College student, Joe Talbert, must complete a writing assignment for an English class. Joe's task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of that person. With the deadline looming Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson who has an interesting background including some secrets. He is a Vietnam veteran who was convicted of the rape and murder of a fourteen year old girl. After spending thirty years in prison he is paroled to a nursing home because he is dying of cancer.
As Joe writes about Carl's life, he has a hard time come to terms with the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Joe finds himself wondering if Carl is truly guilty of the crimes he's accused of or is he innocent.
Joe and his neighbor Lila are determined to uncovering the truth. But time isn’t on their side. Will Joe and Lila discover the truth before it's to late? There’s so much happening with Carl’s story but Joe’s search for information is often jeopardized. He regularly has to deal with his dysfunctional, alcoholic mother along with the guilt he carries for having to leave his autistic brother vulnerable.
“The Life We Bury” is a very good debut mystery novel with likeable, well-written characters, an interesting plot and storyline that makes it feel realistic. The author primarily focuses the story on the two main characters, Joe and Carl. I found the budding romance between Lila and Joe endearing. The suspense, the twists, and turns along with an awesome narrator made this an enjoyable book to listen to.