Native

by Rick Sterry

In a small town on the Oregon coast, a runaway teen steals a bicycle and a local renegade poaches a rare bull elk, setting off a series of events that lead to murder. There are a number of "natives" in this fast-paced novel. At its heart is TJ Garvin, a well-known local renegade whose family settled on the Oregon coast generations ago. He's building a wooden trawler from the ground up in the middle of eighty acres of upland old growth Douglas Fir and has an illegal marijuana grow site hidden in the woods. There's his estranged wife, Johanna, who takes out a restraining order against TJ. Her dream is to get a real estate license and leave town for the big city with their three-year-old son, Jason. There's Luke Russell, a 17-year-old runaway who goes native in the coastal woods, raiding cabins to stay alive. There's Morris Barnes, the local sheriff and a relative Rogue County newcomer who dresses like a logger and plots to be elected Rogue County commissioner as a stepping-stone to the state legislature. There's Clive Williamson, three-time mayor of the town of Rogue River. Clive stands in Barnes' way and is the subject of a recall election. Finally there is Barnes' deputy, Miles Jenkins, who attends rendezvous encampments dressed in home-made buckskins and itches to settle a score with TJ Garvin. Over one spring and summer the lives of these characters intersect to result in a brutal murder that shocks the coastal town of Rogue River.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 7, 2018

Reviews

[Penny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading books that are placed in actual places I know, or fictional places that remind me of real places. Better yet is when the characters remind me of people I know. “Native” by Rick Sterry takes place in a fictional Oregon coastal town, but I’d swear it’s a compilation of 2 towns I’m familiar with. The restaurants and bars, the rural roads, and especially the “80” acres where a good part of the story takes place, are places I know, even if they are purely fictional. I love it!
Better than the setting are the characters: T.J. - ex high school jock, present day timber faller/commercial fisherman, renegade, and man you can’t help but love; Johanna – waitress, (sometimes single) mother, who is trying to quit both smoking and T.J.; Luke Russell – runaway teen, epileptic, kid with a bruised self-esteem who can’t wait to turn 18 and start a different life; Luke’s aunt’s husband Clive Williamson – Rogue County Commissioner up for a recall with all the drama of small town politics, but still is looking forward to helping Luke, until Luke runs away. These are all people I know. Maybe not these exact characters, but people just like them.
Sperry obviously knows well the Oregon Coast and its small towns, and the people who populate them. One scene that especially struck me was a simple description of T.J. filing the chain on his power saw. The description was so spot on that I had an instant flash of memory of watching that task being done. It was so real, I could almost smell the fir chips, the saw oil, and the sweat of a man who just put in hard outdoor work.
The story is about T.J. trying to make his dream come true of building a boat to take Johanna and her son with him to Alaska to fish, and about the runaway Luke living with T.J. on the “80” and helping build the boat. It’s about the sheriff trying to recall Clive, so he (the sheriff) can take his place as County Commissioner, leaving the sheriff position open for one of his deputies, and what lengths they will all go to make that happen.
I really enjoyed “Native” and highly recommend it for all, but especially to those, who like me, have lived in Oregon in this kind of setting.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this well crafted story set in the Rouge River area while I was traveling around the area. The characters were interesting and reflected the variety of people who might live in the area.