human drives, the search for dignity. Scorched Earth is a deftly crafted mystery, set in a place both new and familiar, with characters so true they make the heart ache. Oh one little tip, when you think the book has come to it's conclusion - it has not - keep reading until the very last page. This story has many twists and turns and is a wonderful enjoyable read.
December 14, 2010
A black man and his white wife have a child who lives only a few minutes. Heartbroken, they bury her in the cemetery of the Victory Baptist Church. The outraged deacons force them to dig her up for reburial in the black cemetery 3 miles away. That night the church suddenly burns down and the father is jailed. The unraveling of what happened and how the members of this small southern community intertwine makes for an interesting and well written story. I listened to it on tape and the narrtor, Tom Stechschulte, was the best I've heard. I'm going to see what else he's recorded.
February 2, 2012
Nat is a lawyer who is called back to his hometown by the local judge. He is to defend a man who is accused of burning down a "white" church after he is found outside of the church cheering on the fire. His defending Elijah brings back memories of growing up in Good Hope and his interactions with those people he is now working with/against on the case. This book takes a close look at outward appearances, trusting those in power, age old practices, race and how far some people will go to make things "right."
May 18, 2012
this book was hard. well written. story draws you in and some of the characters are very believable. the story was difficult to take - along the lines of "TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD" and i find i have less and less tolerance for this and can stomach the subject of bigotry less well as i age. on the other hand, we all have some of this in us and the strains we have know no lines in society from the most influential to the least, from the person we expect it in the least to the person we expect it in the most.
February 25, 2010
Interesting book that involves racial undertones that probably still exist today. It demonstrates throughout the story how human weakness, coincidence, and our justice system can cause unfair suffering through the fair application of law. An interesting story. Different than my usual choice, but enjoyable.
April 28, 2010
A good legal thriller that is a little slow to develop; but contains characters and a story that unfortunately are all too real in today's society. Racism rears it's ugly head in a small Virginia community. The end is full of twists and turns that the reader doesn't anticipate and in the end justice prevails. A good read.
January 8, 2011
Overall, it was an okay courtroom drama boook. I felt like there wasn't a whole lot of action in this book. It had the same tone throughout the book. It was a little on the boring side where it just went on and on. I liked the basic plot of the book. But I don't I can recomend this book to others.
March 7, 2011
Great book... I totally thought I'd figured it all out and I hadn't. I was surprised at the end. It has a lot of themes that make you think...racism, religion, the importance of community (and how even 2 or 3 people can make a community), marriage, what makes someone good or bad. There was a lot in here to discuss, to ponder and to make you question your own assumptions.
October 21, 2015
Amazing story. An intriguing mystery, in itself, but made special by the excellent writing. An ugly story told with beautiful script. I'll remember this line for a long time... "Nat keeps his head ducked, tears on a boy's face are heavy, heavy stones." I'm going to look for more books by David Robbins.
July 23, 2008
We listened to this as a Book on tape and it held our interest over quite a few miles. There were some interesting twists in the plot. Nice easy listening without having to struggle with thinking about meanings and morals.
May 13, 2013
I read this because although the names of things were changed, it very obviously takes place in West Point, VA, where my library is. It was a good legal thriller, a good mystery, and reminds one of what's worth fighting for.
January 14, 2009
Good book! The race issue was very insteresting.
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