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Ash Falls
"A moody, haunting foray into rural Americana in the mold of Daniel Woodrell and Christian Kiefer."
--Kirkus Reviews
"In this fine first novel, Read deftly portrays the competing feelings of suffocation and loneliness that can breed in small towns. Pair this with Daniel Woodrell's marvelous Tomato Red."
--Booklist
"A stunning display of grit made alluring. Both beautiful and stark, Ash Falls is a slice-of-life portrait that gives color to the grayest of times."
--Shelf Awareness
"A well-crafted, subtle psychological thriller."
--Publisher's Weekly
A routine prisoner transfer on a rural highway ends with the car upside-down in a ravine, the driver dead of a heart attack, and convicted murderer Ernie Luntz on the loose, his eyes fixed on the mountain range in the distance, over which lies his hometown of Ash Falls.
Set in a moss-draped, Pacific Northwest mountain town, Ash Falls is the story of a closely connected community both held together and torn apart by one man’s single act of horrific violence. As the residents of Ash Falls—which include Ernie’s ex-wife and teenage son—wait on edge, wondering if and when Ernie Luntz will reappear, they come to discover that they are held prisoner not by the killer in the woods outside their town, but by the chains of their own creation.
A tension-filled, multi-character exploration of collapsed relationships, carefully guarded secrets and the psychological strain of living in a place that is at once both idyllic and crippling, Ash Falls is a picturesque and haunting novel that belongs beside the work of such classic contemporary American writers as Kent Haruf, Leif Enger, Smith Henderson and Ron Carlson.
Warren Read is the author of a 2008 memoir, The Lyncher in Me (Borealis Books), about his discovery that his great-grandfather had incited a lynching in 1920. His fiction has been published in Hot Metal Bridge, Mud Season Review, Sliver of Stone, Inklette, Switchback and The Drowning Gull. In addition, he has had two short plays directed and produced by Tony winner Dinah Manoff. Warren earned his MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.
--Kirkus Reviews
"In this fine first novel, Read deftly portrays the competing feelings of suffocation and loneliness that can breed in small towns. Pair this with Daniel Woodrell's marvelous Tomato Red."
--Booklist
"A stunning display of grit made alluring. Both beautiful and stark, Ash Falls is a slice-of-life portrait that gives color to the grayest of times."
--Shelf Awareness
"A well-crafted, subtle psychological thriller."
--Publisher's Weekly
A routine prisoner transfer on a rural highway ends with the car upside-down in a ravine, the driver dead of a heart attack, and convicted murderer Ernie Luntz on the loose, his eyes fixed on the mountain range in the distance, over which lies his hometown of Ash Falls.
Set in a moss-draped, Pacific Northwest mountain town, Ash Falls is the story of a closely connected community both held together and torn apart by one man’s single act of horrific violence. As the residents of Ash Falls—which include Ernie’s ex-wife and teenage son—wait on edge, wondering if and when Ernie Luntz will reappear, they come to discover that they are held prisoner not by the killer in the woods outside their town, but by the chains of their own creation.
A tension-filled, multi-character exploration of collapsed relationships, carefully guarded secrets and the psychological strain of living in a place that is at once both idyllic and crippling, Ash Falls is a picturesque and haunting novel that belongs beside the work of such classic contemporary American writers as Kent Haruf, Leif Enger, Smith Henderson and Ron Carlson.
Warren Read is the author of a 2008 memoir, The Lyncher in Me (Borealis Books), about his discovery that his great-grandfather had incited a lynching in 1920. His fiction has been published in Hot Metal Bridge, Mud Season Review, Sliver of Stone, Inklette, Switchback and The Drowning Gull. In addition, he has had two short plays directed and produced by Tony winner Dinah Manoff. Warren earned his MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University.
308 pages, Paperback
First published June 20, 2017
9 people are currently reading
1252 people want to read
About the author
Warren Read
4 books44 followersWarren Read is the author of the 2008 memoir, The Lyncher in Me (Borealis Books), and the novels One Simple Thing (2021, Ig Publishing) and Ash Falls (2017, Ig Publishing). His short fiction has been published in Hot Metal Bridge, Mud Season Review, Sliver of Stone, Inklette, Switchback and The Drowning Gull. In addition, he has had two short plays directed and produced by Tony winner Dinah Manoff. In 2015 he received his MFA from the Rainier Writing Workshop at Pacific Lutheran University. In 2022 he retired after 31 years as an elementary teacher and high school associate principal.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 49 reviews
June 28, 2017
3.5 Ash Falls, a small community in the Pacific Northwest, a town trying to recover from a recent tragedy. A man convicted of murder, a husband and father, leaving emotional devastation in his wake, felt by those involved and the community itself, has now escaped. Will he try to return to the town and the family left behind?
This is an impoverished town, a retired school teacher sells pot which he calls medicine, these are people that feel stuck, by circumstance or financial considerations. Often their own worst enemies, it will be one of the youngest that will try to break this cycle, that manages to hold on to the hope that life will be different. There is a tension in the story, wondering if and when this escaped convict will show up, there is a gritty realism to this story and the prose is gorgeous. Animal lovers should be aware that their is a section that describes the killing of minks, I skipped much of that section, though it highlights the ways people in this town found to make money.
If based on the writing alone my rating would have been higher, but I had a problem connecting to the characters. The two I liked the most were the two youngest. Other readers have rated this higher and I readily admit this author has a huge amount of talent.
ARC from publisher.
This is an impoverished town, a retired school teacher sells pot which he calls medicine, these are people that feel stuck, by circumstance or financial considerations. Often their own worst enemies, it will be one of the youngest that will try to break this cycle, that manages to hold on to the hope that life will be different. There is a tension in the story, wondering if and when this escaped convict will show up, there is a gritty realism to this story and the prose is gorgeous. Animal lovers should be aware that their is a section that describes the killing of minks, I skipped much of that section, though it highlights the ways people in this town found to make money.
If based on the writing alone my rating would have been higher, but I had a problem connecting to the characters. The two I liked the most were the two youngest. Other readers have rated this higher and I readily admit this author has a huge amount of talent.
ARC from publisher.
May 12, 2017
Ernie Luntz is a convicted murderer and now he’s on the loose and is being hunted by the police. Back at home at Ash Falls, his family and all of the residents wonder if he’ll return there. That’s where the murder happened and Ernie would be a fool to set foot in that town again. But his ex-wife Bobbie and his son Patrick still live there and that may be enticement enough for Ernie to return.
I became completely immersed in this compelling tale. Not only is there the suspense of “will Ernie return and what will happen if he does” but there’s also the interconnecting stories of others living in Ash Falls. This is a quiet book that slowly pulls you in. The author masterfully tells the story of each of these people who have been touched by the same horrendous event in the past and presents their stories through their everyday lives. These characters are real – Marcelle, the too-young-to-be-married wife of Eugene, Hank, the pot dealer, Patrick, the gay teenager who is struggling to deal with his father’s crime, and Bobbie, the single mom who feels to blame. I grew to know and care for these people. The ending brought me to tears.
For those animal lovers out there, there is quite a bit about mink farming though I felt the author was not a fan of it, which made it easier to read. Though personally I had to skip the part about the day the minks’ skins are harvested.
There were sections throughout this book that I had to stop and read again. This quote may not appear in the final edition but I’d like to share it so you can see this writer’s potential. “The vista shifted quickly from wheat fields to a wide spread of stunted trees, perfect geometrical grids of them that stretched on forever, naked branches reaching up, shocked, as if crying out to be released from the roots that anchored them into the cold earth.” This is the author’s first novel, though he did write a memoir, “The Lyncher in Me: A Search for Redemption in the Face of History” about his discovery that his great-grandfather had incited the lynching of three black circus workers. I’m looking forward to what he’ll come up with next.
Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
I became completely immersed in this compelling tale. Not only is there the suspense of “will Ernie return and what will happen if he does” but there’s also the interconnecting stories of others living in Ash Falls. This is a quiet book that slowly pulls you in. The author masterfully tells the story of each of these people who have been touched by the same horrendous event in the past and presents their stories through their everyday lives. These characters are real – Marcelle, the too-young-to-be-married wife of Eugene, Hank, the pot dealer, Patrick, the gay teenager who is struggling to deal with his father’s crime, and Bobbie, the single mom who feels to blame. I grew to know and care for these people. The ending brought me to tears.
For those animal lovers out there, there is quite a bit about mink farming though I felt the author was not a fan of it, which made it easier to read. Though personally I had to skip the part about the day the minks’ skins are harvested.
There were sections throughout this book that I had to stop and read again. This quote may not appear in the final edition but I’d like to share it so you can see this writer’s potential. “The vista shifted quickly from wheat fields to a wide spread of stunted trees, perfect geometrical grids of them that stretched on forever, naked branches reaching up, shocked, as if crying out to be released from the roots that anchored them into the cold earth.” This is the author’s first novel, though he did write a memoir, “The Lyncher in Me: A Search for Redemption in the Face of History” about his discovery that his great-grandfather had incited the lynching of three black circus workers. I’m looking forward to what he’ll come up with next.
Recommended.
This book was given to me by the publisher in return for an honest review.
October 16, 2018
I think ‘Ash Falls’ is a noir domestic fiction rather than a mystery as some have mentioned. It is full of gorgeous writing (with some offbeat misses) and symbolic literary elements. I liked it because the writing is so pretty and the setting is a town in the Pacific Northwest which delighted me because I live here, but I was disappointed by the story’s denouement. The writing is why I am giving the novel three stars, but the story seemed like an updated 1950’s movie to me despite that I think the time of the novel’s action is in the 1980’s.
I have always felt domestic fiction is a little or a lot dull, depending on the novel. Domestic fiction doesn’t quite have the humorous snap of most Chick-lit or the exaggerated fun of genre entertainment. Domestic fiction also is often missing the volcanic bites of personal self-discoveries which alter everything.
Drama which comes from far too ordinary and simple (to me) middle-class domestic family/child difficulties and Romances is not interesting to me (neither are the silly celebrity cat fights or hook-ups or pregnancies or divorces). I prefer those domestic fiction stories where because of a single traumatic event it throws ordinary lives into a spin and reassessment. My real life childhood was gothic and dangerous, so. Well. Higher excitement thresholds and violence baselines, me. My opinions of domestic fiction drama are seen through my personal dystopian lens.
My guess is the rot of 1950’s mores and social expectations is continuing to activate domestic distress in many families in many small American towns and country farming/ranching communities, as well as periodic economic upheavals because of droughts, market conditions or changing technology. I think many suburban families also have domestic concerns because of a sense of decay in their lives and no idea of how to push through it. ‘Ash Falls’ is all about describing a slow social decay because of a loss of connections to older small-town values and traditional jobs.
While the town of Ash Falls is imaginary, from the description I suspect it is based on a small ex-logging town like Granite Falls, Washington ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grani... ). Whether it is a fictional version of Granite Falls is not pertinent to the plot. Probably any small American town which is suspended between stagnation and change will do, where local high school graduates leave if they can and those who stay in town struggle to find meaning and work in their depleted hopes for a future in their place of birth or choice of home.
Ash Falls is like all small Pacific Northwest towns. There is an atmosphere of dark cloudy gloom (except in summer), wet and mold on most surfaces, and forests still press in on the edges of town boundaries despite the incursions of farms, ranches, roads, highways and the cutting down of trees. Whether one is speaking of the landscape, weather or the local economy, all seem to be slowly succumbing to entropy.
Each chapter follows a character whose life has taken a bleaker turn down a path different than where they thought they would be. Ernie Luntz commits an outrageous murder of a drunk teen, Ricky Cordero, during an annual local fair and ends up in prison. His wife, Bobbie, endures stares and gossip, continuing on as the high school’s nurse. Patrick, Ernie’s son, is struggling as a closeted gay teen, a hint of effeminacy slightly affecting the town’s treatment towards him, but he is not as aware of the town’s gossip about Ernie, his father, as his mother is. Patrick is conflicted about his father Ernie.
Bobbie also was conflicted about Ernie, and so she was having an affair with Hank Kelleher, the high school history teacher while Ernie was becoming the town drunk, not that he was considered being out of line for that - Ash Falls is a town where beer drinking to excess was normal. Hank now is the local drug dealer, living alone in a house deep in woods, and his affair with Bobbie has dried up.
Hank’s sister, Lyla Kelleher, married Jonas Henry, a character who only has a walk-on here and there. Lyla’s and Jonas’ son Eugene has a criminal personality, seemingly without much of any moral filter since he was a toddler, although Lyla blames Bobbie for all of Eugene’s moral failings, linking what she considers Eugene’s problems as beginning after Bobbie’s husband Ernie murdered the drunken teen. Lyla hates that her brother Hank was involved with Bobbie.
Eugene saw the murder since he was getting drunk with Ricky. Eugene later marries Marcelle Foster. Marcelle decided to drop out of school at age 15 and marry Eugene because she thought he was cool, and it is as disastrous of a marriage as only ignorant high school dropouts can make. Eugene and Marcelle live with his parents Lyla and Jonas. Complicated friendship connections, like Hank and Bobbie, like Marcelle being besties with Patrick, Bobbie’s son, lead to some almost confrontations, but not.
Patrick takes a part-time job cleaning cages at a mink farm owned by a local man, Tin. Tin Dorsay is very very old. His mink farm employs a number of local people, but it is all new to Patrick. The thought strikes him as he works feeding the minks he is as trapped as the doomed minks.
As the story moves forward, the lives of each character appear to be slipping like the clutch in Hank’s old truck. Unfortunately, to me, so does this novel. It begins strong, but after the noir beginning, the plot devolves into an edgy cozy. I think the author Warren Read will certainly write a better book next time, though, if he does. However, this one was lacking energy for me, as well as not quite resolving the various threads. The novel was more like a part two in a trilogy but there was no part one and there will be no part three. Gentle reader, I was dissatisfied.
The scenes regarding the mink farm might disturb sensitive readers, but I thought the book PG-13 in its entirety. I was not raised in a delicate environment, though. However, since all violence is offscreen or brief or censored of its horrible bits, I feel confident in recommending the novel for medium-sensitive cozy readers.
I have always felt domestic fiction is a little or a lot dull, depending on the novel. Domestic fiction doesn’t quite have the humorous snap of most Chick-lit or the exaggerated fun of genre entertainment. Domestic fiction also is often missing the volcanic bites of personal self-discoveries which alter everything.
Drama which comes from far too ordinary and simple (to me) middle-class domestic family/child difficulties and Romances is not interesting to me (neither are the silly celebrity cat fights or hook-ups or pregnancies or divorces). I prefer those domestic fiction stories where because of a single traumatic event it throws ordinary lives into a spin and reassessment. My real life childhood was gothic and dangerous, so. Well. Higher excitement thresholds and violence baselines, me. My opinions of domestic fiction drama are seen through my personal dystopian lens.
My guess is the rot of 1950’s mores and social expectations is continuing to activate domestic distress in many families in many small American towns and country farming/ranching communities, as well as periodic economic upheavals because of droughts, market conditions or changing technology. I think many suburban families also have domestic concerns because of a sense of decay in their lives and no idea of how to push through it. ‘Ash Falls’ is all about describing a slow social decay because of a loss of connections to older small-town values and traditional jobs.
While the town of Ash Falls is imaginary, from the description I suspect it is based on a small ex-logging town like Granite Falls, Washington ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grani... ). Whether it is a fictional version of Granite Falls is not pertinent to the plot. Probably any small American town which is suspended between stagnation and change will do, where local high school graduates leave if they can and those who stay in town struggle to find meaning and work in their depleted hopes for a future in their place of birth or choice of home.
Ash Falls is like all small Pacific Northwest towns. There is an atmosphere of dark cloudy gloom (except in summer), wet and mold on most surfaces, and forests still press in on the edges of town boundaries despite the incursions of farms, ranches, roads, highways and the cutting down of trees. Whether one is speaking of the landscape, weather or the local economy, all seem to be slowly succumbing to entropy.
Each chapter follows a character whose life has taken a bleaker turn down a path different than where they thought they would be. Ernie Luntz commits an outrageous murder of a drunk teen, Ricky Cordero, during an annual local fair and ends up in prison. His wife, Bobbie, endures stares and gossip, continuing on as the high school’s nurse. Patrick, Ernie’s son, is struggling as a closeted gay teen, a hint of effeminacy slightly affecting the town’s treatment towards him, but he is not as aware of the town’s gossip about Ernie, his father, as his mother is. Patrick is conflicted about his father Ernie.
Bobbie also was conflicted about Ernie, and so she was having an affair with Hank Kelleher, the high school history teacher while Ernie was becoming the town drunk, not that he was considered being out of line for that - Ash Falls is a town where beer drinking to excess was normal. Hank now is the local drug dealer, living alone in a house deep in woods, and his affair with Bobbie has dried up.
Hank’s sister, Lyla Kelleher, married Jonas Henry, a character who only has a walk-on here and there. Lyla’s and Jonas’ son Eugene has a criminal personality, seemingly without much of any moral filter since he was a toddler, although Lyla blames Bobbie for all of Eugene’s moral failings, linking what she considers Eugene’s problems as beginning after Bobbie’s husband Ernie murdered the drunken teen. Lyla hates that her brother Hank was involved with Bobbie.
Eugene saw the murder since he was getting drunk with Ricky. Eugene later marries Marcelle Foster. Marcelle decided to drop out of school at age 15 and marry Eugene because she thought he was cool, and it is as disastrous of a marriage as only ignorant high school dropouts can make. Eugene and Marcelle live with his parents Lyla and Jonas. Complicated friendship connections, like Hank and Bobbie, like Marcelle being besties with Patrick, Bobbie’s son, lead to some almost confrontations, but not.
Patrick takes a part-time job cleaning cages at a mink farm owned by a local man, Tin. Tin Dorsay is very very old. His mink farm employs a number of local people, but it is all new to Patrick. The thought strikes him as he works feeding the minks he is as trapped as the doomed minks.
As the story moves forward, the lives of each character appear to be slipping like the clutch in Hank’s old truck. Unfortunately, to me, so does this novel. It begins strong, but after the noir beginning, the plot devolves into an edgy cozy. I think the author Warren Read will certainly write a better book next time, though, if he does. However, this one was lacking energy for me, as well as not quite resolving the various threads. The novel was more like a part two in a trilogy but there was no part one and there will be no part three. Gentle reader, I was dissatisfied.
The scenes regarding the mink farm might disturb sensitive readers, but I thought the book PG-13 in its entirety. I was not raised in a delicate environment, though. However, since all violence is offscreen or brief or censored of its horrible bits, I feel confident in recommending the novel for medium-sensitive cozy readers.
January 5, 2018
Strange story, it wasn't quite what I expected. Ernie convicted of murdering a young boy is being transferred between prisons. Half way there the driver suffers a heart attack and with the other prison officer injured Ernie manages to escape and goes on the run. That's the first chapter, the rest of the story is told in alternate chapters by various characters of Ash Falls, including Ernie's wife and son. The story pieces together what happened and the effect it had on the town. It isn't until the very last chapter that we find out what happens to Ernie. Can't say I absolutely loved it, but didn't dislike it, hence 3 stars.
August 30, 2021
"Ash Falls", by Warren Read, is a melancholic, hope-filling story about the misadventures of a small town, which lives in fear of an escaped murderer coming back to the town. The twist, however, is this prisoner was a well-known neighbor named Ernie that everyone had considered a decent man until an unforeseen circumstance led to his anger to get the best of him. Bobbie Luntz , the main character, who was also the wife of Ernie, struggles with dealing with her emotions after being the talk of the town for the last few years, with everyone either pitying or loathing her. Bobbie also struggles with taking care of her 17-year-old son, Patrick, who tries to stay out of his mom's life as much as possible. Though the plot can be static at times by spending long amounts of the story in flashbacks or backstories, the characters are the real winner of the book, with each having a different depth and complexity that pulls the reader in. Moreover, each character does not rely on the plot of Ernie getting out of jail to build their character but instead uses the situation surrounding Ernie to come out of their own struggles. For example, Marcelle, who has nothing to do with Ernie and his family, fights her own battles by living in an abusive household that is abusive partly because of Ernie. Marcelle's entire character does not solely depend on the fact that Ernie has escaped, but is instead grown through the past experience of what Ernie did. Through the intertwined nature of "Ash Falls", readers get to learn how each character is connected, along with how they are just as different. The ending of this story showcases some of the growth of the characters, giving hope to readers that you don't need to stay on the detrimental path that you may have been placed on.
January 1, 2018
Submersive novel, with captivating characters that I couldn't stop thinking about long after finishing the book. The setting is as much a part of the story as the people who live in it, with the rain-soaked, downtrodden mountain town vivid and resonant.
December 1, 2017
Such a good story with such intricately drawn characters--why didn't anyone bother to proofread it?
October 16, 2017
I enjoyed the setting and the characters in this novel more than the actual story itself. It's a decent book, but it wasn't exactly my cup of tea.
August 1, 2017
I loved this book! It’s a great story about intersecting lives in a small town. It includes a great cast of characters that will stick with you long after you turn that last page. Can’t wait to see what Warren Reed comes up with next!
June 20, 2017
The kind of novel I enjoy, when the characters draw me into their lives and I become part of their world. Great descriptive writing of a place I love, ( the Pacific Northwest and it's forests and mountains) and a great story of life in a small, economically challenged town. I wanted to follow the lives of these people further, a sign of a great read for me.
November 29, 2017
"From where they all sat, from the boxed in, smoke-sickened corner room on the second floor, they were all equal prisoners - all of them. They were prisoners of the neglected two-story brick behemoth that contained them all, a building aged and grandly pillared and choked with a suffocating layer of untamed ivy and dying wisteria and steadfast tradition and, to often (if you asked the right people), a small town's general inability to see the horizon beyond its own cracked and rutted streets." (p. 35).
"But for Hank, the dankness of autumn could hold a certain thunderous romance, if only for those winding drives into town, where he would find himself stealing glances in the rearview mirror to watch the glorious rooster tail of yellow and red billowing wildly behind him. Not enough people appreciated that. The turning maples and dogwoods that hovered cathedral-like over the roadway, racing down the snaking mountain highway, flanked by the breathtaking gauntlet of granite and basalt cliffs and the intermittent rush of late summer melt forcing its way down the slope toward the chugging Stillaguamish. Most times, it was the only thing that made that coming down the mountain worthwhile." (p. 83).
"The trees stood like bristles on a brush, evenly spaced with a floor almost entirely of salal. Half the mountain at this point was third growth, planted by hand like lettuce starts, regimented according to someone's master plan. These trees were living and breathing and providing homes and food for many. But they were waiting. Waiting to be felled again, to be run through the saw and cobbled into somebody's cheap furniture, or toilet paper, or the guts of the sort of matchbox houses that had begun to sprout along the lower highway like fungus." (pp. 113-114).
"The sermon had been a long one, about keeping faith in the moment of despair. The Soviet Union was already in outer space, and they were testing missiles. There was a man running for president who was unlike anyone who had run before, and for the first time in memory Lyla was excited to be able to vote. But he was so young and unproven, Lyla's parents liked to say, and on top of it all he was a Catholic, so what could be expected in the way of foresight and temperance? It seemed like every day they were predicting the end of everything, one minute begging her to hurry and find a man already (she was thirty, after all), the next minute shrugging their shoulders and lamenting, 'what's the use?'" (p. 116).
"'What happened?'
'Oh, it got so she hated the rain. I told her she was in the wrong place for that. Last I heard she went off to Texas.'
'Texas?'
'Can you believe it? You gotta hate something pretty bad to end up in Texas.'" (p. 144).
"'There's no gate keeping you or anyone else up here. All you got to do is get in your truck and drive. people walk around this town like a bunch of trapped animals, but the only ones trapping them are themselves.'" (p. 170).
"'I look at it this way,' he said. 'If it ain't the farm, it's the forest. We cut 'em down, chop 'em up, use 'em to make our houses. Use the pieces to keep us warm. You ever hear a four hundred year-old Doug Fir come down? It's like an old man. It groans and cries, and it creaks and snaps all over the place. It never feels good to take something that's lived so long and end it, just to make things better for you. But you put some more in the ground, and maybe in a hundred years, some Joe'll come along and do it all over again. And between then and then, all a fella can do is show respect and take care of em the best you can.'" (p. 228).
"A pathway opened, a possibility. Something she'd never had before, and it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time." (p. 259).
"'I remember when it was all just trees,' she said. 'There are places all over this town that used to be trees. Things change.'
'Unfortunately, yes.'
She squinted up at him, chewing that gum she still had in her mouth. She shifted in the seat so that she faced him, propping her heels on floor edge. 'Why unfortunately?' she said. 'You think things ought to stay the same, forever?'
'I don't know,' he said. 'Some things.'
She shook her head. 'What's behind us is gone, Kelleher. It's out of our hands. The only thing any of us have control over is maybe the shit that's waiting around the next corner.'
She turned slightly, and reached back to find Toby again. She scratched at his ears, and he rolled onto his side to show his stomach, but she didn't notice. Her eyes remained on Hank's, studying him, it seemed, to see where he might be taking this conversation.
'It's just reminiscing is all,' he said. 'It's what happens when you realize there's more years behind you than are in front of you.'
She swung her leg out and tapped him against the shin. 'You aren't as old as you let on. You've got plenty of good years left ahead. Whether you live them up there on the mountain, or down here in Ash Falls, or wherever the hell you want to - just live them. Don't spend your whole life staring in the rearview mirror.'" (pp. 286-287).
"But for Hank, the dankness of autumn could hold a certain thunderous romance, if only for those winding drives into town, where he would find himself stealing glances in the rearview mirror to watch the glorious rooster tail of yellow and red billowing wildly behind him. Not enough people appreciated that. The turning maples and dogwoods that hovered cathedral-like over the roadway, racing down the snaking mountain highway, flanked by the breathtaking gauntlet of granite and basalt cliffs and the intermittent rush of late summer melt forcing its way down the slope toward the chugging Stillaguamish. Most times, it was the only thing that made that coming down the mountain worthwhile." (p. 83).
"The trees stood like bristles on a brush, evenly spaced with a floor almost entirely of salal. Half the mountain at this point was third growth, planted by hand like lettuce starts, regimented according to someone's master plan. These trees were living and breathing and providing homes and food for many. But they were waiting. Waiting to be felled again, to be run through the saw and cobbled into somebody's cheap furniture, or toilet paper, or the guts of the sort of matchbox houses that had begun to sprout along the lower highway like fungus." (pp. 113-114).
"The sermon had been a long one, about keeping faith in the moment of despair. The Soviet Union was already in outer space, and they were testing missiles. There was a man running for president who was unlike anyone who had run before, and for the first time in memory Lyla was excited to be able to vote. But he was so young and unproven, Lyla's parents liked to say, and on top of it all he was a Catholic, so what could be expected in the way of foresight and temperance? It seemed like every day they were predicting the end of everything, one minute begging her to hurry and find a man already (she was thirty, after all), the next minute shrugging their shoulders and lamenting, 'what's the use?'" (p. 116).
"'What happened?'
'Oh, it got so she hated the rain. I told her she was in the wrong place for that. Last I heard she went off to Texas.'
'Texas?'
'Can you believe it? You gotta hate something pretty bad to end up in Texas.'" (p. 144).
"'There's no gate keeping you or anyone else up here. All you got to do is get in your truck and drive. people walk around this town like a bunch of trapped animals, but the only ones trapping them are themselves.'" (p. 170).
"'I look at it this way,' he said. 'If it ain't the farm, it's the forest. We cut 'em down, chop 'em up, use 'em to make our houses. Use the pieces to keep us warm. You ever hear a four hundred year-old Doug Fir come down? It's like an old man. It groans and cries, and it creaks and snaps all over the place. It never feels good to take something that's lived so long and end it, just to make things better for you. But you put some more in the ground, and maybe in a hundred years, some Joe'll come along and do it all over again. And between then and then, all a fella can do is show respect and take care of em the best you can.'" (p. 228).
"A pathway opened, a possibility. Something she'd never had before, and it was exhilarating and terrifying at the same time." (p. 259).
"'I remember when it was all just trees,' she said. 'There are places all over this town that used to be trees. Things change.'
'Unfortunately, yes.'
She squinted up at him, chewing that gum she still had in her mouth. She shifted in the seat so that she faced him, propping her heels on floor edge. 'Why unfortunately?' she said. 'You think things ought to stay the same, forever?'
'I don't know,' he said. 'Some things.'
She shook her head. 'What's behind us is gone, Kelleher. It's out of our hands. The only thing any of us have control over is maybe the shit that's waiting around the next corner.'
She turned slightly, and reached back to find Toby again. She scratched at his ears, and he rolled onto his side to show his stomach, but she didn't notice. Her eyes remained on Hank's, studying him, it seemed, to see where he might be taking this conversation.
'It's just reminiscing is all,' he said. 'It's what happens when you realize there's more years behind you than are in front of you.'
She swung her leg out and tapped him against the shin. 'You aren't as old as you let on. You've got plenty of good years left ahead. Whether you live them up there on the mountain, or down here in Ash Falls, or wherever the hell you want to - just live them. Don't spend your whole life staring in the rearview mirror.'" (pp. 286-287).
August 2, 2017
Very atmospheric; a small town in the Northwest, surrounded by forests, mountains...and yes rain. The somber setting emphasizes the sense of ennui of rural life in the United States. I adored all the characters, and this is what the book is really about. If you're familiar with Kent Haruf and "Plainsong," among others...this is in that vein. I appreciate finishing a book and feeling as if I have made new friends, even though they are of course, fiction. The friends I made this time out: Hank, the retired, never married schoolteacher, who now sells medical marijuana from his cabin deep in the woods. Stoic and compassionate, sensitive and gruff. In love with a woman (Bobbie) he can never have because of a tragic incident involving her husband Ernie (who suffers from PTSD and has escaped from prison). Bobbie, the perfect complement to Hank, who's endured much, and yet still has something to give to those even less fortunate than her. There are numerable characters like this throughout: flawed but hanging on to hope. And then there are a very few who are probably not salvageable as human beings. The one character I didn't connect with as much was Bobbie and Ernie's son, the teenager struggling with being gay in small-town USA. He seemed strangely detached and not fully defined. But perhaps that is who he really was, as so many teens seem lost and aloof...as this period of life is all about discovery and realization that the world is a tough place. If you're looking for a page-turner, this is not it. If you're looking for rich characterization and a statement on rural life in our country...this is perfect.
Sidenote: There is a segment on a mink farm I had to skim. I think it's there to provide an analogy on several levels, but I couldn't make myself read too much detail about how all that works. Thankfully this part is very short, and I got the point without delving too much into it.
Sidenote: There is a segment on a mink farm I had to skim. I think it's there to provide an analogy on several levels, but I couldn't make myself read too much detail about how all that works. Thankfully this part is very short, and I got the point without delving too much into it.
December 18, 2017
"Ash Falls" is an in-depth character study of people who live in a small town. The book begins with a prison transfer. Ernie, a convicted murderer, is being transported when the driver has a heart attack and the car rolls over. Ernie takes the opportunity to escape. His wife, Bobbie, and son, Patrick, live in Ash Falls where he had committed murder. The whole town is on edge to see if he will return.
The beginning of the book really had me gripped and pulled me into the story. Although each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person, I didn't find it hard to follow. I became invested in some of the characters pretty quickly. Towards the middle, the pace seemed to slow in my opinion, but it picked up again later. Overall, I found it to be really intriguing and a great multi-character study.
Please note that I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
The beginning of the book really had me gripped and pulled me into the story. Although each chapter is told from the perspective of a different person, I didn't find it hard to follow. I became invested in some of the characters pretty quickly. Towards the middle, the pace seemed to slow in my opinion, but it picked up again later. Overall, I found it to be really intriguing and a great multi-character study.
Please note that I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway. All opinions are my own.
February 16, 2018
A microscopic look at a small, impoverished mountain town in 1980's Washington State. Various characters go through their daily lives one fall/winter season, after hearing of the prison escape of one of their own (who had murdered a boy years earlier). There is tension in the wonderings of whether or not the killer will return, but even more than that is the experiences and stories of those he has impacted. I kept thinking of Russell Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter", or any one of Kent Haruf's novels. The setting is just as rich as the characterizations, and it's a world (and community) that lingers long after the last page. This author is one to watch.
August 13, 2017
This story is about a set of characters who live in the small town called Ash Falls. Each chapter is written from a different character's point of view (and sometimes a different point in time) and feeds into the overall story.
It's a very well written book and must have taken a lot of focus for so many characters to bring to light an entire story.
It's a book with no clearly defined endings and this may frustrate some readers who need that satisfactory sense of closer. I, on the other hand, thought it demonstrated nicely that life continues to unfold in spite of clean endings.
It's a very well written book and must have taken a lot of focus for so many characters to bring to light an entire story.
It's a book with no clearly defined endings and this may frustrate some readers who need that satisfactory sense of closer. I, on the other hand, thought it demonstrated nicely that life continues to unfold in spite of clean endings.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 19, 2017
Warren Read’s first novel is a masterpiece. For anyone living outside of the Pacific Northwest, his vivid descriptions will take you to this haunting and beautiful rural location. His characters are unique, flawed and loveable, all living in dark circumstances but finding ways to survive without becoming hard toward others. And the love appears in this novel without sentimentality, but with strength and grit, depicting the hard choices we make to save ourselves and the people we care about. This author has a fine career ahead and I look forward to seeing more of his work.
August 20, 2017
It appears that the escapee's story will be the focus in the first chapter, but then narration shifts to introducing 5-6 other characters. Those first chapters move slowly. But once introduced, their stories emerge and intertwine.
Most of the characters are well developed and likable; only one exception. There is a lot of push-pull in the more complex characters as they go about their lives, some of them growing. The descriptions of the town make it appealing in its routine quietness, a quietness that has been disrupted.
I'm still pondering whether I think the ending adequately motivated.
Most of the characters are well developed and likable; only one exception. There is a lot of push-pull in the more complex characters as they go about their lives, some of them growing. The descriptions of the town make it appealing in its routine quietness, a quietness that has been disrupted.
I'm still pondering whether I think the ending adequately motivated.
February 13, 2018
Murder in a small town gets a gritty, psychological treatment in this unexpected novel. What starts out as a typical prison escape story turns into a quiet yet taut study of a town imprisoned by itself. The people of Ash Falls (the novel focuses on five characters connected to the murderer Ernie) go through their unhappy days waiting to see if Ernie will show up. That's about it, plot-wise, but the book itself reads like a Kent Haruf novel mashed with Twin Peaks (with a little Winter's Bone in there). Nice discovery.
June 10, 2018
This novel was very well written, it was an enjoyable read. I think some of the character could have been better developed and further explored I feel like the novel brought in too many character and was unable to get in depth with them. The tensions and relationships were intriguing and I was definitely left wanting to know more. It would have been nice to see more interaction with Ernie with all of the characters, especially Bobbie and Patrick. He is the character that ties the story together and I did not really get a good understanding of who he was
July 5, 2017
I loved this book. The author paints with words, you can see the town and imagine the characters. I bought this as a summer read and devoured it. Ash Falls is a small town set in the mountains of the pacific northwest. The characters are all interconnected as they often are in a tiny community. I felt strongest about Marcelle and Patrick, I yearned for them to get away. I wish I knew what happens to them in the years ahead. I look forward to another novel by Warren Read!
February 12, 2018
Simmering, evocative story in the style of Kent Haruf and Richard Russo. Flawed, complex cast of characters knocking their way through life in small town Washington State. The story is wrapped around the prison escape of a man tied to each person in some way, and whether or not he will show up back in their little town. But it's not really about that at all. This is not a book for people who need a twist or turn in every chapter, but for lovers of quality, thoughtful literature.
March 27, 2018
A complex, well-crafted story of a collection of small town folks dealing with the unfair hand that life has dealt them. It opens with a prison escape, but that's a bit of a red herring, since the story isn't about that (mostly). It's about the people who wonder if the escapee is going to show up. Not a fast-moving story but rich in detail and character. A bit of Richard Russo crossed with John Updike. Worth the read.
April 21, 2018
This is the tale of Ernie, and the events that led up to his incarceration. Every chapter peels back another layer of a small town onion. To show how everyone is related by blood, intimate relationship, or acquaintance. This page turner plays with your emotions for every character, and just when you think you have them figured out a twist happens. I hope a sequel is in the works! I would like to know how some relationships concluded!
September 5, 2017
The town of ASH FALLS is alive in its details, and Warren Read's characters breathe genuine on the page. Beautiful prose weaves the threads of these gritty human relationships through a complex story that stays with the reader long after the final page. Highly recommended for those who seek a cast of fully developed characters in an active setting. Great work.
January 12, 2018
I liked the book. I thought it was well written. I especially liked the description of the surrounding area. The people of Ash Falls are a sad, sad bunch. It might be the perfect place for a natural disaster and put them all out of their misery. I didn't like the lack of resolution for any of the characters. The book ended and I'm screaming, "What happened?"
February 8, 2018
Excellent characterizations and a compelling tale make Warren Read’s novel good, solid reading. Read’s style makes the small town of Ash Falls come alive as it is torn apart by tragedy. Enough suspense to keep the reader wondering, with romance and coming-of-age as secondary themes, this is one book that was hard to put down.
February 27, 2018
Set in a small town in Washington state, Ash Falls is a place surrounded by mountains, trees, and a gray damp atmosphere. From just a few mentions, I believe it is set in the early 1980’s, before PTS or SAD where known or treated. The characters are stifled in their setting, but can’t imagine pushing themselves away. Excellent
October 1, 2021
I think the book was okay, but not really sure why the plot was the plot to be honest. I finished it to see what happened in plot but it was not the most interesting read. I wish they would have explained the murder more and why it happened, but it had no further depth to it other than how it occurred. Would not read again or recommend.
July 12, 2024
The characters in this story are compelling and that is what kept me reading this story. Aside from that, there were not many redeeming qualities of this story. The plot was winding and the author used devices to hide some key details, making the reader work harder than necessary. Would not recommend.
July 6, 2017
"Ash Falls" is a rich, dense, and deep story, one that examines a place as well as the characters who live there. The writing is flawless, and the plot will keep you in suspense all the way to the end. Highly recommended.
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