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Beasts of the Earth
James Wade, whose first two novels were praised as rhapsodic and haunting, delivers his most powerful work to date--a chilling parable about the impossible demands of hate and love, trauma and goodness, vividly set in the landscapes of Texas and Louisiana.
Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School's grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice.
Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael's life that sends him running from everything he has ever known. He is rescued by a dying poet and his lover, who extract from him a promise: to be a good man, whatever that may require.
Beasts of the Earth deftly intertwines these stories, exploring themes of time, fate, and free will, to produce a revelatory conclusion that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School's grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice.
Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael's life that sends him running from everything he has ever known. He is rescued by a dying poet and his lover, who extract from him a promise: to be a good man, whatever that may require.
Beasts of the Earth deftly intertwines these stories, exploring themes of time, fate, and free will, to produce a revelatory conclusion that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.
309 pages, Hardcover
First published October 11, 2022
26 people are currently reading
3721 people want to read
About the author
James Wade
5 books359 followersJames Wade lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and daughter. He is the author of "Beasts of the Earth," a winner of the 2023 Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel, "River, Sing Out" and "All Things Left Wild," a winner of the 2021 MPIBA Reading the West Award for Debut Fiction and a recipient of the 2021 Spur Award for Best Historical Novel from the Western Writers of America.
Represented by Mark Gottlieb with Trident Media Group.
Awards and Honors:
A winner of the 2023 Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel (BEASTS OF THE EARTH)
A finalist of The Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin 2022 Best Fiction Writer
A winner of the 2021 Reading the West Award for Best Debut Novel (ALL THINGS LEFT WILD)
A winner of the 2021 Spur Award for Best Historical Fiction (ALL THINGS LEFT WILD)
A winner of the 2016 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest (Historical Fiction)
A finalist of the 2016 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest (Thriller)
A finalist of the 2016 Tethered By Letters Short Story Contest
Honorable mention in the 2016 Texas Observer Short Story Contest
Honorable mention in the 2015 Texas Observer Short Story Contest
Work by James can be found in the following Publications and Anthologies:
The Bitter Oleander | Skylark Review (Little Lantern Press) | Tall...ish (Pure Slush Books) | Intrinsick Magazine | Dime Show Review | Bartleby Snopes | Jersey Devil Press | Typehouse Magazine | After the Pause Journal | J.J. Outre Review | Potluck Magazine | Yellow Chair Review | Through the Gaps | Eunoia Review
Represented by Mark Gottlieb with Trident Media Group.
Awards and Honors:
A winner of the 2023 Spur Award for Best Contemporary Novel (BEASTS OF THE EARTH)
A finalist of The Austin Chronicle's Best of Austin 2022 Best Fiction Writer
A winner of the 2021 Reading the West Award for Best Debut Novel (ALL THINGS LEFT WILD)
A winner of the 2021 Spur Award for Best Historical Fiction (ALL THINGS LEFT WILD)
A winner of the 2016 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest (Historical Fiction)
A finalist of the 2016 Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest (Thriller)
A finalist of the 2016 Tethered By Letters Short Story Contest
Honorable mention in the 2016 Texas Observer Short Story Contest
Honorable mention in the 2015 Texas Observer Short Story Contest
Work by James can be found in the following Publications and Anthologies:
The Bitter Oleander | Skylark Review (Little Lantern Press) | Tall...ish (Pure Slush Books) | Intrinsick Magazine | Dime Show Review | Bartleby Snopes | Jersey Devil Press | Typehouse Magazine | After the Pause Journal | J.J. Outre Review | Potluck Magazine | Yellow Chair Review | Through the Gaps | Eunoia Review
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 148 reviews
November 17, 2022
Life is not easy; in fact, it can be very hard.
1965
Michael Fischer has been forced to grow up fast. He provides for his sister and Mother. He resorts to stealing from trap lines to take care of/feed his family. This is a hard life and is about to get harder when his father is released from prison. When his father is released, life changes drastically for Michael and he flees leaving behind all that he knows. But he is taken by Remus who teaches him all the things his father should have.
1985
Harlan LeBlanc keeps to himself. He lives a solidary life and works as a groundskeeper at a local school. His days are basically the same including what he eats for lunch. He is a quiet man with a secret. A violent act changes everything. When someone he knows is accused, Harlan sets out to find answers.
This is not a happy go lucky book. It is raw, poignant, and thought provoking. This is a beautifully told story that explores what it takes to be good when surrounded by evil. It shows determination, harshness, brutality, the burdens we carry, how love and positive influences can change a person, how we carry out pasts with us, how desperate people find ways to survive, overcome and move on. There is a sadness that seeps through the pages but there are also glimmers of hope.
I listened to the audiobook and initially it took me some time to decide if I liked it, but once I found footing with the narration, I enjoyed it. The book is full of beautiful writing, descriptions, and flawed characters.
Atmospheric, richly detailed and raw, Beasts of the Earth was my first book by James Wade and I look forward to reading more of his work.
#BeastsoftheEarth #NetGalley
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
1965
Michael Fischer has been forced to grow up fast. He provides for his sister and Mother. He resorts to stealing from trap lines to take care of/feed his family. This is a hard life and is about to get harder when his father is released from prison. When his father is released, life changes drastically for Michael and he flees leaving behind all that he knows. But he is taken by Remus who teaches him all the things his father should have.
1985
Harlan LeBlanc keeps to himself. He lives a solidary life and works as a groundskeeper at a local school. His days are basically the same including what he eats for lunch. He is a quiet man with a secret. A violent act changes everything. When someone he knows is accused, Harlan sets out to find answers.
This is not a happy go lucky book. It is raw, poignant, and thought provoking. This is a beautifully told story that explores what it takes to be good when surrounded by evil. It shows determination, harshness, brutality, the burdens we carry, how love and positive influences can change a person, how we carry out pasts with us, how desperate people find ways to survive, overcome and move on. There is a sadness that seeps through the pages but there are also glimmers of hope.
I listened to the audiobook and initially it took me some time to decide if I liked it, but once I found footing with the narration, I enjoyed it. The book is full of beautiful writing, descriptions, and flawed characters.
Atmospheric, richly detailed and raw, Beasts of the Earth was my first book by James Wade and I look forward to reading more of his work.
#BeastsoftheEarth #NetGalley
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
October 11, 2023
Wade’s Beasts of the Earth, his latest novel, could be subtitled the Ballad Of Harlan LeBlanc. It is a lyrical haunting descriptive tale that threads the needle between heaven and hell, between good and evil, between penance and guilt. It is one if those stories that is thick and rich and absorbing.
We begin with two separate alternating points of view. One is an odd duck named Harlan LeBlanc who lives a quiet life in an East Texas town where he works as a high school groundskeeper, keeps to himself, makes no small talk, and, if you asked him, he would say his favorite book is Of Mice and Men. He doesn’t bother anyone and just lives a simple life until all hell breaks loose and he finds himself near the center of the maelstrom.
The other narrative balancing against LeBlanc’s world is that of Michael whose father is returning from prison after serving his term for child molestation. Michael’s world is a dark legend of pain and misery in the swamp. He hates his father, but then everyone does. He’s just a kid and he’s trapped.
It’s a fable about two innocents coming face to face with evil and feeling guilt for how they deal with it, guilt that will haunt them all their days. It’s a dark tale, but told with such poetry.
We begin with two separate alternating points of view. One is an odd duck named Harlan LeBlanc who lives a quiet life in an East Texas town where he works as a high school groundskeeper, keeps to himself, makes no small talk, and, if you asked him, he would say his favorite book is Of Mice and Men. He doesn’t bother anyone and just lives a simple life until all hell breaks loose and he finds himself near the center of the maelstrom.
The other narrative balancing against LeBlanc’s world is that of Michael whose father is returning from prison after serving his term for child molestation. Michael’s world is a dark legend of pain and misery in the swamp. He hates his father, but then everyone does. He’s just a kid and he’s trapped.
It’s a fable about two innocents coming face to face with evil and feeling guilt for how they deal with it, guilt that will haunt them all their days. It’s a dark tale, but told with such poetry.
September 12, 2024
“On one side of the street the out-of-work roughnecks, the brazen alcoholics, and the long-divorced housewives met in their misery and drank to their sorrow, while on the other side the oil barons, the politicians on vacation, and the ranchers with mineral rights made decisions that would last generations. And those of lesser means might have been able to take hold of their own futures had they only been able to cross the street.”
The book switches back and forth between the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a middle aged school groundskeeper, and the story of young Michael Fischer who has to cope with the return of his violent father. Their lives give a picture of what is incredibly ugly in this world, and also what can be very loving and supportive.
The shifts between the two settings were very abrupt and it sometimes took me a few seconds to recognize which storyline we were in. However, I found the writing compelling, moving and lyrical. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator had a tendency to give too much “character” to the voices of the characters. But overall he did a good job.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
The book switches back and forth between the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a middle aged school groundskeeper, and the story of young Michael Fischer who has to cope with the return of his violent father. Their lives give a picture of what is incredibly ugly in this world, and also what can be very loving and supportive.
The shifts between the two settings were very abrupt and it sometimes took me a few seconds to recognize which storyline we were in. However, I found the writing compelling, moving and lyrical. I listened to the audiobook, and the narrator had a tendency to give too much “character” to the voices of the characters. But overall he did a good job.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
July 11, 2023
With this timely introspective literary foray into life and death, James Wade does it again. Just when Texas has just executed a man on death row, Wade asks us to question our faith and when to draw a line between those worthy of life and those who deserve to die.
Michael Fisher is a haunted and abused boy who has resorted to illegally harvesting trap lines to feed his mother and sister. When his father is released from prison, unspeakable acts of abuse occur that have Michael fleeing the only semblance of life he has known. His story is told through the values he begins to mold into his adult mind from an old dying poet who shows him the power of making up his mind about the world around him.
Meanwhile, Harlan LeBlanc sets out to clear the name of a friend. Unfortunately, his sordid past and tendency for solitary life make his word worth less. Harlan struggles to make amends with his past while pulling the eye of the law onto a carefully orchestrated target on himself.
Michael's narration was my favorite. His trauma was powerful, but this comes full circle in the wrapping up of the novel. He has less redeemable quality than Jonah of Wade's last novel, River, Sing Out, but he also makes the best of what life throws at him.
Wade's tapestry of words is woven into a beautiful symbolic painting of humanity in a small, dying Texas town full of desperate citizens. His grasp on the mentality of the area can only come from the eyes of a local.
Don't miss out on this third novel by this Texas native author here to stay in this Literary Arena.
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5.
Michael Fisher is a haunted and abused boy who has resorted to illegally harvesting trap lines to feed his mother and sister. When his father is released from prison, unspeakable acts of abuse occur that have Michael fleeing the only semblance of life he has known. His story is told through the values he begins to mold into his adult mind from an old dying poet who shows him the power of making up his mind about the world around him.
Meanwhile, Harlan LeBlanc sets out to clear the name of a friend. Unfortunately, his sordid past and tendency for solitary life make his word worth less. Harlan struggles to make amends with his past while pulling the eye of the law onto a carefully orchestrated target on himself.
Michael's narration was my favorite. His trauma was powerful, but this comes full circle in the wrapping up of the novel. He has less redeemable quality than Jonah of Wade's last novel, River, Sing Out, but he also makes the best of what life throws at him.
Wade's tapestry of words is woven into a beautiful symbolic painting of humanity in a small, dying Texas town full of desperate citizens. His grasp on the mentality of the area can only come from the eyes of a local.
Don't miss out on this third novel by this Texas native author here to stay in this Literary Arena.
4.5 Stars rounded up to 5.
October 18, 2025
What a find! A new author to me with quite a few books written and a new one on the way. This book gives me vibes of McCarthy, Haruf and Larry Watson. Not sure how I was led to this author or book but I’m sure there’s a GR friend I should thank.
December 2, 2022
I’ve read only a handful of novels that I’d suggest you don’t pick up if you’re having a bad day. A Little Life is certainly one – wonderful as it is - and this is another. Badness pervades virtually every page in this book, writ large and every stripe. But if you enjoy engrossing, atmospheric tales that are written in a lyrical and faintly biblical style then this is one you should probably seek out.
There are two stories here: we meet a young boy, living with his sister and mother in a house on the edge of a Louisiana swamp and we’re also introduced to a man who lives alone and works for the grounds department of a high school in Texas. How are these people linked – are they, in fact, linked? We’ll find out in due course, but first we’ll follow the adventures that befall them in the relatively short period of time we are to spend with them.
Michael Fischer wants to go to school but he’s been held back by his mother; he’s often the feeder of the family which can mean stealing fish from the traps of his prone to violence neighbours. He’s already been threatened with serious harm if he’s caught again. His father is about to be released from prison and this is to be the worst possible news for Michael – this man is just about as bad a human being as has tread the earth.
Harlen LeBlanc lives a pretty solitary life, he enjoys his work and executes his allocated tasks diligently. One member of the small team he works with was once a football star at this very school, but his high ambitions were thwarted when he ultimately failed to meet the academic requirements his college demanded. This young man, Gene, is in love with his high school sweetheart but she’s moved on and it’s rumoured that these days she’s being free with her virtue. But Gene just can’t get over the fact that he’s lost not only his chance to be a big football star but also the the person he deems to be the love of his life. Then a violent incident occurs that shakes the town and drags the members of this little team into the resulting investigation. Harlen is now subsumed by search for answers.
The rolling prose and Confederate States settings put me in mind of James Lee Burke’s writing: the characters are often rough, the language profane and the towns and dwellings down at heal. But this tale feels somewhat less energised, lacking some of JLB’s up and at ‘em impact. Wade is a new writer to me, but one I’m sure to return too. This story is certainly affecting, scenes linger in my mind and characters seem (temporarily at least) to be burned into my psyche. I listened to an audio version of this book and I have to say that Roger Clark’s deeply haunting delivery was, for me, spot on for this story.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing an audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
There are two stories here: we meet a young boy, living with his sister and mother in a house on the edge of a Louisiana swamp and we’re also introduced to a man who lives alone and works for the grounds department of a high school in Texas. How are these people linked – are they, in fact, linked? We’ll find out in due course, but first we’ll follow the adventures that befall them in the relatively short period of time we are to spend with them.
Michael Fischer wants to go to school but he’s been held back by his mother; he’s often the feeder of the family which can mean stealing fish from the traps of his prone to violence neighbours. He’s already been threatened with serious harm if he’s caught again. His father is about to be released from prison and this is to be the worst possible news for Michael – this man is just about as bad a human being as has tread the earth.
Harlen LeBlanc lives a pretty solitary life, he enjoys his work and executes his allocated tasks diligently. One member of the small team he works with was once a football star at this very school, but his high ambitions were thwarted when he ultimately failed to meet the academic requirements his college demanded. This young man, Gene, is in love with his high school sweetheart but she’s moved on and it’s rumoured that these days she’s being free with her virtue. But Gene just can’t get over the fact that he’s lost not only his chance to be a big football star but also the the person he deems to be the love of his life. Then a violent incident occurs that shakes the town and drags the members of this little team into the resulting investigation. Harlen is now subsumed by search for answers.
The rolling prose and Confederate States settings put me in mind of James Lee Burke’s writing: the characters are often rough, the language profane and the towns and dwellings down at heal. But this tale feels somewhat less energised, lacking some of JLB’s up and at ‘em impact. Wade is a new writer to me, but one I’m sure to return too. This story is certainly affecting, scenes linger in my mind and characters seem (temporarily at least) to be burned into my psyche. I listened to an audio version of this book and I have to say that Roger Clark’s deeply haunting delivery was, for me, spot on for this story.
My thanks to Blackstone Publishing for providing an audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
November 6, 2022
Guilt. Running from guilt, hiding from it, atoning for it. A guilt that is not yours to carry. A guilt that originates from the ugliest of beasts. James Wade's superb storytelling gets better and better with each book. Beasts of the Earth is his third novel and it is phenomenal. It goes to dark places with characters that saturate the line of good and evil. Some want to be better people. Some want to drag everyone to hell with them with a smile on their face. This is the world we live in. Roger Clark reads for the audiobook with a voice that perfectly reflects these characters as they are written. I love his narration. With James Wade's lyrical prose, no word is to be missed so don't plan to multitask while listening. There is a lot in this story to track, and this is writing to be savored. I have already experienced this book twice. I'll be ordering a paper copy next.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for providing access to this audiobook edition for review purposes.
Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for providing access to this audiobook edition for review purposes.
October 11, 2023
I knew I would probably like this book but I didn't realize how much. It quickly drew me in and I ended up finishing it in one day. I haven't done that with a book in a long time. The story is harsh, depressing, and very hard to read at times but it balances out with a story that is also humane, tender, and pulls at all of your heartstrings. The words literally flowed right off the page and I fell so immersed into this tale that I couldn't pull myself away from it.
There is two main characters that the story revolves around. We have Michael, a young boy that lives in poverty with his mother and his sister that he adores. When his abusive father is let out of jail and comes home to stay, Michael's life is turned upside down. Then there is Harlen, a maintenance worker at the school. He tends to keep to himself and to his routine. When a crime happens at the school, Harlen ends up being in the middle of it. The two stories eventually meld together to make one beautiful sob story.
This will, without a doubt, be a book that I will remember years down the road. It is a first book for me by this author but will definitely look into his other works.
There is two main characters that the story revolves around. We have Michael, a young boy that lives in poverty with his mother and his sister that he adores. When his abusive father is let out of jail and comes home to stay, Michael's life is turned upside down. Then there is Harlen, a maintenance worker at the school. He tends to keep to himself and to his routine. When a crime happens at the school, Harlen ends up being in the middle of it. The two stories eventually meld together to make one beautiful sob story.
This will, without a doubt, be a book that I will remember years down the road. It is a first book for me by this author but will definitely look into his other works.
October 22, 2022
Haunting. Gritty. Somber. Poetic. Engrossing.
These are a few of the words that came to mind as I finished reading this book. It is a heavy and somber story- but one that is written so poetically that it’s a hard one to put down. Wade leads the reader through two timeframes - each one slowly unwinding until the two intertwine.
“Man and anti-man, and each edging through a darkness both real and imagined, a mirror image of the other and neither betraying the whereabouts of the soul, stolen away, hidden, and all things black before it.”
In the 1965 story, young Michael is growing up without a childhood as he acts as guardian of his younger sister and provider for the family, When his father returns from prison, evil descends on the house. He finds his way out of the town, full of regrets and anger. He forges a friendship with Remus, who takes him in and teaches him the survival and life skills his father never did.
In the 1985 story, Harlan LeBlanc lives a simple, solitary life. He thrives on routine. He is a quite man who eats the same lunch everyday, works as the groundskeeper at the school but seems to be harboring a secret. When one of my his co-workers is accused of murder, Harlan is determined to discover who the real culprit is. While he puts himself in dangerous situations, the focus of the investigation shifts to him.
In this haunting, beautifully descriptive story, the reader is swept into the small town in Texas. There is always a question regarding the reliability of the narrator. Like a constant whisper in the background, the presence of mental illness, penance and justice can be heard throughout. It amazed me how Wade could suffuse such gritty subjects with eloquent and lyrical descriptions of the landscape and tapestry of the desolate town.
“The rain left the colors of the country deeper, more pronounced, as if the droplets themselves had been painted to match the world. The dirt lots turned overnight to mud and the dead lawns sprouted thistle weed and clover and all that blossomed would soon perish beneath the September sun or the winter to follow—fire or ice.“
This is a heavy story and may not be right for everyone, but those that read the synopsis and choose to pick it up are in for a treat. Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone books for the ARC to read and review. Pub date: 10.11.22
These are a few of the words that came to mind as I finished reading this book. It is a heavy and somber story- but one that is written so poetically that it’s a hard one to put down. Wade leads the reader through two timeframes - each one slowly unwinding until the two intertwine.
“Man and anti-man, and each edging through a darkness both real and imagined, a mirror image of the other and neither betraying the whereabouts of the soul, stolen away, hidden, and all things black before it.”
In the 1965 story, young Michael is growing up without a childhood as he acts as guardian of his younger sister and provider for the family, When his father returns from prison, evil descends on the house. He finds his way out of the town, full of regrets and anger. He forges a friendship with Remus, who takes him in and teaches him the survival and life skills his father never did.
In the 1985 story, Harlan LeBlanc lives a simple, solitary life. He thrives on routine. He is a quite man who eats the same lunch everyday, works as the groundskeeper at the school but seems to be harboring a secret. When one of my his co-workers is accused of murder, Harlan is determined to discover who the real culprit is. While he puts himself in dangerous situations, the focus of the investigation shifts to him.
In this haunting, beautifully descriptive story, the reader is swept into the small town in Texas. There is always a question regarding the reliability of the narrator. Like a constant whisper in the background, the presence of mental illness, penance and justice can be heard throughout. It amazed me how Wade could suffuse such gritty subjects with eloquent and lyrical descriptions of the landscape and tapestry of the desolate town.
“The rain left the colors of the country deeper, more pronounced, as if the droplets themselves had been painted to match the world. The dirt lots turned overnight to mud and the dead lawns sprouted thistle weed and clover and all that blossomed would soon perish beneath the September sun or the winter to follow—fire or ice.“
This is a heavy story and may not be right for everyone, but those that read the synopsis and choose to pick it up are in for a treat. Thank you to NetGalley and Blackstone books for the ARC to read and review. Pub date: 10.11.22
July 13, 2022
Beasts of the Earth by James Wade is a novel of literary fiction with elements of mystery, crime, and family drama. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Beasts of the Earth tells the story of Harlen LeBlanc, a dependable if quiet employee of the Carter Hills High School’s grounds department, whose carefully maintained routine is overthrown by an act of violence. As the town searches for answers, LeBlanc strikes out on his own to exonerate a friend, while drawing the eyes of the law to himself and fending off unwelcome voices that call for a sterner form of justice. Twenty years earlier, young Michael Fischer dreads the return of his father from prison. He spends his days stealing from trap lines in the Louisiana bayou to feed his fanatically religious mother and his cherished younger sister, Doreen. When his father eventually returns, an evil arrives in Michael’s life that sends him running from everything he has ever known. He is rescued by a dying poet and his lover, who extract from him a promise: to be a good man, whatever that may require. Beasts of the Earth deftly intertwines these stories, exploring themes of time, fate, and free will, to produce a revelatory conclusion that is both beautiful and heartbreaking.”
Beasts of the Earth is the third novel from acclaimed literary author James Wade. Although a modern Western with similar themes to his previous work, this new novel is leaner and more grounded to its characters and the town they live in. There is a much keener focus to the many characters that inhabit this world as well as the relationships that develop. Tightly plotted and drawn with dreadful suspense, the two plot lines run in distinct parallel lines until the satisfying conclusion which reveals the ties that bind them. There is some rumination about time and fate, although less so than in Wade’s previous novels, but what is here is beautifully written. Wade’s poetic observations about nature are still on display as these unruly creatures of nature and the small town they inhabit come alive.
Main character Harlen LeBlanc is mysterious and reticent yet compelling. The townsfolk as well as the reader will wonder what is simmering underneath that laconic exterior. Once revealed, the town and the reader will never be the same. James Wade is a writer of exceptional talent and this novel is his latest entry toward his path to greatness.
I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
Beasts of the Earth is the third novel from acclaimed literary author James Wade. Although a modern Western with similar themes to his previous work, this new novel is leaner and more grounded to its characters and the town they live in. There is a much keener focus to the many characters that inhabit this world as well as the relationships that develop. Tightly plotted and drawn with dreadful suspense, the two plot lines run in distinct parallel lines until the satisfying conclusion which reveals the ties that bind them. There is some rumination about time and fate, although less so than in Wade’s previous novels, but what is here is beautifully written. Wade’s poetic observations about nature are still on display as these unruly creatures of nature and the small town they inhabit come alive.
Main character Harlen LeBlanc is mysterious and reticent yet compelling. The townsfolk as well as the reader will wonder what is simmering underneath that laconic exterior. Once revealed, the town and the reader will never be the same. James Wade is a writer of exceptional talent and this novel is his latest entry toward his path to greatness.
I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
April 2, 2024
“The scattered matrix of cypress limbs cut across the sunset like torn curtains and Remus had taught the boy something about the world and it wasn't that there were bad men—this the boy already knew. It was that there were good men too.”
Beasts of the Earth alternates between two timelines. One follows Harlen LaBlanc, a man in Central Texas whose life is disrupted by an act of violence, and the other follows Michael Fischer, a boy in Louisiana who finds himself confronted by his father's release from prison.
While books with multiple timelines often get confusing or have too many characters, that was certainly not the case here. James Wade crafts a narrative that's easy to follow and lets the reader get a chance to know the characters intimately. The story is sad, and it's raw, and it makes you confront the harsh realities of the human experience (and made me cry more times than I'd like to admit), but it is also about hope and resilience.
Wade's writing is much like Cormac McCarthy's: every word has a purpose. I listened to the audiobook, more on that below, but I kept my physical copy nearby so I could flag particularly beautiful passages. (“The days grew longer on the tilted plane of the tilted planet and the winter ushered away by those warm winds come up from some unseen horizon where all is forever aflame.” I mean, come on. It’s perfect.) Also like McCarthy, punctuation is sparse and actions are often listed in sequence, which creates a rhythm and sense of closeness to the characters. It’s powerful.
Now, that audiobook. It’s narrated by Roger Clark, the voice actor who played Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. I won’t waste words telling you how much I love Arthur, but oh my gosh do I love him. Clark’s narration added a lot to this already wonderful book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I guess this is less of a review, and more of a “I can’t believe how amazing this book was.” Beasts of the Earth is my favorite book of the year so far, and easily one of my all-time favorites. I can’t wait until I can read more of Wade’s books. (Obviously, five stars, highly recommended, etc. etc.)
Beasts of the Earth alternates between two timelines. One follows Harlen LaBlanc, a man in Central Texas whose life is disrupted by an act of violence, and the other follows Michael Fischer, a boy in Louisiana who finds himself confronted by his father's release from prison.
While books with multiple timelines often get confusing or have too many characters, that was certainly not the case here. James Wade crafts a narrative that's easy to follow and lets the reader get a chance to know the characters intimately. The story is sad, and it's raw, and it makes you confront the harsh realities of the human experience (and made me cry more times than I'd like to admit), but it is also about hope and resilience.
Wade's writing is much like Cormac McCarthy's: every word has a purpose. I listened to the audiobook, more on that below, but I kept my physical copy nearby so I could flag particularly beautiful passages. (“The days grew longer on the tilted plane of the tilted planet and the winter ushered away by those warm winds come up from some unseen horizon where all is forever aflame.” I mean, come on. It’s perfect.) Also like McCarthy, punctuation is sparse and actions are often listed in sequence, which creates a rhythm and sense of closeness to the characters. It’s powerful.
Now, that audiobook. It’s narrated by Roger Clark, the voice actor who played Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2. I won’t waste words telling you how much I love Arthur, but oh my gosh do I love him. Clark’s narration added a lot to this already wonderful book, and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
I guess this is less of a review, and more of a “I can’t believe how amazing this book was.” Beasts of the Earth is my favorite book of the year so far, and easily one of my all-time favorites. I can’t wait until I can read more of Wade’s books. (Obviously, five stars, highly recommended, etc. etc.)
October 1, 2022
In James Wade’s Beasts of the Earth, the story follows the lives of two main characters in alternating chapters during different generations.
In small town 1987 Texas, Harlan LeBlanc is a grounds keeper for Carter Hills High School. By outward appearances and behavior, LeBlanc is a refined, gentle man, similar to that of a milquetoast. LeBlanc is most interested in a regular, day-to-day life hoping for the absence of turmoil and drama.
Prone to ridicule and taunting by not only his neighbor but some of his co-workers, LeBlanc becomes friendly with a troubled, young co-worker that soon finds himself accused of a horrible crime. In the belief in the boy’s innocence, LeBlanc interjects himself into the investigation which soon leads others to question his own possible involvement in the crime when inconsistencies regarding LeBlanc come to light.
In the swamps of 1965 Louisiana, young boy Michael Fischer barely exists with his younger sister and cruel mother in a world defined by poverty and hardship. Michael’s mother is devoutly loyal to her thought to be imprisoned and even more cruel husband, Mundy Fischer. With Munday’s unexpected release and return home, it is more like the devil crossing the threshold rather than an absent father.
After more than one traumatic event, Michael flees the home and is soon taken in by a kind older man that slowly instills within Michael the importance of goodness and the meaning of remaining good even in a world where evil walks among us.
Beasts of the Earth is not just a crime novel and more of a contemplative novel of what it takes to be a good person when evil envelopes us and especially if a person may have taken extreme measures to overcome such evil.
The writing in Beasts of the Earth is wonderfully descriptive and rich in detail and form, which may cause many readers to re-read sentences to fully enjoy their lush composition.
Netgalley provided an ARC of Beasts of the Earth upon the promise of a fair review.
In small town 1987 Texas, Harlan LeBlanc is a grounds keeper for Carter Hills High School. By outward appearances and behavior, LeBlanc is a refined, gentle man, similar to that of a milquetoast. LeBlanc is most interested in a regular, day-to-day life hoping for the absence of turmoil and drama.
Prone to ridicule and taunting by not only his neighbor but some of his co-workers, LeBlanc becomes friendly with a troubled, young co-worker that soon finds himself accused of a horrible crime. In the belief in the boy’s innocence, LeBlanc interjects himself into the investigation which soon leads others to question his own possible involvement in the crime when inconsistencies regarding LeBlanc come to light.
In the swamps of 1965 Louisiana, young boy Michael Fischer barely exists with his younger sister and cruel mother in a world defined by poverty and hardship. Michael’s mother is devoutly loyal to her thought to be imprisoned and even more cruel husband, Mundy Fischer. With Munday’s unexpected release and return home, it is more like the devil crossing the threshold rather than an absent father.
After more than one traumatic event, Michael flees the home and is soon taken in by a kind older man that slowly instills within Michael the importance of goodness and the meaning of remaining good even in a world where evil walks among us.
Beasts of the Earth is not just a crime novel and more of a contemplative novel of what it takes to be a good person when evil envelopes us and especially if a person may have taken extreme measures to overcome such evil.
The writing in Beasts of the Earth is wonderfully descriptive and rich in detail and form, which may cause many readers to re-read sentences to fully enjoy their lush composition.
Netgalley provided an ARC of Beasts of the Earth upon the promise of a fair review.
January 14, 2023
4.25
Getting better. Still not there yet.
Love y’all.
JW
Getting better. Still not there yet.
Love y’all.
JW
October 16, 2022
This story comes full circle and is filled with poetic language and details that had me pondering many questions in my head.
This story is told in two different time periods and points of view, Michael in 1965 and Harlan in 1985. My heart bled for Michael and the home life that he endured, but it wasn't anything new from what we might know from our ancestors. He might have lived in poverty and had a killer for a father, but he was determined not to let his upbringing hold him back. There are things we learn later in the book that continues to haunt him and follows him into the future. The only saving grace for Michael is Remus, a man that takes him under his wing and cares for him after Michael runs away from his situation. We learn that Remus has health issues, but I think Michael's presence seems to extend his life, even if by a few months. They take care of one another the best that they can before time runs out for Remus.
Harlan is a quiet man that does his job at the local high school and stays out of trouble. He has his routine, but when a young woman is found dead on school grounds, he is determined to uncover the true killer. We never know what we are capable of until we are put into stressful conditions such as these. There is a lot to admire about Harlan, but at the same time, there is much to fear, not knowing what he could potentially do to harm another.
I enjoyed the story as it continued to grow and expand, and with the descriptive language, I felt like I was there in the swamps of Louisiana and this small Texas town. I have to say this author does a beautiful job describing everything, from the people to the scenery. There were some connections I made pretty quickly (or at least the assumption, which was later proven correct), but this story left me with many questions! I won't share those questions because it would give away part of the ending. It did leave me thinking about how many can overcome situations that might leave others wanting. We all have it in us to rise above a bad situation.
I felt a wave of emotions reading this book, from sadness to horror, to a little bit of joy. While we know that the underbelly of people can be harsh, this book pulls out every last dreg of humanity.
This is a book well worth reading, and we give it 4 paws up.
This story is told in two different time periods and points of view, Michael in 1965 and Harlan in 1985. My heart bled for Michael and the home life that he endured, but it wasn't anything new from what we might know from our ancestors. He might have lived in poverty and had a killer for a father, but he was determined not to let his upbringing hold him back. There are things we learn later in the book that continues to haunt him and follows him into the future. The only saving grace for Michael is Remus, a man that takes him under his wing and cares for him after Michael runs away from his situation. We learn that Remus has health issues, but I think Michael's presence seems to extend his life, even if by a few months. They take care of one another the best that they can before time runs out for Remus.
Harlan is a quiet man that does his job at the local high school and stays out of trouble. He has his routine, but when a young woman is found dead on school grounds, he is determined to uncover the true killer. We never know what we are capable of until we are put into stressful conditions such as these. There is a lot to admire about Harlan, but at the same time, there is much to fear, not knowing what he could potentially do to harm another.
I enjoyed the story as it continued to grow and expand, and with the descriptive language, I felt like I was there in the swamps of Louisiana and this small Texas town. I have to say this author does a beautiful job describing everything, from the people to the scenery. There were some connections I made pretty quickly (or at least the assumption, which was later proven correct), but this story left me with many questions! I won't share those questions because it would give away part of the ending. It did leave me thinking about how many can overcome situations that might leave others wanting. We all have it in us to rise above a bad situation.
I felt a wave of emotions reading this book, from sadness to horror, to a little bit of joy. While we know that the underbelly of people can be harsh, this book pulls out every last dreg of humanity.
This is a book well worth reading, and we give it 4 paws up.
October 2, 2022
When you make a mistake, own it and fix it. It was a mistake not to read James Wade’s first two novels. I’ll have to fix that. Because VISHNU TAKE THE WHEEL.
His third book is *phenomenal.*
BEASTS OF THE EARTH had the oppressively hot energy of crackling brush burning away at a Texas ranch; the haunting prickle of neck-sweat on an airless day in the bayou.
The two locales, Texas and Louisiana, give a bedrock of southern gothic grit for the characters to work upon. Doggone if they don’t flourish in this darkness.
I saw shades of TRUE DETECTIVE, but the story of Harlan LeBlanc isn’t susceptible to a Season 2 dip. The tale of this high school groundskeeper is written in toto, with prose as lyrical as its contents are sinister.
When LeBlanc’s young coworker is accused of an awful crime, the introverted custodian wills himself to supportive action. But we dwell also in the past. In 1965, young Michael Fischer is terrorized by the coming return of his irredeemable father.
By 1987, a sordid history of cruelty must be reconciled if LeBlanc is to help his friend. It’s the challenge of his life and it makes for an impossibly engaging book, all the way to the astonishing finish.
His third book is *phenomenal.*
BEASTS OF THE EARTH had the oppressively hot energy of crackling brush burning away at a Texas ranch; the haunting prickle of neck-sweat on an airless day in the bayou.
The two locales, Texas and Louisiana, give a bedrock of southern gothic grit for the characters to work upon. Doggone if they don’t flourish in this darkness.
I saw shades of TRUE DETECTIVE, but the story of Harlan LeBlanc isn’t susceptible to a Season 2 dip. The tale of this high school groundskeeper is written in toto, with prose as lyrical as its contents are sinister.
When LeBlanc’s young coworker is accused of an awful crime, the introverted custodian wills himself to supportive action. But we dwell also in the past. In 1965, young Michael Fischer is terrorized by the coming return of his irredeemable father.
By 1987, a sordid history of cruelty must be reconciled if LeBlanc is to help his friend. It’s the challenge of his life and it makes for an impossibly engaging book, all the way to the astonishing finish.
March 4, 2023
Beasts of the Earth will likely not be for everyone - and that’s okay. It’s a bleak book, speckled though it may be with things like generosity, hospitality, and hope. There are some tragic and potentially triggering events in the book. For those reasons, I recommend this book with some trepidation. Cautions aside, this is a very good book, well worth your time if you’re interested in a wonderful confluence of Southern literature, philosophy, and theology. Unlike many modern novels, this book is seriously concerned with the question of human responsibility in an evil world. At the core of this book is the question “How do we be good amid horrific evil?” or “How do we overcome the evil that threatens us?” I don’t know if Wade offers any answers, so much as shows us what it looks like to struggle with the question. And that’s honest. It’s a book that manages to take itself seriously without being off-putting. For that, I applaud Wade. I plan to go back and read his first two novels.
I was really impressed with Wade’s prose, boasting a style that honors Cormac McCarthy’s. For example, one of my favorite paragraphs from the book: “The moonlight cast shadows upon the earth, shadows that danced at the feet of men, tethered one to the other, umbra and penumbra and living things moving as one, as if perhaps it were the shadows themselves what decided the steps. Man and anti-man, and each edging through a darkness both real and imagined, a mirror image of the other and neither betraying the whereabouts of the soul, stolen away, hidden, all things black before it” (189). It’s an exceptionally well-crafted paragraph - and the book is littered with them. Like McCarthy, Wade has a penchant for drawing out the relationship between scene-building and mythology. Often enough, the landscape takes on the inner psyche of Wade’s characters, a literary technique McCarthy uses to great effect in his own work. The book, too, makes many mythological connections: pelicans and cypress trees are regularly mentioned and associated with the main character, Harlen LeBlanc.
Perhaps one criticism of the book could be just how much it approximates McCarthy’s own propensity for arcane words and strange metaphors. Wade makes much McCarthy’s influence upon him, throwing in all kinds of allusions to McCarthy’s work. For example, Munday Fischer, a character possessed of almost unbelievable malevolence, is an allusion to McCarthy’s Judge Holden: “The King ate and drank and threw fish bones at the lifeless body. He laughed and danced around the fire” (28), evoking the final scene of Blood Meridian, where the judge, similarly, dances around a fire, triumphantly demonstrating his suzerainty over all creation. The ever-present Gnostic interpretation of McCarthy’s Holden as a gnostic Archon is paralleled in Munday very explicitly: “[H]e stood there like a prophet of some demiurge” (293). A significant way, then, that Wade distinguishes himself from McCarthy is how explicitly Wade leans into Gnosticism to create an allegory for the dread and anguish that accompanies human existence. McCarthy flirts with this - Wade has committed himself to it (for at least a few more dates). There is a deep philosophical/theological preoccupation in this book, a concern that is, unfortunately, not often shared by authors today. Because of this, there is an inherent thickness and texture to Wade’s work that makes it rewarding and deeply interesting. Wade is profoundly honest that humans are fundamentally searching and suffering creatures. These are mutually implicating realities, something that is chronicled here with tragic clarity.
And yet, as mentioned above, darkness is not all that exists in Beasts of the Earth. There are genuinely moving moments of human connection and care, especially in the figure of Remus, a dying father figure to Michael, one of the book’s main characters. Wade makes Remus the “grace” figure of the book (in an admittedly clunky scene of dialogue towards the end), showing forth how hospitality, love, and friendship are possible amid a world seemingly bereft of benevolent providence. Wade’s characters, especially Remus, plod forward in a world that is, basically, Hell, or some cosmic swamp, ruled by an evil or incompetent Swamp King. Indeed, as one character notes, “Sometimes there’s worse things than being gone” (209). What if this deity isn’t absent - what if he’s present and unconcerned or evil? Echoing Stella (from McCarthy’s Stella Maris), what if there is an inevitable evil at the heart of reality? Then what? Of course, I read the world very differently than Wade. That’s not a knock against the book at all - it makes it even more interesting for me as a Christian.
Wade is a writer whose career I am excited to watch grow and develop over time. Wade is to be commended for a philosophically/theologically-interested novel, a kind of novel that seems vanishingly rare these days.
I was really impressed with Wade’s prose, boasting a style that honors Cormac McCarthy’s. For example, one of my favorite paragraphs from the book: “The moonlight cast shadows upon the earth, shadows that danced at the feet of men, tethered one to the other, umbra and penumbra and living things moving as one, as if perhaps it were the shadows themselves what decided the steps. Man and anti-man, and each edging through a darkness both real and imagined, a mirror image of the other and neither betraying the whereabouts of the soul, stolen away, hidden, all things black before it” (189). It’s an exceptionally well-crafted paragraph - and the book is littered with them. Like McCarthy, Wade has a penchant for drawing out the relationship between scene-building and mythology. Often enough, the landscape takes on the inner psyche of Wade’s characters, a literary technique McCarthy uses to great effect in his own work. The book, too, makes many mythological connections: pelicans and cypress trees are regularly mentioned and associated with the main character, Harlen LeBlanc.
Perhaps one criticism of the book could be just how much it approximates McCarthy’s own propensity for arcane words and strange metaphors. Wade makes much McCarthy’s influence upon him, throwing in all kinds of allusions to McCarthy’s work. For example, Munday Fischer, a character possessed of almost unbelievable malevolence, is an allusion to McCarthy’s Judge Holden: “The King ate and drank and threw fish bones at the lifeless body. He laughed and danced around the fire” (28), evoking the final scene of Blood Meridian, where the judge, similarly, dances around a fire, triumphantly demonstrating his suzerainty over all creation. The ever-present Gnostic interpretation of McCarthy’s Holden as a gnostic Archon is paralleled in Munday very explicitly: “[H]e stood there like a prophet of some demiurge” (293). A significant way, then, that Wade distinguishes himself from McCarthy is how explicitly Wade leans into Gnosticism to create an allegory for the dread and anguish that accompanies human existence. McCarthy flirts with this - Wade has committed himself to it (for at least a few more dates). There is a deep philosophical/theological preoccupation in this book, a concern that is, unfortunately, not often shared by authors today. Because of this, there is an inherent thickness and texture to Wade’s work that makes it rewarding and deeply interesting. Wade is profoundly honest that humans are fundamentally searching and suffering creatures. These are mutually implicating realities, something that is chronicled here with tragic clarity.
And yet, as mentioned above, darkness is not all that exists in Beasts of the Earth. There are genuinely moving moments of human connection and care, especially in the figure of Remus, a dying father figure to Michael, one of the book’s main characters. Wade makes Remus the “grace” figure of the book (in an admittedly clunky scene of dialogue towards the end), showing forth how hospitality, love, and friendship are possible amid a world seemingly bereft of benevolent providence. Wade’s characters, especially Remus, plod forward in a world that is, basically, Hell, or some cosmic swamp, ruled by an evil or incompetent Swamp King. Indeed, as one character notes, “Sometimes there’s worse things than being gone” (209). What if this deity isn’t absent - what if he’s present and unconcerned or evil? Echoing Stella (from McCarthy’s Stella Maris), what if there is an inevitable evil at the heart of reality? Then what? Of course, I read the world very differently than Wade. That’s not a knock against the book at all - it makes it even more interesting for me as a Christian.
Wade is a writer whose career I am excited to watch grow and develop over time. Wade is to be commended for a philosophically/theologically-interested novel, a kind of novel that seems vanishingly rare these days.
November 25, 2022
Beasts of the Earth may be James Wade's best work yet. I have been a fan since his debut novel All Things Left Wild, but his writing talent has matured and this book has a depth that comes from a seasoned author.
This book intertwines two stories happening twenty years apart.
Michael Fischer is a young boy whose never had the opportunity to be a child. His violent father has wreaked havoc on his family and he is left to pick up the pieces of their shattered life. When his father's return from prison threatens his life he runs off to the bayou where he is rescued by a dying poet.
Twenty years later a murder shocks the small town and Harlen LeBlanc a soft spoken maintenance man can't believe that his co-worker was involved. He goes against the grain, and endangers himself in order to prove who was really behind the atrocious act.
The thing about James Wade writing is it is so decadent. It's the kind of literary voice you either love or you hate but you FEEL to your bones. I, for one love the languorous descriptions and the fullness that his voice gives to his books and characters. This book proves beyond a doubt that James Wade is a true voice for the rural American experience.
This book intertwines two stories happening twenty years apart.
Michael Fischer is a young boy whose never had the opportunity to be a child. His violent father has wreaked havoc on his family and he is left to pick up the pieces of their shattered life. When his father's return from prison threatens his life he runs off to the bayou where he is rescued by a dying poet.
Twenty years later a murder shocks the small town and Harlen LeBlanc a soft spoken maintenance man can't believe that his co-worker was involved. He goes against the grain, and endangers himself in order to prove who was really behind the atrocious act.
The thing about James Wade writing is it is so decadent. It's the kind of literary voice you either love or you hate but you FEEL to your bones. I, for one love the languorous descriptions and the fullness that his voice gives to his books and characters. This book proves beyond a doubt that James Wade is a true voice for the rural American experience.
May 23, 2023
Back cover review labeling this as “a novel that blends realism with existentialist philosophy” is spot on. NOT a feel good book at literally any point. Plot wasn’t perfect but the draw of this book is 100% in the writing style.
October 6, 2022
I fell for this book because of the title and cover. It’s a sad 5⭐️ read for me. This was about a child who had a monster for a father and he grew up with so many demons.
He’s was forever haunted by the realities of his past and the mundane presence. But Beneath all of that was a lost, kind even gentle person trying to fight against it.
This was a quick read and I hope you pick this up. It’s written very well and I’m still thinking about all these characters. How it played out. What changed him and what didn’t.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was excellent. I felt like I was there. Highly recommend!
Thanks Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley.
He’s was forever haunted by the realities of his past and the mundane presence. But Beneath all of that was a lost, kind even gentle person trying to fight against it.
This was a quick read and I hope you pick this up. It’s written very well and I’m still thinking about all these characters. How it played out. What changed him and what didn’t.
I chose to listen to this book on audio and the narrator was excellent. I felt like I was there. Highly recommend!
Thanks Blackstone Publishing via NetGalley.
October 19, 2022
Harlen LeBlanc has crafted a quiet life for himself. In 1987, he works as a groundskeeper at a high school in a small Texas town. He seems gentle and mild-mannered. He keeps himself to himself and sticks to his routine. But when a young coworker, Gene, is accused of murdering a former girlfriend, Harlen can’t let that lie. He determines to investigate for himself, and winds up with the eyes of the law pointing at him.
Michael Fischer steals from other folks’ trap lines in the swamps of Louisiana in 1965. His life is one of grinding poverty and despair, and stealing is the only way he can try to provide for his fanatically religious mother and younger sister while his father, Munday, is in prison. But Munday’s return home doesn’t restore order to the family. Instead, when Munday returns home, trouble follows in his wake. He soon displays the measure of the evil that lurks within him, and when Munday turns that evil on his own daughter, Michael flees. He is taken in by a dying man, Remus, who is the opposite of Munday and who does his best to show Michael how to be a good man even when life’s trials threaten to overwhelm.
The book opens with a prologue that seems almost scriptural in its reading. It describes a watchmaker, toiling diligently at his station, ever winding, ever creating, oblivious to the horde crowding around his workspace seeking salvation. Wanting to be seen. The multitudes cry out, asking why the creator has forsaken them. But the watchmaker continues working, creating. The relentless flow of time and the stolid indifference of a creator to man’s problems is not an obvious part of the story, but it is a constant underlying thread.
James Wade drew me into the stories of both characters, Harlen and Michael. Through their eyes, he paints a vivid picture of the unfairness, the brutality, that life can often inflict upon a person. Michael didn’t ask to be the child of a pedophile and abuser. Harlen didn’t ask for the choices that he finds he must confront as he seeks to establish Gene’s innocence. Yet there they both are, struggling with their respective burdens.
The ending of the book wasn’t what I expected, I don’t think, but I’m not sure it could have ended any other way. There is closure, of a kind, a wrong set right. And while Harlen is a flawed man, broken in a way he cannot redeem, he still brings a little light to at least one person’s life. In the darkness, there is a thread of hope.
Beasts of the Earth is not a quick, easy read. It digs into some dark places in the human psyche and doesn’t flinch from harsh topics. But it’s worth reading for the idea that, even though a man may walk through some of the deepest darkness, it does not have to overwhelm him.
I had good things to say about Wade’s second book, River, Sing Out. Beasts of the Earth is another five-star read for me and establishes Wade firmly as one of my must-read authors.
Michael Fischer steals from other folks’ trap lines in the swamps of Louisiana in 1965. His life is one of grinding poverty and despair, and stealing is the only way he can try to provide for his fanatically religious mother and younger sister while his father, Munday, is in prison. But Munday’s return home doesn’t restore order to the family. Instead, when Munday returns home, trouble follows in his wake. He soon displays the measure of the evil that lurks within him, and when Munday turns that evil on his own daughter, Michael flees. He is taken in by a dying man, Remus, who is the opposite of Munday and who does his best to show Michael how to be a good man even when life’s trials threaten to overwhelm.
The book opens with a prologue that seems almost scriptural in its reading. It describes a watchmaker, toiling diligently at his station, ever winding, ever creating, oblivious to the horde crowding around his workspace seeking salvation. Wanting to be seen. The multitudes cry out, asking why the creator has forsaken them. But the watchmaker continues working, creating. The relentless flow of time and the stolid indifference of a creator to man’s problems is not an obvious part of the story, but it is a constant underlying thread.
James Wade drew me into the stories of both characters, Harlen and Michael. Through their eyes, he paints a vivid picture of the unfairness, the brutality, that life can often inflict upon a person. Michael didn’t ask to be the child of a pedophile and abuser. Harlen didn’t ask for the choices that he finds he must confront as he seeks to establish Gene’s innocence. Yet there they both are, struggling with their respective burdens.
The ending of the book wasn’t what I expected, I don’t think, but I’m not sure it could have ended any other way. There is closure, of a kind, a wrong set right. And while Harlen is a flawed man, broken in a way he cannot redeem, he still brings a little light to at least one person’s life. In the darkness, there is a thread of hope.
Beasts of the Earth is not a quick, easy read. It digs into some dark places in the human psyche and doesn’t flinch from harsh topics. But it’s worth reading for the idea that, even though a man may walk through some of the deepest darkness, it does not have to overwhelm him.
I had good things to say about Wade’s second book, River, Sing Out. Beasts of the Earth is another five-star read for me and establishes Wade firmly as one of my must-read authors.
October 16, 2022
4.5 Stars - This author and the word lyrical are tightly bound together. This quote right here gives you an example of why - "The air was thick with the sea's salt and the musk of the bayou where algae blossomed in phosphoric spores and coated narrow channels in green film." It could have easily been stated much more succinctly but instead, the author chooses to paint as he tells the story giving the reader vivid images.
If you are reading this blog or review, you are already a reader. And while you probably do it to learn something or be entertained, you have your method for reading. I read fast and most of the time want to be entertained. However on occasion, I get slammed (yes I mean that) in the pace (not a typo!). This book hit me and demanded I savor it. No matter how I tried to speed my read, I had to slow it down, read each and every word and at the same time relish each and every syllable.
Set between two times, the author skillfully aimed the reader's focus while creating a backdrop that enhanced it all. Michael Fischer and Harlen LeBlanc are the main characters. One a young boy struggling to survive in extreme poverty and violence, and one a man who externally appears good and in control yet struggles internally. Watching these two tales evolve and weave led to some horrific and piercing scenes. I found Michael's story to be the most compelling. He works on survival at a time in his life when he should be going to school or playing baseball. With a repugnant father and a vague mother Michael tries to grow and take care of his younger sister. But just how much can one child deal with, and when is it time to choose yourself to live.
Scenes touch on the edge of graphic yet leave much to the imagination, which at times can be more devastating than reading the actual words.
This is the second production of this author that I have read and he is honing his craft with finesse. The lean plot with characters that engulf set in an environment that once again really is a character of its own will have me coming back to this author when his next creation is available.
If you are reading this blog or review, you are already a reader. And while you probably do it to learn something or be entertained, you have your method for reading. I read fast and most of the time want to be entertained. However on occasion, I get slammed (yes I mean that) in the pace (not a typo!). This book hit me and demanded I savor it. No matter how I tried to speed my read, I had to slow it down, read each and every word and at the same time relish each and every syllable.
Set between two times, the author skillfully aimed the reader's focus while creating a backdrop that enhanced it all. Michael Fischer and Harlen LeBlanc are the main characters. One a young boy struggling to survive in extreme poverty and violence, and one a man who externally appears good and in control yet struggles internally. Watching these two tales evolve and weave led to some horrific and piercing scenes. I found Michael's story to be the most compelling. He works on survival at a time in his life when he should be going to school or playing baseball. With a repugnant father and a vague mother Michael tries to grow and take care of his younger sister. But just how much can one child deal with, and when is it time to choose yourself to live.
Scenes touch on the edge of graphic yet leave much to the imagination, which at times can be more devastating than reading the actual words.
This is the second production of this author that I have read and he is honing his craft with finesse. The lean plot with characters that engulf set in an environment that once again really is a character of its own will have me coming back to this author when his next creation is available.
October 19, 2022
Honestly, I did not know what to expect from this story, Beasts of the Earth. The cover is slick. I knew from one of the former books, River, Sing Out by James Wade I would be taken on a phenomenal journey. Wade did not disappoint. Beasts of the Earth is a poetic and haunting fiction book of place and time set in Texas and Louisiana.
Violence is part of James Wade’s writing but he is gifted with his words making them come off to the readers as more poetic than violent. In Beasts of the Earth the bloodshed and aggression are softened by the lyrical writing around the setting.
This story revolves around Harlen LeBlanc who is an unassuming guy living, yet not fully living under the radar. When an unthinkable crime occurs, he helps to clear a friend of the crime. Intermixed in this story is the past of Harlen and why he has become the person he has. Hands down this book is immersive in both the past and present and it’s deeply haunting. You can almost feel the swampland of Louisiana jumping off the pages.
Roger Clark, the narrator, makes Wade’s words more haunting. Clark’s voice is rich and deeply expressive. It’s a deepness that envelopes your ears and heart. Clark’s changing from the various characters even from a girl to a boy never broke its cadence. Without a doubt, Clark’s voice conveys Beasts of the Earth as an unforgettable story. This is the first audiobook I heard through the Netgalley app. I encountered no problems. Through their app, I was able to hear the story perfectly well at 1x speed.
I highly recommend Beasts of the Earth as an audiobook. It is a haunting, unforgettable story that jumps off the pages and embeds into your psyche as you listen. It is truly a galvanizing story written by Wade and brought to life by Clark.
Violence is part of James Wade’s writing but he is gifted with his words making them come off to the readers as more poetic than violent. In Beasts of the Earth the bloodshed and aggression are softened by the lyrical writing around the setting.
This story revolves around Harlen LeBlanc who is an unassuming guy living, yet not fully living under the radar. When an unthinkable crime occurs, he helps to clear a friend of the crime. Intermixed in this story is the past of Harlen and why he has become the person he has. Hands down this book is immersive in both the past and present and it’s deeply haunting. You can almost feel the swampland of Louisiana jumping off the pages.
Roger Clark, the narrator, makes Wade’s words more haunting. Clark’s voice is rich and deeply expressive. It’s a deepness that envelopes your ears and heart. Clark’s changing from the various characters even from a girl to a boy never broke its cadence. Without a doubt, Clark’s voice conveys Beasts of the Earth as an unforgettable story. This is the first audiobook I heard through the Netgalley app. I encountered no problems. Through their app, I was able to hear the story perfectly well at 1x speed.
I highly recommend Beasts of the Earth as an audiobook. It is a haunting, unforgettable story that jumps off the pages and embeds into your psyche as you listen. It is truly a galvanizing story written by Wade and brought to life by Clark.
October 23, 2022
This is a relatively short novel, but it is packed with prose and emotion. It is James Wade's third, though I have not read any of his other works.
Our story centers first on Harlen LeBlanc, a 40ish year old groundskeeper at a small high school in Texas. When a local boy is charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Harlen goes on the hunt for evidence to exonerate his friend. What he finds will dig him deeper into trouble than he ever imagined, but maybe not deeper than he thinks he deserves.
A parallel story takes place decades earlier in the swamps of Louisiana, where young Michael Fischer is devastated to find his sadistic father has returned home from prison. Though he has promised to look out for his baby sister, Michael finds himself running fast and far, crossing paths with a dog and a poet that he will come to cherish.
Maybe the whole thing is just too deep for the 'me' I was when I read this, but I was left feeling a little "so what?" at the end of the story. It's beautiful, extremely well-written, and absorbing, but the message fell a touch flat for me. Will I read it again? Probably. It's so short, maybe all it needs is a closer read. Regardless, I recommend giving it a shot!
Thank you to James Wade, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
Our story centers first on Harlen LeBlanc, a 40ish year old groundskeeper at a small high school in Texas. When a local boy is charged with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Harlen goes on the hunt for evidence to exonerate his friend. What he finds will dig him deeper into trouble than he ever imagined, but maybe not deeper than he thinks he deserves.
A parallel story takes place decades earlier in the swamps of Louisiana, where young Michael Fischer is devastated to find his sadistic father has returned home from prison. Though he has promised to look out for his baby sister, Michael finds himself running fast and far, crossing paths with a dog and a poet that he will come to cherish.
Maybe the whole thing is just too deep for the 'me' I was when I read this, but I was left feeling a little "so what?" at the end of the story. It's beautiful, extremely well-written, and absorbing, but the message fell a touch flat for me. Will I read it again? Probably. It's so short, maybe all it needs is a closer read. Regardless, I recommend giving it a shot!
Thank you to James Wade, Blackstone Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
October 14, 2022
*Disclaimer: A digital copy of this book was provided to me in exchange for my honest review. Please note the opinions in this review are solely my own and do not reflect the views of others.*
The author does an amazing job developing the complexity of each character. His writing style transported me into the lives of the characters forcing me to feel the same emotions the characters were feeling. I enjoyed the alternating chapters highlighting each character. The book is filled with edge-of-your-seat moments where you have no idea what will happen next. Throughout the story, I felt the emotions of each character and the sadness emanating from each page. I could not put down this book once I started. I related to Michael as he struggled with his relationship with his Father and Mother and wanted to be a protector of his sister. I related to Harlen purely due to his desire to want to be a savior to those who were lost. In a world where generational curses, crime, and pressure run rampant, it is hard to attempt to set your own path and do the right thing. This book does a wonderful job of highlighting some of the hauntings associated with your past and the struggle between past you and present you.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author but from the impact, this story had on me, it won’t be the last. I would highly recommend this book to adults interested in thrilling read. The book contains various twists and turns that leave your mouth gaped open at the end.
All I have to say is, well done James Wade, well done!
The author does an amazing job developing the complexity of each character. His writing style transported me into the lives of the characters forcing me to feel the same emotions the characters were feeling. I enjoyed the alternating chapters highlighting each character. The book is filled with edge-of-your-seat moments where you have no idea what will happen next. Throughout the story, I felt the emotions of each character and the sadness emanating from each page. I could not put down this book once I started. I related to Michael as he struggled with his relationship with his Father and Mother and wanted to be a protector of his sister. I related to Harlen purely due to his desire to want to be a savior to those who were lost. In a world where generational curses, crime, and pressure run rampant, it is hard to attempt to set your own path and do the right thing. This book does a wonderful job of highlighting some of the hauntings associated with your past and the struggle between past you and present you.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author but from the impact, this story had on me, it won’t be the last. I would highly recommend this book to adults interested in thrilling read. The book contains various twists and turns that leave your mouth gaped open at the end.
All I have to say is, well done James Wade, well done!
October 29, 2022
Texas author James Wade really impressed me with his latest release entitled BEASTS OF THE EARTH. It is a mystery thriller that is written in the style of great, serious fiction and called to mind for me tales of the modern West by writers like Cormac McCarthy and the late playwright Sam Shepard.
The extremely likeable protagonist of this story is an employee of the Carter Hills High School grounds department named Harlen LeBlanc. Harlen will instantly make readers of classic fiction think of characters like John Steinbeck’s immortal Lenny from OF MICE AND MEN. He is not exactly a simpleton, but is very reserved and soft-spoken --- enough to have most people believe he is not the brightest bulb on the tree but a very sweet soul at the same time.
An act of extreme violence will change everything for Harlen LeBlanc and force him to take action all his own in an effort to save one of the only people he considers a friend. His co-worker Gene Thomas is that friend and he is about to find himself as the prime suspect in the brutal murder of the young lady he was recently seeing, Cassie. After he is incarcerated, Harlen goes to the police office to meet with Gene who swears his innocence to him. That is enough to convince Harlen that he must do something to clear his friend who he knows has already been found guilty in the news media and the court of public opinion.
Even though Gene was found hugging the body of the corpse once he found it, he still sticks firm to his claims of innocence. Harlen’s easy-going demeanor hides a much darker interior and the subtext that is set in the year 1965 involving a convicted killer returning home to his family and the negative impact this has on his young son at the time is pretty easy to identify as an experience from the past of Harlen himself.
However, James Wade peels back the onion on that story in such a subtle way that it will both move and surprise readers. All the while, that subtext from the past provides a resonance that rings throughout the entire narrative and continued to catch me by surprise along the way. Wade certainly has a way with the written word and creates images and moods of this small Texas town that become so vivid in the mind’s eye. Harlen’s missions in this novel, set within different timelines, are extremely deep explorations of a three-dimensional and fully developed character that readers should instantly find an affinity for.
Harlen LeBlanc should be destined to go down as one of the great classic characters in recent fiction and I cannot recommend this exhilarating and soul-filled novel strongly enough for any reader who doesn’t believe that modern literature can harken back to the days of writers like John Steinbeck.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
The extremely likeable protagonist of this story is an employee of the Carter Hills High School grounds department named Harlen LeBlanc. Harlen will instantly make readers of classic fiction think of characters like John Steinbeck’s immortal Lenny from OF MICE AND MEN. He is not exactly a simpleton, but is very reserved and soft-spoken --- enough to have most people believe he is not the brightest bulb on the tree but a very sweet soul at the same time.
An act of extreme violence will change everything for Harlen LeBlanc and force him to take action all his own in an effort to save one of the only people he considers a friend. His co-worker Gene Thomas is that friend and he is about to find himself as the prime suspect in the brutal murder of the young lady he was recently seeing, Cassie. After he is incarcerated, Harlen goes to the police office to meet with Gene who swears his innocence to him. That is enough to convince Harlen that he must do something to clear his friend who he knows has already been found guilty in the news media and the court of public opinion.
Even though Gene was found hugging the body of the corpse once he found it, he still sticks firm to his claims of innocence. Harlen’s easy-going demeanor hides a much darker interior and the subtext that is set in the year 1965 involving a convicted killer returning home to his family and the negative impact this has on his young son at the time is pretty easy to identify as an experience from the past of Harlen himself.
However, James Wade peels back the onion on that story in such a subtle way that it will both move and surprise readers. All the while, that subtext from the past provides a resonance that rings throughout the entire narrative and continued to catch me by surprise along the way. Wade certainly has a way with the written word and creates images and moods of this small Texas town that become so vivid in the mind’s eye. Harlen’s missions in this novel, set within different timelines, are extremely deep explorations of a three-dimensional and fully developed character that readers should instantly find an affinity for.
Harlen LeBlanc should be destined to go down as one of the great classic characters in recent fiction and I cannot recommend this exhilarating and soul-filled novel strongly enough for any reader who doesn’t believe that modern literature can harken back to the days of writers like John Steinbeck.
Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter
May 19, 2023
A bleak, but exquisitely written novel about the harsh realities some people can’t get away from.
March 11, 2023
Very good book
November 9, 2022
I was honestly not expecting this story to grab me the way it did. This is not a lighthearted read by any means. It is however a beautifully written, complex novel with dual timelines that will keep you interested and wanting more. These pages do contain some dark and serious topic matters, but also grace and friendship. I will say that the narrator did a good job overall. A special thanks to Blackstone Publishing Audiobooks and NetGalley for the ALC.
November 10, 2022
James Wade has stories in his soul.
It's not just the way he creates characters, so you forget they're not real.
It's not just the way he captures setting and atmosphere in his hands, then sprinkles it all over the pages.
It's not just that he weaves a complex plot around you, dropping pieces like breadcrumbs.
It's the way he uses words sparingly, powerfully, beautifully. It's the words he chooses to use, as much as the words he chooses to omit. It's in the spaces he leaves and the spaces he fills. It's his timing and eloquence and relatability.
With Beasts of the Earth, I wasn't reading, I was experiencing; I wasn't thinking, I was feeling. For me, that's the rarest of all gifts to have and to receive.
It's not just the way he creates characters, so you forget they're not real.
It's not just the way he captures setting and atmosphere in his hands, then sprinkles it all over the pages.
It's not just that he weaves a complex plot around you, dropping pieces like breadcrumbs.
It's the way he uses words sparingly, powerfully, beautifully. It's the words he chooses to use, as much as the words he chooses to omit. It's in the spaces he leaves and the spaces he fills. It's his timing and eloquence and relatability.
With Beasts of the Earth, I wasn't reading, I was experiencing; I wasn't thinking, I was feeling. For me, that's the rarest of all gifts to have and to receive.
October 18, 2022
This amazing, multi-layered story opens with a prologue that reads like a parable, and the biblical influence is evident. We meet a watchmaker who is laboring over his task of repairing watches:
“Within each small machine, and evaluation of the present, a determination of the future. From the crown wheel to the barrel bridge, the hairspring and winding click, each piece is strictly ordered – delicately balanced. Despite every similarity, no two can be the same, for the seconds are always passing.“
The prologue ends with a horde of people burning the watchmaker’s home down, while they cry out, “Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?” Those Aramaic words are the opening words of Psalm 22, translated as “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me” in the King James Version of the Bible. They are also the words Jesus spoke when he hung on the cross.
That prologue sets a tone, and theme, for the rest of the book. A desperate plea for release from the torment plaguing the central characters, underscored by a sense of being forsaken by all, human and divine.
Yet, there is hope.
There is resilience.
Conventional writing wisdom says that even a villain should have one redeeming quality so people can relate to them without having to go to their own dark side. That’s is not true for Munday, who is a heartless killer, an alcoholic, and abuser.
The way the story is structured, we meet this evil man early on, before we ever know he’s Michael’s father. Munday has been away, serving time in prison, but now he’s out and returning to the family he left in abject poverty. He leaves a trail of carnage along the way, before finally making his way home.
Michael knows that is not going to bode well for him or his mother or sister, and when the father starts sexually abusing Doreen, Michael bolts.
Forsaking his sister.
Guilt tormenting him the rest of his life.
Wade’s storytelling is deserving of every accolade it receives. The language he uses is richly textured. Characters are compelling. Wonderful imagery makes scenes and characters come alive. And the pacing is perfect. In many ways, this is an incredibly dark story, but there are redeeming qualities and satisfying resolutions. Maybe not happy-ever-after, but satisfying.
Bits and pieces of backstory are dropped like stones into a pond, creating a ripple effect that finally washes up on the shore of our understanding, until we “get it.” The relationships between these characters and the dark secrets that drive their actions.
It’s hard to say much more without giving things away that are better found out through reading the book.
AUDIO REVIEW: It was interesting to read the book first, then listen to the story. I’ve never done that before, but I’m glad I did. Roger Clark, the audio narrator, is a talented voice-actor, and his sometimes slow Southern drawl was perfect for sections of introspection and the descriptions. Clark also knew exactly when to add a layer of urgency to the words in scenes of action and deeper drama. That kind of verbal pacing is as important as narrative pacing.
Throughout the audio, character voices are distinct, and consistent, so there’s no mistaking who’s on stage at the moment. Making that distinction isn’t always easy, and I applaud Clark for his ability to present characters with such clarity.
This story is as much a joy to listen to as to read, and words are inadequate to describe how much I love the writing. If I could give the book 10 stars, I would.
“Within each small machine, and evaluation of the present, a determination of the future. From the crown wheel to the barrel bridge, the hairspring and winding click, each piece is strictly ordered – delicately balanced. Despite every similarity, no two can be the same, for the seconds are always passing.“
The prologue ends with a horde of people burning the watchmaker’s home down, while they cry out, “Eli Eli Lama Sabachthani?” Those Aramaic words are the opening words of Psalm 22, translated as “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me” in the King James Version of the Bible. They are also the words Jesus spoke when he hung on the cross.
That prologue sets a tone, and theme, for the rest of the book. A desperate plea for release from the torment plaguing the central characters, underscored by a sense of being forsaken by all, human and divine.
Yet, there is hope.
There is resilience.
Conventional writing wisdom says that even a villain should have one redeeming quality so people can relate to them without having to go to their own dark side. That’s is not true for Munday, who is a heartless killer, an alcoholic, and abuser.
The way the story is structured, we meet this evil man early on, before we ever know he’s Michael’s father. Munday has been away, serving time in prison, but now he’s out and returning to the family he left in abject poverty. He leaves a trail of carnage along the way, before finally making his way home.
Michael knows that is not going to bode well for him or his mother or sister, and when the father starts sexually abusing Doreen, Michael bolts.
Forsaking his sister.
Guilt tormenting him the rest of his life.
Wade’s storytelling is deserving of every accolade it receives. The language he uses is richly textured. Characters are compelling. Wonderful imagery makes scenes and characters come alive. And the pacing is perfect. In many ways, this is an incredibly dark story, but there are redeeming qualities and satisfying resolutions. Maybe not happy-ever-after, but satisfying.
Bits and pieces of backstory are dropped like stones into a pond, creating a ripple effect that finally washes up on the shore of our understanding, until we “get it.” The relationships between these characters and the dark secrets that drive their actions.
It’s hard to say much more without giving things away that are better found out through reading the book.
AUDIO REVIEW: It was interesting to read the book first, then listen to the story. I’ve never done that before, but I’m glad I did. Roger Clark, the audio narrator, is a talented voice-actor, and his sometimes slow Southern drawl was perfect for sections of introspection and the descriptions. Clark also knew exactly when to add a layer of urgency to the words in scenes of action and deeper drama. That kind of verbal pacing is as important as narrative pacing.
Throughout the audio, character voices are distinct, and consistent, so there’s no mistaking who’s on stage at the moment. Making that distinction isn’t always easy, and I applaud Clark for his ability to present characters with such clarity.
This story is as much a joy to listen to as to read, and words are inadequate to describe how much I love the writing. If I could give the book 10 stars, I would.
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