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The Distant Dead
A body burns in the high desert hills. A boy walks into a fire station, pale with the shock of a grisly discovery. A middle school teacher worries when her colleague is late for work. By day’s end, when the body is identified as local math teacher Adam Merkel, a small Nevada town will be rocked to its core by a brutal and calculated murder.
Adam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles’ compound.
Nora Wheaton, the middle school’s social studies teacher, dreamed of a life far from Lovelock only to be dragged back on the eve of her college graduation to care for her disabled father, a man she loves but can’t forgive. She sensed in the new math teacher a kindred spirit--another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After Adam’s death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him and finds a dark history she understands all too well. But the truth about his murder may lie closer to home. For Sal Prentiss’s grief seems heavily shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he’s telling about how his favorite teacher died. As she tries to earn the wary boy’s trust, she finds he holds not only the key to Adam’s murder, but an unexpected chance at the life she thought she’d lost.
Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora’s search for answers, and a young boy’s anguished moral reckoning.
Adam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles’ compound.
Nora Wheaton, the middle school’s social studies teacher, dreamed of a life far from Lovelock only to be dragged back on the eve of her college graduation to care for her disabled father, a man she loves but can’t forgive. She sensed in the new math teacher a kindred spirit--another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After Adam’s death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him and finds a dark history she understands all too well. But the truth about his murder may lie closer to home. For Sal Prentiss’s grief seems heavily shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he’s telling about how his favorite teacher died. As she tries to earn the wary boy’s trust, she finds he holds not only the key to Adam’s murder, but an unexpected chance at the life she thought she’d lost.
Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora’s search for answers, and a young boy’s anguished moral reckoning.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 9, 2020
551 people are currently reading
8811 people want to read
About the author
Heather Young
2 books506 followersHeather is the author of two novels. Her debut, The Lost Girls, won the Strand Award for Best First Novel and was nominated for an Edgar Award. The Distant Dead was published on June 9, 2020, and was named one of the Best Books of Summer by People Magazine, Parade, and CrimeReads. A former antitrust and intellectual property litigator, she traded the legal world for the literary one and earned her MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars in 2011. She lives in Mill Valley, California, where she writes, bikes, hikes, and reads books by other people that she wishes she’d written.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 531 reviews
June 26, 2020
I wrote it, so I like it just fine :)
July 8, 2020
In a desert town outside of Reno, Nevada and a young boy, Saul finds a burnt body. The body is that if a fairly new math teacher, and except for Saul and Nora, another teacher, he has made few friends. He also has a grief stricken past and many secrets. Saul, whose own mother had recently died, lives with his two hermit like uncles. Their family has quite a long reaching reputation.
The story is told by multiple voices, Saul, Jake, the paramedic and Nora, who also has and is still dealing with her family's grief. This is a struggling town, and drugs are prevalent as is the damage they cause. A very unusual murder investigation and a very slowly paced, but perfectly measured story. One that shows how events can connect many different people. The atmosphere of the dying town is well done and this blends perfectly into the story. Grief, secrets, lies and how people live with these burdens. Saul, once again seems at times older than the adults and the ending is an unorthodox one. But so fitting.
I think this will appeal to those who liked The Dry by Jane Harper
ARC by Edelweiss.
The story is told by multiple voices, Saul, Jake, the paramedic and Nora, who also has and is still dealing with her family's grief. This is a struggling town, and drugs are prevalent as is the damage they cause. A very unusual murder investigation and a very slowly paced, but perfectly measured story. One that shows how events can connect many different people. The atmosphere of the dying town is well done and this blends perfectly into the story. Grief, secrets, lies and how people live with these burdens. Saul, once again seems at times older than the adults and the ending is an unorthodox one. But so fitting.
I think this will appeal to those who liked The Dry by Jane Harper
ARC by Edelweiss.
May 11, 2020
I had no idea what to expect when I started this book, and wow! Was I ever pleasantly surprised. This book is the best of the best when it comes to a slow-burn, whodunnit thriller.
The book opens with a body burning in the desert, and a young boy walking into a fire station to report his discovery. By the end of the day, the body is identified the boy's middle school math teacher, Adam Merkel, and this small, left-behind town is rocked to its core.
Nora Wheaton, who is also a teacher at the town's middle school, spends her days teaching and her evening caring for her father, a man she loves but can’t forgive after the death of her brother years ago. She was the only "friend" Adam Merkel had at the school, and after his death, she delves into his past for clues as to who killed him and in so doing, finds a dark history. Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora searches for answers, and uncovers not only the truth about Adam Merkel, but also hurts and bitterness she has kept locked inside for years.
This really is an unforgettable thriller that vividly brings a small town to life and is filled with complex, flawed characters. Young's characters have a way of getting under your skin and staying there. I found myself with a lump in my throat several times reading Nora, Adam, and Sal's stories. I wanted good to come for all of them, but at the same time, I was frustrated with them for some of their choices - truly the making of great characters. The ending took me by surprise, but I thought it was perfectly unusual.
This book is definitely a slow-burn, but when it hits its stride, it burns white hot. It would have been a 5-star read for me, except that some of the back stories grew somewhat tedious at times, but once it all came full circle, I understood it a bit more. This one has stayed with me for days now, which is unusual for a thriller!
The book opens with a body burning in the desert, and a young boy walking into a fire station to report his discovery. By the end of the day, the body is identified the boy's middle school math teacher, Adam Merkel, and this small, left-behind town is rocked to its core.
Nora Wheaton, who is also a teacher at the town's middle school, spends her days teaching and her evening caring for her father, a man she loves but can’t forgive after the death of her brother years ago. She was the only "friend" Adam Merkel had at the school, and after his death, she delves into his past for clues as to who killed him and in so doing, finds a dark history. Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora searches for answers, and uncovers not only the truth about Adam Merkel, but also hurts and bitterness she has kept locked inside for years.
This really is an unforgettable thriller that vividly brings a small town to life and is filled with complex, flawed characters. Young's characters have a way of getting under your skin and staying there. I found myself with a lump in my throat several times reading Nora, Adam, and Sal's stories. I wanted good to come for all of them, but at the same time, I was frustrated with them for some of their choices - truly the making of great characters. The ending took me by surprise, but I thought it was perfectly unusual.
This book is definitely a slow-burn, but when it hits its stride, it burns white hot. It would have been a 5-star read for me, except that some of the back stories grew somewhat tedious at times, but once it all came full circle, I understood it a bit more. This one has stayed with me for days now, which is unusual for a thriller!
April 8, 2020
Bright, flawless writing, wonderful characters and a sense of pacing that draws time out like a long knife. What more could you want from a thriller? I loved this book.
November 13, 2020
Adam Merkel left his professorship at University of Nevada to teach middle school math in the small town of Lovelock. Seven months later, he was dead; his body burned in the isolated hills outside of town. Lonely sixth grader Sal Prentiss discovers the body of his math teacher who had become a trusted friend only a half mile from the compound where he lives with his two uncles.
Middle school teacher Nora Wheaton never expected she’d still be in Lovelock at this point in her life but feels an obligation to her disabled father though the devastation and grief of past events leave her bitter. When Adam Merkel’s body is identified, Nora is surprised by how deeply it affects her. She barely knew Adam though she sensed a kindred spirit in him. He was quiet and shared little about his life — now his death leaves Nora investigating his past in hopes of learning why he was murdered.
The Distant Dead alternates the months leading up to Merkel’s death and the aftermath, told from many points of view including Sal and Nora. The storytelling and atmosphere are both rich with many layers. The town of Locklock is struggling, Sal’s still reeling from the death of his mom, Nora is struggling with the past, and both have a unique part to play in the story of Adam Merkel’s life and death. Author Heather Young has given us a slow burn mystery and a quiet but powerful character study.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy a slow burn mystery, crime fiction, and character studies. This would be an excellent recommendation for fans of Jane Harper.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
Middle school teacher Nora Wheaton never expected she’d still be in Lovelock at this point in her life but feels an obligation to her disabled father though the devastation and grief of past events leave her bitter. When Adam Merkel’s body is identified, Nora is surprised by how deeply it affects her. She barely knew Adam though she sensed a kindred spirit in him. He was quiet and shared little about his life — now his death leaves Nora investigating his past in hopes of learning why he was murdered.
The Distant Dead alternates the months leading up to Merkel’s death and the aftermath, told from many points of view including Sal and Nora. The storytelling and atmosphere are both rich with many layers. The town of Locklock is struggling, Sal’s still reeling from the death of his mom, Nora is struggling with the past, and both have a unique part to play in the story of Adam Merkel’s life and death. Author Heather Young has given us a slow burn mystery and a quiet but powerful character study.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy a slow burn mystery, crime fiction, and character studies. This would be an excellent recommendation for fans of Jane Harper.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
September 24, 2020
A dark, coming of age story focuses on a small town's mysterious death of a local math teacher, Mr Merkel. The body was found by a student, Sal, who becomes one of the main protagonists of this story. While the overall storyline focuses on the mystery behind Mr. Merkel's death, the book is mainly a character study of rural Nevada and the working class in America. While this book is very compelling, it is also a very dense and slower paced novel. This book is definitely for a specific reader, and if you are looking for a book to binge, maybe seek something a bit faster in pace.
June 21, 2020
The book to read. The NYT reviewed it recently and inaccurately as a mystery or thriller. There is a mystery in the plot, but this book transcends genre. Graceful writing, a compelling story, character driven with people you can believe in even though you might be happy not to be related to them. It is clear the author cares deeply about all the people in this book, even those who are easy to dislike. No car chases. No villains. No evil geniuses. Great story telling that you will not soon forget. And next March 14, I will be baking pies.
December 3, 2020
4.5 rounded up.
I loved this author's first book, and same here, only the two books are very different. This felt a lot like reading a Nickolas Butler novel -- a young boy growing up in small town America. Coincidentally, while reading this I was reading a Nickolas Butler book so that may be why I made that connection, but the writing styles and themes are definitely similar.
Here we have Sal, an eleven year old who has become orphaned recently by the death of his mother. He goes to live on the family compound with just his two under-the-radar uncles, who aren't the best of substitute parents. That job then falls to the new math teacher in town, Adam Merkel, who takes Sal under his wing. But that doesn't last either because Adam is murdered, and Sal is the one who finds the body. Another teacher tries to help solve the murder, and suspects are adding up.
Many of these wonderful characters and their relationships have been formed out of the unnatural deaths of family members. Many are haunted by those who have died, and those deaths are coloring their present lives. Too many deaths, many from various addictions. Sal is especially vulnerable at his age, which seems to be forgotten by the so-called adults in his life.
This had four narrators and they all performed excellently.
I loved this author's first book, and same here, only the two books are very different. This felt a lot like reading a Nickolas Butler novel -- a young boy growing up in small town America. Coincidentally, while reading this I was reading a Nickolas Butler book so that may be why I made that connection, but the writing styles and themes are definitely similar.
Here we have Sal, an eleven year old who has become orphaned recently by the death of his mother. He goes to live on the family compound with just his two under-the-radar uncles, who aren't the best of substitute parents. That job then falls to the new math teacher in town, Adam Merkel, who takes Sal under his wing. But that doesn't last either because Adam is murdered, and Sal is the one who finds the body. Another teacher tries to help solve the murder, and suspects are adding up.
Many of these wonderful characters and their relationships have been formed out of the unnatural deaths of family members. Many are haunted by those who have died, and those deaths are coloring their present lives. Too many deaths, many from various addictions. Sal is especially vulnerable at his age, which seems to be forgotten by the so-called adults in his life.
This had four narrators and they all performed excellently.
November 10, 2023
This book checks a number of boxes that I like in crime fiction: reveals of plot and character that are at times excruciatingly slow; reflections on contemporary social ills; a setting that plays a huge role in the story; all presented with quality writing. In this case, the whole becomes a uniquely melancholy, yet satisfying combination of these parts.
The location is the Great Basin of Nevada, a lonely, lightly populated area where one generation continues in the footsteps of the previous, altered only in matters of degree, as when addictions switch from alcohol to prescription drugs and beyond. The plot is driven, oh-so-gradually, by the responses of a dozen disparate individuals to the deaths of their family members, each of which, we learn gradually, should have been preventable.
The characters are sketched with a light touch, yet become fully realized as events cause them to interact. There is a dual timeline, with the points of view rotating among three principal characters, each of whom fills us in on the rest of the cast. All of these people are accessible, maybe even likeable, though the pre-teen boy really steals the show.
I see that I’ve neglected to mention one other element of this book that I found enjoyable: side trips into the academic topics of number theory and paleo anthropology. My inner nerd (actually, not buried that deeply) always likes excuses to learn a little something new. :-)
My feelings about the ending are ambivalent, but overall I found this an excellent, if a bit haunting, read.
The location is the Great Basin of Nevada, a lonely, lightly populated area where one generation continues in the footsteps of the previous, altered only in matters of degree, as when addictions switch from alcohol to prescription drugs and beyond. The plot is driven, oh-so-gradually, by the responses of a dozen disparate individuals to the deaths of their family members, each of which, we learn gradually, should have been preventable.
The characters are sketched with a light touch, yet become fully realized as events cause them to interact. There is a dual timeline, with the points of view rotating among three principal characters, each of whom fills us in on the rest of the cast. All of these people are accessible, maybe even likeable, though the pre-teen boy really steals the show.
I see that I’ve neglected to mention one other element of this book that I found enjoyable: side trips into the academic topics of number theory and paleo anthropology. My inner nerd (actually, not buried that deeply) always likes excuses to learn a little something new. :-)
My feelings about the ending are ambivalent, but overall I found this an excellent, if a bit haunting, read.
January 24, 2020
Review TK
February 25, 2021
A dark and well-written tale of sadness and forgiveness
Adam Merkel left his job as a professor in Reno to come to Lovelock, a small town, to teach math at their middle school. He was mostly mocked by his students, except for one, Sal Prentiss. After the death of his mother, Sal lives outside of town with his two uncles. Mostly friendless, he bonds with Mr. Merkel over math, chess, and more. So when Sal finds Mr. Merkel's body on his way to schoool--burned so that it's nearly unrecognizable--it turns his small world upside down. It upsets Nora Wheaton as well. A colleague of Adam's at the school, she thought she recognized a kindred spirit in him. Both seemed trapped in Lovelock: Nora had to return to care for her father. After Adam's death, Nora starts looking into his past to see what led to his horrible undoing. But so much of what she finds keeps leading back to the boy who befriended him--and found his body. As she tries to befriend the wary Sal, it opens up old wounds of her own.
I really loved Heather Young's book The Lost Girls, and The Distant Dead didn't disappoint either. She excels at creating excellent atmospheric novels with well-drawn characters. The Distant Dead perfectly captures small town life: how nearly everyone knows almost everything about everyone, but rarely interferes. How a small town can feel so stifling and claustrophobic. How the secrets and lies pile up until a man finds himself burned to death.
Young also covers the timely topics of drugs and addiction, which run as a thread across the book. Opiates don't seem like a tired trope here, though, but something that is eating up the town and ruining people's lives. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a book with a good kid character, and I pretty much fell for Sal immediately. He's a great kid: real, vulnerable yet tough, and smart. He was an excellent narrator, with his portions telling what led up to Adam's death and Nora and Jake (a local EMT/firefighter) telling us what happened after. The book is surprisingly tense, with Young's beautifully written words jumping off every page. She's such a lyrical writer, weaving an amazing tale of sadness and redemption.
This isn't a fast read or a page-turning thriller. But it's a well-written book, with characters you won't soon forget. There's a lovely, albeit sad and dark, story here. Definitely worth a read. 4+ stars.
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Adam Merkel left his job as a professor in Reno to come to Lovelock, a small town, to teach math at their middle school. He was mostly mocked by his students, except for one, Sal Prentiss. After the death of his mother, Sal lives outside of town with his two uncles. Mostly friendless, he bonds with Mr. Merkel over math, chess, and more. So when Sal finds Mr. Merkel's body on his way to schoool--burned so that it's nearly unrecognizable--it turns his small world upside down. It upsets Nora Wheaton as well. A colleague of Adam's at the school, she thought she recognized a kindred spirit in him. Both seemed trapped in Lovelock: Nora had to return to care for her father. After Adam's death, Nora starts looking into his past to see what led to his horrible undoing. But so much of what she finds keeps leading back to the boy who befriended him--and found his body. As she tries to befriend the wary Sal, it opens up old wounds of her own.
I really loved Heather Young's book The Lost Girls, and The Distant Dead didn't disappoint either. She excels at creating excellent atmospheric novels with well-drawn characters. The Distant Dead perfectly captures small town life: how nearly everyone knows almost everything about everyone, but rarely interferes. How a small town can feel so stifling and claustrophobic. How the secrets and lies pile up until a man finds himself burned to death.
Young also covers the timely topics of drugs and addiction, which run as a thread across the book. Opiates don't seem like a tired trope here, though, but something that is eating up the town and ruining people's lives. It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a book with a good kid character, and I pretty much fell for Sal immediately. He's a great kid: real, vulnerable yet tough, and smart. He was an excellent narrator, with his portions telling what led up to Adam's death and Nora and Jake (a local EMT/firefighter) telling us what happened after. The book is surprisingly tense, with Young's beautifully written words jumping off every page. She's such a lyrical writer, weaving an amazing tale of sadness and redemption.
This isn't a fast read or a page-turning thriller. But it's a well-written book, with characters you won't soon forget. There's a lovely, albeit sad and dark, story here. Definitely worth a read. 4+ stars.
Blog ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram ~ PaperBackSwap ~ Smashbomb
November 22, 2022
4.5 stars. An excellent novel. Not face paced but equivalent to the town it depicts. And you view it as under a microscope. This tale developed at least 8 to 10 character with HUGE depth. And I would not call it "mystery" or "thriller". It's more a tale of a place and the situations of the people in that place. It's economic, mores, social, cultural micro embedding eyes.
It's about drugs and their legacies and the systems that evolve.
It's core and onus is the working class.
It's somewhat coming of age but not at all only about our 12 year old.
It also had one of the best beginnings that I've read in about 5 years. And I read. A lot.
It would have been 5 stars if it had not been so sad and so bottom line real. And it's not only in desert country either. There are twins all across rural lake country MI, WI etc. Or corn towns mostly done in IL.
But what truly made this a great read for me was the applications of math, thinking, solving, making things that are and have always been human. I'm a big fan of humans, unlike most alive today.
Recommend this one for sure. And will read her other. It was not any scale or measure of YA for me at all. Quite the opposite.
It's about drugs and their legacies and the systems that evolve.
It's core and onus is the working class.
It's somewhat coming of age but not at all only about our 12 year old.
It also had one of the best beginnings that I've read in about 5 years. And I read. A lot.
It would have been 5 stars if it had not been so sad and so bottom line real. And it's not only in desert country either. There are twins all across rural lake country MI, WI etc. Or corn towns mostly done in IL.
But what truly made this a great read for me was the applications of math, thinking, solving, making things that are and have always been human. I'm a big fan of humans, unlike most alive today.
Recommend this one for sure. And will read her other. It was not any scale or measure of YA for me at all. Quite the opposite.
June 30, 2020
I ordered this book because I enjoyed "The Lost Girls." When I started reading, I thought it is not as good as her first book, but as I kept on reading, it got better and better.
The book is set in Navada's high desert in the town of Lovelock and in a much smaller poor town of Marzen. People in this lost town have lived here for generations. The story begins when Adam Merkel is found dead, burned to death in a fire pit near Marzen. Mr Merkel was a former professor of math from the University of Nevada, a mathematical genius, a brilliant teacher. Why was he teaching at a small town middle school. The story is told by Sal, an eleven and twelve year old boy, Nora, with a degree in archaeology, who stays in Lovelock to take care of her sick father, but wanted to go to Africa or Europe on a dig. She teaches history in the middle school, had been married and divorced from Mason, deputy sheriff, a good man. Mason is now remarried with children. Nora and Mason, good folks, were not good for each other. Nora wants more from life than just Lovelock. Sal's mother had died, he is living with two bachelor uncles, who live in a filthy, old trailer. Sal is a very different kid, a watcher, a reader who watches the world around him, is a gifted artist. He lives in his head where good angels and bad angels battle against each other.
Jason lives with his mother, a good and nice lady. He has a small part telling about what goes in in the story. He had been in love with Sal's mother. He is trying to see that the uncles are taking care of Sal. They are not. Sal's mother died of an overdose.
Death tells part of the story. And has interesting things to tell. The story is told, for the most part, by Sal, real name, Absalom, and Nora.
This book takes readers on a wild ride through Nevada's high desert country and small towns. Ms Young takes readers into a different world, seen and unseen, unknown. It goes into archaeology, deep caves. rivers and lakes taken away by the desert.
Nora and Sal were good friends to Adam, especially Sal. Nora goes out of her way to dig into what she could possibly find in the death. Adam talked to Sal about math and all math has to do with the world around.
There is the use of drugs and alcohol, blaming others for their mistakes and wrong doings, holding grudges, many times folks have good reason to be angry, some characters are not what they seem.
A good book and a wild ride through literature. Thee really is a town called Lovelock.
The book is set in Navada's high desert in the town of Lovelock and in a much smaller poor town of Marzen. People in this lost town have lived here for generations. The story begins when Adam Merkel is found dead, burned to death in a fire pit near Marzen. Mr Merkel was a former professor of math from the University of Nevada, a mathematical genius, a brilliant teacher. Why was he teaching at a small town middle school. The story is told by Sal, an eleven and twelve year old boy, Nora, with a degree in archaeology, who stays in Lovelock to take care of her sick father, but wanted to go to Africa or Europe on a dig. She teaches history in the middle school, had been married and divorced from Mason, deputy sheriff, a good man. Mason is now remarried with children. Nora and Mason, good folks, were not good for each other. Nora wants more from life than just Lovelock. Sal's mother had died, he is living with two bachelor uncles, who live in a filthy, old trailer. Sal is a very different kid, a watcher, a reader who watches the world around him, is a gifted artist. He lives in his head where good angels and bad angels battle against each other.
Jason lives with his mother, a good and nice lady. He has a small part telling about what goes in in the story. He had been in love with Sal's mother. He is trying to see that the uncles are taking care of Sal. They are not. Sal's mother died of an overdose.
Death tells part of the story. And has interesting things to tell. The story is told, for the most part, by Sal, real name, Absalom, and Nora.
This book takes readers on a wild ride through Nevada's high desert country and small towns. Ms Young takes readers into a different world, seen and unseen, unknown. It goes into archaeology, deep caves. rivers and lakes taken away by the desert.
Nora and Sal were good friends to Adam, especially Sal. Nora goes out of her way to dig into what she could possibly find in the death. Adam talked to Sal about math and all math has to do with the world around.
There is the use of drugs and alcohol, blaming others for their mistakes and wrong doings, holding grudges, many times folks have good reason to be angry, some characters are not what they seem.
A good book and a wild ride through literature. Thee really is a town called Lovelock.
June 15, 2020
This novel gripped me from the beautiful prologue. The book could be categorized as a mystery, but it truly overlaps other genres including literary fiction and historical fiction. It is about murder, family dynamics, mathematics, anthropology, history, and addiction. At times the poetic language impressed me so much that I had to stop reading in order to let the words rest inside me. At other times, it was a page-turner, a fine beach or airplane read.
The novel centers around the murder of Adam Merkel, a middle school math teacher in Lovelock, Nevada. Seven months previously, he left his job as an Associate Professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada in Reno and traveled to Lovelock to teach middle schoolers? Why had he left? Was he running from something? Who hated him so much to murder him like that? These are the questions the townspeople of Lovelock are asking.
While teaching, Adam takes a young boy named Sal Prentiss under his wing. Sal, whose mother died about a year ago, is living with his uncles in a filthy ramshackle place off the grid, outside a smaller town than even Lovelock. The Prentiss family has the reputation of being outlaws, operating outside societal norms but no one is quite sure what they are up to. All Sal cares about is that he not be sent to foster care.
Sal is a special boy, what the book refers to as a 'watcher'. He looks into people and watches the world intuitively, taking note and trying to make sense of all that is around him. He has a rich inner life, fantastical and creative. He draws graphic novels that center on the aspects of good and evil.
Nora likes Adam and they become acquaintances. After he is murdered, she tries to find out more about his life and why someone would have done this. She is in Lovelock taking care of her elderly father and her greatest hope is to escape this town and further her studies in anthropology.
I don't want to provide any spoilers so I'll leave my review at this point. This is a very good book, at times an excellent book. Never did my interest cease and the author has the ability to create myriad worlds for the reader, each one unique and fascinating.
The novel centers around the murder of Adam Merkel, a middle school math teacher in Lovelock, Nevada. Seven months previously, he left his job as an Associate Professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada in Reno and traveled to Lovelock to teach middle schoolers? Why had he left? Was he running from something? Who hated him so much to murder him like that? These are the questions the townspeople of Lovelock are asking.
While teaching, Adam takes a young boy named Sal Prentiss under his wing. Sal, whose mother died about a year ago, is living with his uncles in a filthy ramshackle place off the grid, outside a smaller town than even Lovelock. The Prentiss family has the reputation of being outlaws, operating outside societal norms but no one is quite sure what they are up to. All Sal cares about is that he not be sent to foster care.
Sal is a special boy, what the book refers to as a 'watcher'. He looks into people and watches the world intuitively, taking note and trying to make sense of all that is around him. He has a rich inner life, fantastical and creative. He draws graphic novels that center on the aspects of good and evil.
Nora likes Adam and they become acquaintances. After he is murdered, she tries to find out more about his life and why someone would have done this. She is in Lovelock taking care of her elderly father and her greatest hope is to escape this town and further her studies in anthropology.
I don't want to provide any spoilers so I'll leave my review at this point. This is a very good book, at times an excellent book. Never did my interest cease and the author has the ability to create myriad worlds for the reader, each one unique and fascinating.
June 20, 2021
Tgis was the first book by this author that I have read read and it was not bad . This book does not have a ton of action and if that is what you like then dance on by you will not be happy.,This book is a slow burn character study slash mystery. It starts out slow and picks up pace towards the end. Most of the characters were pretty good in the book . The reasons why people did things were not bad and the ending was decent. I was torn between a high 3 star book or 4 stars and in the end I thought the book was writen well and and once again was good on character study that it would get 4.0 on the dot. I would not want to see a sequel to this book, it should end at this book. If you like a slow burn character book take a spin but if you need action skip
August 21, 2020
The setting is Lovelock, NV, about 85 miles east of Reno, along interstate 80. The population is about 1900, and one of the main employers is Lovelock prison, where O.J. Simpson served his time. The math teacher at the middle school is murdered and a student finds his body. Nora, another teacher, decides to investigate. She soon discovers dark secrets along with the rampant use of drugs in the town. Found the story captivating and well written. The story alternates between three character: Sal, the student, Nora and Jake, the paramedic. All three are interesting and well crafted and tell a story which is well paced and logical.
July 1, 2020
This pulled me in slowly, although very depressing, the ah ha moment was crushing and played out even worse than I could imagine. The setting is very familiar to me, perfect backdrop for this hard scrabble life.
April 13, 2021
Grim and Depressing
Review of the Harper Audio audiobook edition (June 2020) released simultaneously with the William Morrow hardcover
[2.5 bumped up to 3]
The Distant Dead was well written but the overall plot of a young boy (12 years old I think he was) drawn into drug dealing and to the fringes of a murder investigation was especially depressing. So many of the characters had issues related to substance abuse and its deadly consequences that it became tiresome to continue reading (or listening, as I followed the audiobook edition).
It wasn't a conventional investigation either, as it is a school teacher who is following up on most of the suspects and the authorities are 0nly along for the ride most of the time. In the end the solution is even more depressing than the rest of the book.
The only light spots along the way were the murder victim's passion for mathematics, the fellow teacher Nora's & her father's interest in paleontology and the subsequent impressions that those interests leave on the boy Sal. The father's description of the first tribal migrations to North America from Siberia over to Alaska was actually the highlight of the book for me. That obviously had little to do with the mystery and crime aspect of the book.
I read The Distant Dead due to its nomination for Best Novel in the 2021 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America. The 75th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2021.
Review of the Harper Audio audiobook edition (June 2020) released simultaneously with the William Morrow hardcover
[2.5 bumped up to 3]
The Distant Dead was well written but the overall plot of a young boy (12 years old I think he was) drawn into drug dealing and to the fringes of a murder investigation was especially depressing. So many of the characters had issues related to substance abuse and its deadly consequences that it became tiresome to continue reading (or listening, as I followed the audiobook edition).
It wasn't a conventional investigation either, as it is a school teacher who is following up on most of the suspects and the authorities are 0nly along for the ride most of the time. In the end the solution is even more depressing than the rest of the book.
The only light spots along the way were the murder victim's passion for mathematics, the fellow teacher Nora's & her father's interest in paleontology and the subsequent impressions that those interests leave on the boy Sal. The father's description of the first tribal migrations to North America from Siberia over to Alaska was actually the highlight of the book for me. That obviously had little to do with the mystery and crime aspect of the book.
I read The Distant Dead due to its nomination for Best Novel in the 2021 Edgar Awards by the Mystery Writers of America. The 75th Annual Edgar® Awards will be celebrated on April 29, 2021.
May 14, 2020
This is a slow-burn mystery with cast of mostly introverts that do not mindlessly babble sarcastic quips. Not a book with a gotcha twist.
August 31, 2020
Wow! This book was absolutely masterful! Beautifully written, raw, real, pulse-pounding and heartbreaking. If you loved THE DRY by Jane Harper you will devour THE DISTANT DEAD. All the stars!
September 30, 2025
A creditable mystery that takes full advantage of a split timeline to enhance the tension and suspense. Split timelines are annoying, but effective. Here, the cast of characters trapped for various reasons in a small Nevada town are faced with an apparent murder, the polite and unassuming new math teacher, Adam. Nora, who teaches social studies to the same students, liked Adam and takes steps to find out what happened to him. It's all wrapped up in what happened in the past: Nora's brother killed in a drunken crash, Adam divorced after killing his son in a drug-impaired crash, Sal, their student, whose mother died of an overdose. Young does a fabulous job of bringing these miserable, hopeless characters to life and making us wonder what happened and who did it. Young's style, both in prose and story-telling reminds me strongly of Jane Harper. Fans of either should cross over.
February 18, 2025
'The Distant Dead' was my first dive back into Mystery since high-school and I was highly anticipating this read. I struggle with Mystery's that have a lot of police involvement/procedure and was happy that the read did not have much of it at all. There is a really intricate and beautiful story within these pages, the problem is that it's boring. You filter through two character POV's which is done well, I didn't find it hard to read like I do sometimes with that format however within these POVs we get many other character backstories which I find bogs down this book.
I understand what the author was trying to do and I appreciate the time and effort on these character ARCs but I felt she could have spent more time creating interest in the mystery itself rather than focusing so much on character depth. In a way, I found myself reading and not caring about what actually happened but rather just to try and get through the book itself.
With that being said, 'The Distant Dead' is really beautifully written and if you're not too fussy about pacing and don't mind and very slow burn then I would recommend this book. If you're expecting a fast-paced, full of twists and turns read, then I'd recommend to skip this one. Otherwise, I'm still happy I read this. I liked how it ended as a nod to the epilogue, I thought that was a nice touch.
I understand what the author was trying to do and I appreciate the time and effort on these character ARCs but I felt she could have spent more time creating interest in the mystery itself rather than focusing so much on character depth. In a way, I found myself reading and not caring about what actually happened but rather just to try and get through the book itself.
With that being said, 'The Distant Dead' is really beautifully written and if you're not too fussy about pacing and don't mind and very slow burn then I would recommend this book. If you're expecting a fast-paced, full of twists and turns read, then I'd recommend to skip this one. Otherwise, I'm still happy I read this. I liked how it ended as a nod to the epilogue, I thought that was a nice touch.
April 27, 2020
THE DISTANT DEAD
BY HEATHER YOUNG
This was a dark twisty tale that meandered around key characters. Sal whose mother died goes to live with his two Uncles. They live in a double wide mobile home that sits on a poured concrete slab of cement. One of Sal's Uncle's tells Sal that he deals in selling prescription drugs that takes the pain away from the folks that can't get them on their own--so he gets the painkillers for them. He asks Sal if he can help distribute them at school, which Sal says no.
Sal Prentiss is the dead math teacher's only friend and the new math teacher's only friend is Sal. Mr. Merkel and Sal eat lunch together every day until Mr. Merkel is found dead. This was a depressing story that centers around poverty and the people seem unhappy. I didn't like it and didn't find it redeeming or inspirational in any way.
Thank you to Net Galley, Heather Young and Harper Collins for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: July 9, 2020
#TheDistantDead #HeatherYoung #HarperCollinsPublishing #NetGalley
BY HEATHER YOUNG
This was a dark twisty tale that meandered around key characters. Sal whose mother died goes to live with his two Uncles. They live in a double wide mobile home that sits on a poured concrete slab of cement. One of Sal's Uncle's tells Sal that he deals in selling prescription drugs that takes the pain away from the folks that can't get them on their own--so he gets the painkillers for them. He asks Sal if he can help distribute them at school, which Sal says no.
Sal Prentiss is the dead math teacher's only friend and the new math teacher's only friend is Sal. Mr. Merkel and Sal eat lunch together every day until Mr. Merkel is found dead. This was a depressing story that centers around poverty and the people seem unhappy. I didn't like it and didn't find it redeeming or inspirational in any way.
Thank you to Net Galley, Heather Young and Harper Collins for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.
Publication Date: July 9, 2020
#TheDistantDead #HeatherYoung #HarperCollinsPublishing #NetGalley
April 2, 2022
Next time someone asks me about an underrated book, I'm telling them to read The Distant Dead.
If you like character-driven, atmospheric, multiple point of view mysteries, this one is for you. (Jane Harper and Tana French fans? I'm looking at you.)
After the horrific murder of a middle school math teacher in a small desert town, it follows a fellow teacher, young boy, and volunteer firefighter as we unravel the secrets and events that led to his death. All while dealing with themes of addiction, grief, and the burdens carried by parents and children. It's about the choices we make and how our actions affect others, the stories we have and how we choose to tell them. Loved it. 4.5 stars
If you like character-driven, atmospheric, multiple point of view mysteries, this one is for you. (Jane Harper and Tana French fans? I'm looking at you.)
After the horrific murder of a middle school math teacher in a small desert town, it follows a fellow teacher, young boy, and volunteer firefighter as we unravel the secrets and events that led to his death. All while dealing with themes of addiction, grief, and the burdens carried by parents and children. It's about the choices we make and how our actions affect others, the stories we have and how we choose to tell them. Loved it. 4.5 stars
May 10, 2020
I received a copy from of The Distant Dead from Harper Collins goodreads giveaway! Thanks so much. I think this has been my favorite giveaway I’ve received. It was fast-paced, interesting, and kept my attention. The ending had me very surprised despite having many theories as to the murderer.
I am one to say that I like police procedural books, but this is not one of them. The story is very character based and has real aspects of resentment and pain throughout. I definitely would recommend!
I am one to say that I like police procedural books, but this is not one of them. The story is very character based and has real aspects of resentment and pain throughout. I definitely would recommend!
June 8, 2020
The Distant Dead by Heather Young is a very highly recommended murder mystery set in a small desert town.
After his mother died, twelve-year-old Sal Prentiss went to live with his uncles on a remote ranch outside of Marzen, Nevada, a very, very small town near Lovelock. He finds a burned corpse one morning and reports it to Jake Sanchez, at the fire station, the closest thing Marzen has to a police department. Sal tells Jake that he thinks it is his math teacher, Adam Merkel because he recognized his nearby car. Merkel was a math professor at the university in Reno, but he has taken a job in Lovelock as a middle school math teacher. Merkel was a quiet man who connected with one of his students, Sal, and the two shared a trusting, mentoring friendship. His murder shocks the small community and rumors fly.
Nora Wheaton is the middle school’s social studies teacher and she considered Adam Merkel a friend. After college she planned to stay far away from Lovelock, but ended up returning to care for her disabled father after an accident that he survived but her brother didn't. She loves him but she has not forgiven him. After Adam's death, she begins her own investigation. It seems to her that Sal is fearful and hiding something. Nora begins to look for Adam's killer, but she also looks into his past, which contains a tragedy that she understands.
The narrative unfolds through chapters from the individual point-of-view of Sal, Jake, and Nora. After the murder, Sal's story begins in the past before the murder happens and follows his story leading up to the present. Jake and Nora's chapters are both chronicles from the present, while they also reveal their pasts. The characters are dealing with personal struggles and issues that carry over to the present. This truly is a drama worthy of a Greek Tragedy. In this tragedy the Fates are busy weaving a heartbreaking connection in their lives to each other and to all of their stories. The narrative is emotional, intense, heartbreaking, and poignant.
The well-developed characters are depicted as real people - complex, flawed, isolated, resilient, and broken. They are all dealing with various incidents in their pasts that still affect their lives. There is a glimmer of a promise for a future and a hope that forgiveness will bring them some measure of freedom - if they can allow themselves that measure of grace in their fragile lives. They are all faced with choices from which their decisions will resonate onward. You will feel empathy for all of them. Even the dry, sandy, barren landscape becomes a character
The writing is absolutely excellent and I was glued to the pages of this murder mystery and psychological thriller. The suspense is palpable and taut, while the writing is so perfect that the novel feels impossible to put down. This is one of those magic novels that capture both the seemingly impossible current heartbreak in everyone's lives, but also the possibilities for a future, forgiveness, and perhaps even hope.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
After his mother died, twelve-year-old Sal Prentiss went to live with his uncles on a remote ranch outside of Marzen, Nevada, a very, very small town near Lovelock. He finds a burned corpse one morning and reports it to Jake Sanchez, at the fire station, the closest thing Marzen has to a police department. Sal tells Jake that he thinks it is his math teacher, Adam Merkel because he recognized his nearby car. Merkel was a math professor at the university in Reno, but he has taken a job in Lovelock as a middle school math teacher. Merkel was a quiet man who connected with one of his students, Sal, and the two shared a trusting, mentoring friendship. His murder shocks the small community and rumors fly.
Nora Wheaton is the middle school’s social studies teacher and she considered Adam Merkel a friend. After college she planned to stay far away from Lovelock, but ended up returning to care for her disabled father after an accident that he survived but her brother didn't. She loves him but she has not forgiven him. After Adam's death, she begins her own investigation. It seems to her that Sal is fearful and hiding something. Nora begins to look for Adam's killer, but she also looks into his past, which contains a tragedy that she understands.
The narrative unfolds through chapters from the individual point-of-view of Sal, Jake, and Nora. After the murder, Sal's story begins in the past before the murder happens and follows his story leading up to the present. Jake and Nora's chapters are both chronicles from the present, while they also reveal their pasts. The characters are dealing with personal struggles and issues that carry over to the present. This truly is a drama worthy of a Greek Tragedy. In this tragedy the Fates are busy weaving a heartbreaking connection in their lives to each other and to all of their stories. The narrative is emotional, intense, heartbreaking, and poignant.
The well-developed characters are depicted as real people - complex, flawed, isolated, resilient, and broken. They are all dealing with various incidents in their pasts that still affect their lives. There is a glimmer of a promise for a future and a hope that forgiveness will bring them some measure of freedom - if they can allow themselves that measure of grace in their fragile lives. They are all faced with choices from which their decisions will resonate onward. You will feel empathy for all of them. Even the dry, sandy, barren landscape becomes a character
The writing is absolutely excellent and I was glued to the pages of this murder mystery and psychological thriller. The suspense is palpable and taut, while the writing is so perfect that the novel feels impossible to put down. This is one of those magic novels that capture both the seemingly impossible current heartbreak in everyone's lives, but also the possibilities for a future, forgiveness, and perhaps even hope.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2020/0...
July 22, 2021
Told from the viewpoints of three different principals, this tale seems to take its animas from a cave near Lovelock, Nevada, where the narrative begins and ends. It is difficult to see just why. There is nothing about the cave that has anything to do with the death of the math teacher that quickly becomes the story’s locus and focus. He didn’t die in the cave. Three potential perps take center stage early on, with a possible fourth entering later, and yet another hovering in the wings. But the cave in which the story begins seems to be nothing but a gimmick. We wait and wait and wait for it to achieve some relevance. The thread of Native American prehistory that weaves in and out of the narrative seems entirely spurious to everything else going on. In fact, the tale thereby told is nothing but hair-brained. Archaeologists began investigating Lovelock Cave in the 1920s. Eighty-odd years later there would be nothing left to discover in it. And the cave was first occupied about 5,000 years ago, not 10 or 12,000 years ago as the author would have us believe. The story of the peopling of the Americas, as she has one of her characters tell it, is not one of a small band isolated by mountains of ice for thousands of years. In fact, people arrived in what we call North America about 30,000 years ago and a swift movement of population got them into the continent’s interior relatively quickly. There were probably also earlier expeditions to the Americas from Asia by sea a bit earlier. And Native Americans’ ancestors certainly did not come marching out of Africa 75,000 years ago as the author’s character would have it!
The author seems to want to present an apocryphal 12,000-year distant cave-dwelling existence symbolized by a boy as a noble endeavor contrasted to a trash-and-trailer existence in the contemporary Lovelock Indian Colony, where scary Indians peddle drugs. Having spent a good deal of time there, I can assure readers that northern Nevada’s Indian Colonies are actually home to friendly, good-hearted people and activists pressing for environmental responsibility and preservation of sites that are unique repositories of cultural heritage. In the end, without the gimmicks and phony stories, the narrative is an all-too-familiar one simply of drug addiction. If, early on in the book, you think you might know how the math teacher actually died, you’ve probably got it right.
The author seems to want to present an apocryphal 12,000-year distant cave-dwelling existence symbolized by a boy as a noble endeavor contrasted to a trash-and-trailer existence in the contemporary Lovelock Indian Colony, where scary Indians peddle drugs. Having spent a good deal of time there, I can assure readers that northern Nevada’s Indian Colonies are actually home to friendly, good-hearted people and activists pressing for environmental responsibility and preservation of sites that are unique repositories of cultural heritage. In the end, without the gimmicks and phony stories, the narrative is an all-too-familiar one simply of drug addiction. If, early on in the book, you think you might know how the math teacher actually died, you’ve probably got it right.
July 14, 2024
She slid the photographs back into the envelope. She wondered what Adam regretted that made it so hard to look at this woman and child. She wondered whether it would have helped him to know he wasn't the only one who'd condemned himself to this particular purgatory, nor was he the only one who couldn't look at pictures of people he loved unless no one was watching.This book was an exploration of loss and guilt and grief, and the human side of addiction. These characters were completely real to me, and I regretted finishing the book when I reached the end. The writing is spare and beautiful, and allows the characters to speak and reveal themselves bit by bit. I also love the way the author allows mathematics to become a character. Wish I'd had a teacher like Adam Merkel in elementary school, not inflexible old Mrs. Memorize This Formula.
...Sal stood with the spoon frozen in his hand. He still didn't understand pi, and he never would, not in the way Mr. Merkel wanted him to... In Mr. Merkel's words he heard a distant country of knowledge he would never reach and a sorrow he could only lie to ease, and in that moment the burden of what he could not do and what he had done was almost too much to bear.Nora and Sal were wonderful creations and I'm sorry to lose them as I close the book. 4.5 stars.
June 6, 2020
This book has it all and does it well. There is a mystery when a new middle school teacher is found dead, burned. Family dynamics are woven throughout the story of the two main protagonists, one of which is Sal, the student of the dead teacher. The other is Nora Wheaton, another of Sal's teachers who is both bitterly stuck in the town in which she teaches but drawn to Sal in spite of herself. Somehow author, Heather Young, also brings to light the plight of the first peoples, the drug crises, poverty, and deep soul crushing guilt and sadness. There is even a bit of mystical magic woven in but not so much as to put a reader off, if that isn't your style.
You will be guessing to the end as to what happened and who is responsible.
You will be guessing to the end as to what happened and who is responsible.
September 12, 2020
Wowzer! This is a ripping good story that combines a contemporary mystery set in small-town Nevada, with detailed character studies of troubled people in search of various forms of redemption. To the author's credit, most of them find what they need, while the twisty turns of plot lure readers along with inexorable pull. I loved the main character, 11 year old orphaned Sal. I pitied his shambling math teacher and the rigid social studies teacher who had tried without luck to escape the little town of her youth. I admired the quirky interplay of Sal's graphic-novel heroes with the stories of ancient peoples long dead, and the lessons the boy found from both sources. Well done, Ms. Young! What a read!
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