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Empty Mile: A Novel
When Johnny Richardson returns to Oakridge he has one thing on his mind--correcting a terrible mistake that caused him to flee his hometown eight years ago. Revisiting the past, though, is a dark and dangerous game in small-town America. When a careless sexual episode leads to the suicide of the town’s first lady, Johnny finds himself the target of a revenge campaign that threatens to tear apart the fragile world he’s built among the gold-bearing mountains of Northern California.
Left an unexplained piece of land when his father mysteriously disappears, Johnny must unravel its secrets in a desperate bid to protect those he loves. But his efforts to do this have deadly consequences and will ultimately force him to confront not only his own failings, but the very nature of guilt.
A searing meditation on the futility of trying to right the wrongs of the past, Empty Mile blends elements of thrilling urban noir with the wide-open spaces of outdoor adventure in a story that reflects America’s contemporary uncertainty about itself.
Left an unexplained piece of land when his father mysteriously disappears, Johnny must unravel its secrets in a desperate bid to protect those he loves. But his efforts to do this have deadly consequences and will ultimately force him to confront not only his own failings, but the very nature of guilt.
A searing meditation on the futility of trying to right the wrongs of the past, Empty Mile blends elements of thrilling urban noir with the wide-open spaces of outdoor adventure in a story that reflects America’s contemporary uncertainty about itself.
390 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
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674 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 59 reviews
January 31, 2023
It is straight up criminal that Stokoe isn't as widely read as some of the more mainstream 'transgressive' authors. I think it's probably because he's been sadly typecast by readers who've only heard about him because of 'Cows' and are afraid to approach his other works. They're missing out. And also dumb >:[
In my mind, I lump Stokoe in with my other current favorite author Zahler. They're both doing really similar things but coming at it from different angles. They're both pulp kings, but where Zahler knows he's writing pulp and leans into as hard as possible aiming to make the most intricately crafted and idealized pulp possible, Stokoe reaches for grander literary aspirations. Zahler makes pulp so perfectly honed that it transcends its genre limitations while Stokoe intentionally pushes the limits of what storytelling can be/do while existing inside a pulp framework. I love and deeply appreciate both approaches.
I kinda feel like they're the literary equivalents of like Tarantino (Zahler) vs De Palma (Stokoe). Tarantino makes pulp so pure and brilliant and hyper-focused and stylish that it's elevated to capital-A, Art. De Palma on the other hand is an Artist first and foremost and uses the dark recesses of pulp fiction as his base materials.
It's a fun dichotomy. And I think about their works in conversation while reading them.
I didn't talk about 'Empty Mile' at all.
Is real good. 5/5.
In my mind, I lump Stokoe in with my other current favorite author Zahler. They're both doing really similar things but coming at it from different angles. They're both pulp kings, but where Zahler knows he's writing pulp and leans into as hard as possible aiming to make the most intricately crafted and idealized pulp possible, Stokoe reaches for grander literary aspirations. Zahler makes pulp so perfectly honed that it transcends its genre limitations while Stokoe intentionally pushes the limits of what storytelling can be/do while existing inside a pulp framework. I love and deeply appreciate both approaches.
I kinda feel like they're the literary equivalents of like Tarantino (Zahler) vs De Palma (Stokoe). Tarantino makes pulp so pure and brilliant and hyper-focused and stylish that it's elevated to capital-A, Art. De Palma on the other hand is an Artist first and foremost and uses the dark recesses of pulp fiction as his base materials.
It's a fun dichotomy. And I think about their works in conversation while reading them.
I didn't talk about 'Empty Mile' at all.
Is real good. 5/5.
Want to read
March 16, 2016This is copy number 47 of 85 signed numbered copies, signed by Matthew Stokoe.
October 6, 2014
Aha! Just as I suspected.....Matthew Stockoe is a "real" author.
I say (type) that because the first book I read by Stokoe was Cows. Cows routinely makes lists such as "Most Depraved Work of Fiction" or "Most Disgusting..." etc, and it truly was an incredibly horrific story filled with the most awful scenes I have ever read. I initially thought Cows would be some sophomoric gross out story that sought only to offend people and in some ways it was. But I thought I detected some real writing in there and wanted to check out more writing by this guy.
I was right. This book delivered.
Empty Mile is the story of a man who comes home after being away for a number of years. He left because of a terrible accident with life changing implications and his became too much for him. Once home he tries to pick up the pieces but his father disappears, his one time love has been through some rough times and has a lot of issues, he's being hassled by a rich man with a hidden agenda and has some problems with an old friend who is not so friendly any more.
This book is at times very dark and at other times incredibly poignant. The ending was so sad I almost got choked up, really powerful.
I think fans of Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto and Ugly As Sin by James Newman would enjoy this book.
I say (type) that because the first book I read by Stokoe was Cows. Cows routinely makes lists such as "Most Depraved Work of Fiction" or "Most Disgusting..." etc, and it truly was an incredibly horrific story filled with the most awful scenes I have ever read. I initially thought Cows would be some sophomoric gross out story that sought only to offend people and in some ways it was. But I thought I detected some real writing in there and wanted to check out more writing by this guy.
I was right. This book delivered.
Empty Mile is the story of a man who comes home after being away for a number of years. He left because of a terrible accident with life changing implications and his became too much for him. Once home he tries to pick up the pieces but his father disappears, his one time love has been through some rough times and has a lot of issues, he's being hassled by a rich man with a hidden agenda and has some problems with an old friend who is not so friendly any more.
This book is at times very dark and at other times incredibly poignant. The ending was so sad I almost got choked up, really powerful.
I think fans of Galveston by Nic Pizzolatto and Ugly As Sin by James Newman would enjoy this book.
September 9, 2024
"He had worshipped me, he had looked to me for a model of how to live, and I had shown him only regret and hopelessness and a barren future where happiness was impossible."
Matthew Stokoe
Empty Mile
Matthew Stokoe
Empty Mile
April 12, 2016
I finished this purely on the basis of the immense amount of goodwill Stokoe's previous two books have generated in me.
That this is nothing like either of those two books is not the issue, i think God Jr is one of Dennis Cooper's best books. Empty Mile is overly long with much time spent on gold panning (thrilling...), businesses selling plants and being responsible for the upkeep of those plants (thrilling...), and in combination with the main female character being a paper-thin shit-magnet who's sole purpose in life is to hang around waiting for the main male character to pick her up off her feet kept me audibly groaning towards the conclusion.
At least everyone in this book was intentionally awful and had no chance of redemption, that was a genuinely good touch.
Stoke is still an excellent writer, it's just that Empty Mile falls prey to the sin of being both boring and not having a pay off worth reading through the 390 something pages of the book to reach.
That this is nothing like either of those two books is not the issue, i think God Jr is one of Dennis Cooper's best books. Empty Mile is overly long with much time spent on gold panning (thrilling...), businesses selling plants and being responsible for the upkeep of those plants (thrilling...), and in combination with the main female character being a paper-thin shit-magnet who's sole purpose in life is to hang around waiting for the main male character to pick her up off her feet kept me audibly groaning towards the conclusion.
At least everyone in this book was intentionally awful and had no chance of redemption, that was a genuinely good touch.
Stoke is still an excellent writer, it's just that Empty Mile falls prey to the sin of being both boring and not having a pay off worth reading through the 390 something pages of the book to reach.
April 21, 2025
Probably my least favourite Stokoe novel, but it still gets 4 stars, which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about Stokoe's writing - it's amazing.
July 1, 2010
Matthew Stokoe’s new novel is quite a departure from his previous work, High Life. Much more subdued and not nearly as shocking, Empty Mile tells the tale of Johnny Richardson, a man seeking reconciliation from his past transgressions. Upon his return home, Johnny finds out that making up for past sins is an exercise in futility. His life, and the lives of those he has affected, have changed too much in his 8 year departure for there to be a clean break with the past.
What’s striking is the normative setting of this book: small town America, dad and his two sons, embittered friend whom Johnny betrays, and finally, the fine young lass that was left behind during the 8 year departure. What Johnny comes to realize is that much has happened during that time. Life has a way of delivering tragedy and despair to those who are already weak and broken. A pitfall of constant struggle pervades some characters in this book, almost to the tune of a lockstep measure.
What’s troubling is that some characters are so clearly defined. The mentally challenged brother is painted in ways that seem true to form, given the nature of a childhood accident. At the same time though Stokoe borders on stereotypes of mentally handicapped folks, that Stan (Johnny’s brother), almost comes off as comical when he’s clearly not meant to be. Marla, the aforementioned lass, is so incredibly weak as a person, any slight push can get her to do the most unmentionable acts…to the point of total disbelief. This brings us to Johnny himself. Hands down the most unredeemable, emotionally, physically and mentally vapid character in the book, our narrator, is a door mat. The tone is set quickly that he acts completely out of a sense of self…and the repercussions of this particular act have lifetime reverberations. But this is clearly not just a metaphor for how his life will unfold. Stokoe paints a picture of man totally devoid of loyalty, who is completely incapable of standing up to any sort of transgression (or person) in his life, and as a result, he watches as his world crumbles around him and allows decisions to be made that have horrific consequences for those he attempts to love.
The main narrative is set against the back drop of Empty Mile, a piece of land purchased by Johnny and Stan’s father. The more interesting part of the book is the aspect of prospecting for gold that is introduced through this land and how it ties back to Gareth (Johnny’s ex-pal), the local community writ large and the long term hope that Empty Mile represents for most everyone in the book. While this piece is fine, and most stories need some sort of salvific measure for us to work toward, Empty Mile (the land) is overshadowed by such wholly unbelievable situations that it simply cannot, and does not, tie the book together.
Clearly frustrating and at once a long-feeling read, Empty Mile did arouse such physical responses in me to certain situations in the book, I got the feeling that Stokoe is a master of showing how ordinary people are completely capable of some really horrendous stuff (see his previous work). While there is plenty of that going on in Empty Mile, Stokoe’s other work shows how shocking can be done without doing it for the sake of shock value. Unfortunately, in Empty Mile, most of what is shocking just wreaks of being unbelievable. I had incredibly high hopes for this book and teeter on liking certain portions, but ultimately found this to be an unrewarding read.
What’s striking is the normative setting of this book: small town America, dad and his two sons, embittered friend whom Johnny betrays, and finally, the fine young lass that was left behind during the 8 year departure. What Johnny comes to realize is that much has happened during that time. Life has a way of delivering tragedy and despair to those who are already weak and broken. A pitfall of constant struggle pervades some characters in this book, almost to the tune of a lockstep measure.
What’s troubling is that some characters are so clearly defined. The mentally challenged brother is painted in ways that seem true to form, given the nature of a childhood accident. At the same time though Stokoe borders on stereotypes of mentally handicapped folks, that Stan (Johnny’s brother), almost comes off as comical when he’s clearly not meant to be. Marla, the aforementioned lass, is so incredibly weak as a person, any slight push can get her to do the most unmentionable acts…to the point of total disbelief. This brings us to Johnny himself. Hands down the most unredeemable, emotionally, physically and mentally vapid character in the book, our narrator, is a door mat. The tone is set quickly that he acts completely out of a sense of self…and the repercussions of this particular act have lifetime reverberations. But this is clearly not just a metaphor for how his life will unfold. Stokoe paints a picture of man totally devoid of loyalty, who is completely incapable of standing up to any sort of transgression (or person) in his life, and as a result, he watches as his world crumbles around him and allows decisions to be made that have horrific consequences for those he attempts to love.
The main narrative is set against the back drop of Empty Mile, a piece of land purchased by Johnny and Stan’s father. The more interesting part of the book is the aspect of prospecting for gold that is introduced through this land and how it ties back to Gareth (Johnny’s ex-pal), the local community writ large and the long term hope that Empty Mile represents for most everyone in the book. While this piece is fine, and most stories need some sort of salvific measure for us to work toward, Empty Mile (the land) is overshadowed by such wholly unbelievable situations that it simply cannot, and does not, tie the book together.
Clearly frustrating and at once a long-feeling read, Empty Mile did arouse such physical responses in me to certain situations in the book, I got the feeling that Stokoe is a master of showing how ordinary people are completely capable of some really horrendous stuff (see his previous work). While there is plenty of that going on in Empty Mile, Stokoe’s other work shows how shocking can be done without doing it for the sake of shock value. Unfortunately, in Empty Mile, most of what is shocking just wreaks of being unbelievable. I had incredibly high hopes for this book and teeter on liking certain portions, but ultimately found this to be an unrewarding read.
October 13, 2010
(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)
So I have to confess, it took an unusually large number of pages before I started sincerely really getting into the latest novel from our friends at Akashic Books, Matthew Stokoe's Empty Mile, because of it starting with a whole series of tropes endemic to a genre (noir) that I'm simply not a big fan of; and this of course is always the inherent problem with most genre novels, that they are loaded up with a fetishistic amount of stereotypes from that genre, specifically to please hardcore fans of that genre. (And seriously, I think I could probably go the rest of my life without ever seeing another developmentally disabled character in a noir, constantly spouting cutely retarded dialogue and existing pretty much so they can commit some dimwitted blunder that's necessary for that book's overly complicated plot.) And indeed, I had a problem with the end of this novel as well, because of it relying at its climax on not just one but two highly unlikely actions that are hard to believe the character involved actually doing, in order to create the inescapable disaster that leads to the book's tragic ending; and this of course is a common problem within the specific genre of noirs, that since most rely on their hapless characters to dig themselves into deep holes of which they are unable to get out, a rather delicate spiderweb of sometimes highly implausible events must be spun to create this hole in the first place, making many noirs in my opinion feel less like good literature and more like a nakedly manipulative puzzle the author has foisted on that reader.
Ah, but the middle of this book was a quite different story, and a good example not only of why so many people like noirs but why Stokoe has such a passionate cult following (he's also the author of the revered High Life); because he certainly knows how to create some memorably douchebaggy characters, that's for sure, a whole string of small-town losers who are set loose within the milieu of a forgotten rural former gold-rush community in northern California, telling a tale of our dark nomadic antihero local coming home for the first time in years, and how the convoluted lives of his family members, ex-girlfriends and old school chums end up pulling him into a mess that just keeps getting bigger and bigger with each passing chapter. (And speaking of this, I would be remiss to not mention what a great job Stokoe does with this unique mountainous setting, using the area's past as a prospector boomtown to great effect not only plotwise but simply in setting a mood, kind of like combining a traditional noir with a Sam Shepard play.) This is the second book in a row from Akashic I've read that felt like it was signed less for its own quality, and more as evidence of long-term support for challenging authors they believe in; and while this is certainly admirable, it makes Empty Mile almost the definition of the fabled "minor work," one of those titles that twenty years from now will be little more than a rarely visited, red-colored stub link at the end of Stokoe's Wikipedia bio. Although it comes recommended to existing heavy readers of noir, it can be fairly safely skipped by those who are only casual fans of the genre.
Out of 10: 7.7
So I have to confess, it took an unusually large number of pages before I started sincerely really getting into the latest novel from our friends at Akashic Books, Matthew Stokoe's Empty Mile, because of it starting with a whole series of tropes endemic to a genre (noir) that I'm simply not a big fan of; and this of course is always the inherent problem with most genre novels, that they are loaded up with a fetishistic amount of stereotypes from that genre, specifically to please hardcore fans of that genre. (And seriously, I think I could probably go the rest of my life without ever seeing another developmentally disabled character in a noir, constantly spouting cutely retarded dialogue and existing pretty much so they can commit some dimwitted blunder that's necessary for that book's overly complicated plot.) And indeed, I had a problem with the end of this novel as well, because of it relying at its climax on not just one but two highly unlikely actions that are hard to believe the character involved actually doing, in order to create the inescapable disaster that leads to the book's tragic ending; and this of course is a common problem within the specific genre of noirs, that since most rely on their hapless characters to dig themselves into deep holes of which they are unable to get out, a rather delicate spiderweb of sometimes highly implausible events must be spun to create this hole in the first place, making many noirs in my opinion feel less like good literature and more like a nakedly manipulative puzzle the author has foisted on that reader.
Ah, but the middle of this book was a quite different story, and a good example not only of why so many people like noirs but why Stokoe has such a passionate cult following (he's also the author of the revered High Life); because he certainly knows how to create some memorably douchebaggy characters, that's for sure, a whole string of small-town losers who are set loose within the milieu of a forgotten rural former gold-rush community in northern California, telling a tale of our dark nomadic antihero local coming home for the first time in years, and how the convoluted lives of his family members, ex-girlfriends and old school chums end up pulling him into a mess that just keeps getting bigger and bigger with each passing chapter. (And speaking of this, I would be remiss to not mention what a great job Stokoe does with this unique mountainous setting, using the area's past as a prospector boomtown to great effect not only plotwise but simply in setting a mood, kind of like combining a traditional noir with a Sam Shepard play.) This is the second book in a row from Akashic I've read that felt like it was signed less for its own quality, and more as evidence of long-term support for challenging authors they believe in; and while this is certainly admirable, it makes Empty Mile almost the definition of the fabled "minor work," one of those titles that twenty years from now will be little more than a rarely visited, red-colored stub link at the end of Stokoe's Wikipedia bio. Although it comes recommended to existing heavy readers of noir, it can be fairly safely skipped by those who are only casual fans of the genre.
Out of 10: 7.7
November 24, 2010
Johnny returns home after a self-imposed exile and picks up right where he left off with his old girlfriend Marla and his malicious friend Gareth. Once again, Johnny is led into a lake of guilt he thought he could escape from. Voyeurism, blackmail and murder ensue. The theme of the damaged protagonist returning home to a pastoral town seething with corruption has been around from Blue City to Blue Velvet. If you like that type of story you'll like this one. Highly recommended.
June 14, 2012
Stokoe enters different territory with his latest book. Thankfully, it's refreshing enough while still containing the grit and grime we've come to expect from his work.
Not his best, but worth a read if you enjoyed Cows and High Life.
Not his best, but worth a read if you enjoyed Cows and High Life.
August 29, 2023
I read this book more than a year ago, when I was on a complete Matthew Stokoe kick, having been irrevocably infected upon reading his incendiary, boundary defying debut novel, Cows. I'm glad I didn't review it right away so that my reaction can be less burdened by specific plot analysis, and more responsive to the absolute hopelessness and doomed quality of the mood and atmosphere of the novel. Here we are dealing with a protagonist so riddled with guilt over a past transgression, that he seems unable to transcend it no matter how much time passes. When he returns to the origin of his trauma, eight years have gone by, yet every attempt to pick up the pieces and come to terms with the tragedy that occurred is only met with disillusionment and further despair. There are glimmers of hope, in the shape of a scheme to prospect a potentially gold rich plot of land inherited from his late father, but this is undermined and sabotaged by the protagonist's deeply held belief that things simply won't work out. And they don't.
This is one of Stokoe's least graphic and gratuitous books, though scenes of kinky sex and shocking violence do make their presence known. However, the scariest aspect of the book is the sober sense of fatalistic inevitability, the absolute lack of control over one's own destiny.
Fans of Bret Easton Ellis, Thomas Piccirilli, and Thomas Ligotti would perhaps find a distant, backwoods relative in Stokoe's narrator. Deeply affecting, even pleasurable for a certain type of masochistic reader, this is a dark and unflinching look at how unrequited guilt can poison a life and keep any ray of hope from penetrating the sepulchral chamber of one's own doomed heart.
This is one of Stokoe's least graphic and gratuitous books, though scenes of kinky sex and shocking violence do make their presence known. However, the scariest aspect of the book is the sober sense of fatalistic inevitability, the absolute lack of control over one's own destiny.
Fans of Bret Easton Ellis, Thomas Piccirilli, and Thomas Ligotti would perhaps find a distant, backwoods relative in Stokoe's narrator. Deeply affecting, even pleasurable for a certain type of masochistic reader, this is a dark and unflinching look at how unrequited guilt can poison a life and keep any ray of hope from penetrating the sepulchral chamber of one's own doomed heart.
May 31, 2020
Absolutely incredible noir. I was so engrossed the entire time. Finished the book through tears and the conclusion is so masterful with the understanding of guilt and the human condition. Stokoe is so talented... just WOW.
August 21, 2016
PROTAGONIST: Johnny Richardson
RATING: 3.75
They say you can never go home again, and maybe things would have turned out better if Johnny Richardson had heeded that advice. He’s spent the last eight years in London but finds he needs to return to the life he left behind so that he can make up for all the damage he caused before his departure. While on a trip to a lake with his brother and girlfriend, he succumbed to sexual desire and left Stan on his own. Stan entered the water and drowned, with Johnny rushing to him and helping bring him back to life. Alas, it was not soon enough, as Stan suffered irreversible brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation. Johnny berates himself constantly for what happened; Stan never blames him and loves and reveres him. Stokoe paints a wonderfully poignant and touching picture of their relationship.
Johnny returns to a world that hasn’t changed all that much. He and Stan live with their father, a hard-working man who is emotionally stunted. Johnny soon renews his relationship with his former girlfriend, Marla, who has loved him all this time. Her life for the past 8 years has been a study in misery. At times, she turned to hooking. Part of that was due to a blackmail kind of situation from her lover before Johnny, Gareth; but it is not always clear why Marla is so willing to constantly degrade herself. Gareth is a mean and vicious individual; in dealing with him, Johnny finds himself killing a man, with Gareth holding the evidence of the murder to manipulate Johnny.
It turns out that Johnny’s father also had some dealings with Gareth. He purchased a piece of land known as the “Empty Mile” which at one time had been panned for gold, with no return. However, Mr. Richardson believed that former prospectors had not looked in the right place and that there was lots of money to be made from the gold on the property. When he disappears, it is up to Johnny to try to figure out why the seemingly useless land was so important to his father and what exactly was going on with Gareth, a young man his father seemed to detest.
Reading EMPTY MILE is like being a storm watcher. There’s a lot of forewarning that things are going to be bad; the atmosphere darkens all along the way. Every once in a while there’s a glimmer of sunshine which provides hope that maybe there is a way out of the various horrors that have been visited on the characters. The hope is false.
It was difficult to read about what these people did to themselves and each other. There is quite a contrast between Stokoe’s lyrically beautiful writing and the terrible things that happen to the characters along the way. As the book progresses, the despair is palpable. Unfortunately, the book was overly long; a lot of the emotional turmoil that Johnny faced was explained several times, which somewhat diminished its impact. Nonetheless, you’ll find EMPTY MILE to be shocking, heartbreaking, gritty—Stokoe is definitely an author to look out for if you’re a fan of noir.
RATING: 3.75
They say you can never go home again, and maybe things would have turned out better if Johnny Richardson had heeded that advice. He’s spent the last eight years in London but finds he needs to return to the life he left behind so that he can make up for all the damage he caused before his departure. While on a trip to a lake with his brother and girlfriend, he succumbed to sexual desire and left Stan on his own. Stan entered the water and drowned, with Johnny rushing to him and helping bring him back to life. Alas, it was not soon enough, as Stan suffered irreversible brain damage as a result of oxygen deprivation. Johnny berates himself constantly for what happened; Stan never blames him and loves and reveres him. Stokoe paints a wonderfully poignant and touching picture of their relationship.
Johnny returns to a world that hasn’t changed all that much. He and Stan live with their father, a hard-working man who is emotionally stunted. Johnny soon renews his relationship with his former girlfriend, Marla, who has loved him all this time. Her life for the past 8 years has been a study in misery. At times, she turned to hooking. Part of that was due to a blackmail kind of situation from her lover before Johnny, Gareth; but it is not always clear why Marla is so willing to constantly degrade herself. Gareth is a mean and vicious individual; in dealing with him, Johnny finds himself killing a man, with Gareth holding the evidence of the murder to manipulate Johnny.
It turns out that Johnny’s father also had some dealings with Gareth. He purchased a piece of land known as the “Empty Mile” which at one time had been panned for gold, with no return. However, Mr. Richardson believed that former prospectors had not looked in the right place and that there was lots of money to be made from the gold on the property. When he disappears, it is up to Johnny to try to figure out why the seemingly useless land was so important to his father and what exactly was going on with Gareth, a young man his father seemed to detest.
Reading EMPTY MILE is like being a storm watcher. There’s a lot of forewarning that things are going to be bad; the atmosphere darkens all along the way. Every once in a while there’s a glimmer of sunshine which provides hope that maybe there is a way out of the various horrors that have been visited on the characters. The hope is false.
It was difficult to read about what these people did to themselves and each other. There is quite a contrast between Stokoe’s lyrically beautiful writing and the terrible things that happen to the characters along the way. As the book progresses, the despair is palpable. Unfortunately, the book was overly long; a lot of the emotional turmoil that Johnny faced was explained several times, which somewhat diminished its impact. Nonetheless, you’ll find EMPTY MILE to be shocking, heartbreaking, gritty—Stokoe is definitely an author to look out for if you’re a fan of noir.
September 4, 2011
I almost abandoned this one, not because it isn't good, but because it is too good. Stokoe writes powerfully of bleak lives. The characters make no choices other than wrong choices, except, perhaps, for Stan. None the less, I couldn't help but care for and about them. When I first picked up this novel, I just couldn't continue to watch their train-wreck lives. You have to be in a relatively strong place for a novel like this; it is beyond noir.
It isn't only the land called Empty Mile that is empty. The lives of most of the characters are empty. Mind you, this emptiness, combined with good intentions, does not keep them from destroying the hope and pleasures of others in their circles. And those are "the good guys." Then we have the bad guys, those bent on revenge and/or manipulation/control. And those folks--whoa! Some of them make "evil" look like Sunday School. There are exceptions. Stan, who suffered a near drowning and the resultant brain damage, is rather childlike and good. He has one or two dreams. The fallout from some of the actions of his brother (who was connected to the near drowning)--not that what his brother did was evil or dangerous in itself--destroys at least one dream. The substitute dream of the father, visited on the sons, doesn't do anyone a whole lot of good.
There is a plot. There is a mystery. Both are solid and will pull you along. They just aren't the point, at least, not by my reading. The point is more to see who, if anyone, escapes/survives/overcomes their bleak lives. Stokoe's tale is amazing (5 stars worth) in an amazingly bleak way.
It isn't only the land called Empty Mile that is empty. The lives of most of the characters are empty. Mind you, this emptiness, combined with good intentions, does not keep them from destroying the hope and pleasures of others in their circles. And those are "the good guys." Then we have the bad guys, those bent on revenge and/or manipulation/control. And those folks--whoa! Some of them make "evil" look like Sunday School. There are exceptions. Stan, who suffered a near drowning and the resultant brain damage, is rather childlike and good. He has one or two dreams. The fallout from some of the actions of his brother (who was connected to the near drowning)--not that what his brother did was evil or dangerous in itself--destroys at least one dream. The substitute dream of the father, visited on the sons, doesn't do anyone a whole lot of good.
There is a plot. There is a mystery. Both are solid and will pull you along. They just aren't the point, at least, not by my reading. The point is more to see who, if anyone, escapes/survives/overcomes their bleak lives. Stokoe's tale is amazing (5 stars worth) in an amazingly bleak way.
January 17, 2015
I first heard of Matthew Stokoe due to his novel COWS which was supposed to violent, bloody, gritty and an instant cult classic. In the search of that book, I first found EMPTY MILE and, of course, had to get it. While not violent, bloody or gritty, EMPTY MILE was still intriguing and very gripping. The characters and the story were both interesting and compelling.
Johnny Richardson returns to his home town of Oakridge in an effort to make up for a terrible mistake that in turn caused him to flee town eight years earlier. His appearance though creates new issues while simultaneously ripping open old wounds. Friendships and relationships that he abandoned years ago have not healed in the time past. And then a careless sexual encounter leads to new wounds. Twisted amongst these wounds are a puzzle provided by his emotionally-stunted father.
A lot happens in the novel and by the end, I felt just as drained as Johnny. I was definitely pulled into their lives and impacted by everything that happened. The story is often bleak and tragic; the tragedy though is one where I wanted to help out and do something. But of course, all I could do was keep reading and hope for the best. If all Stokoe's books are this powerful, it's going to be well-worth it for me to add him to my favorite author list.
Johnny Richardson returns to his home town of Oakridge in an effort to make up for a terrible mistake that in turn caused him to flee town eight years earlier. His appearance though creates new issues while simultaneously ripping open old wounds. Friendships and relationships that he abandoned years ago have not healed in the time past. And then a careless sexual encounter leads to new wounds. Twisted amongst these wounds are a puzzle provided by his emotionally-stunted father.
A lot happens in the novel and by the end, I felt just as drained as Johnny. I was definitely pulled into their lives and impacted by everything that happened. The story is often bleak and tragic; the tragedy though is one where I wanted to help out and do something. But of course, all I could do was keep reading and hope for the best. If all Stokoe's books are this powerful, it's going to be well-worth it for me to add him to my favorite author list.
October 30, 2010
I'm not sure if I should review this book since I only read 144 of the 391 pages. I'm not sure how I came to pick up this book. The story line is a man returning home after leaving home because of a trauma. While he was having sex with his girlfriend in the woods his brother came close to drowning. His brother ended up with brain damage after this. So now he's back and the first time he has sex with this same girl they are paid by a man to let him watch and masturbate. Come on, who would do this? Then he finds out that she had been prostituting herself to keep the house they had bought together before he left. When she tried to give it up because she got a good job she was blackmailed into still doing it occasionally by the man's previous best friend. Well that did if for me. Every character in this book is severely screwed up. If I could give this book NO stars I would have.
March 30, 2012
As much as I consider myself a fan of dark books, this one was ultimately unrewarding.
While the baser aspects of human nature should never be surprising when they emerge, in this book it seems as if pretty much every character
is twisted into pyscho-sexual pretzels. Sounds good, right? The problem is the protagonist. He's wracked by guilt at having left home 8 years earlier
and upon his return, the elements of his past that he'd been running from are waiting. Waiting and pissed. And perverted. Again, sounds good, but he's
so bland and underdeveloped that he seems powerless. You wait for him to snap out of his torpor, but he never really does, and his inaction in the face of increasingly mounting threats ultimately further damages everyone he claims to be so guilty about hurting in the first place.
Kind of was an empty mile after all.
While the baser aspects of human nature should never be surprising when they emerge, in this book it seems as if pretty much every character
is twisted into pyscho-sexual pretzels. Sounds good, right? The problem is the protagonist. He's wracked by guilt at having left home 8 years earlier
and upon his return, the elements of his past that he'd been running from are waiting. Waiting and pissed. And perverted. Again, sounds good, but he's
so bland and underdeveloped that he seems powerless. You wait for him to snap out of his torpor, but he never really does, and his inaction in the face of increasingly mounting threats ultimately further damages everyone he claims to be so guilty about hurting in the first place.
Kind of was an empty mile after all.
September 17, 2011
I had never read a noir before, and the premise sounded interesting. Wow. Dark. As I read it, hoping against hope that things would turn out all right for these characters that I found I couldn't help caring for, I kept reminding myself that it was a noir.....so it wasn't going to be peaches and cream. I did enjoy the book, the writing was good, I got sucked into the whole plot--the treasure hunt, the need for redemption. But, I like a happy ending, so I don't know that I will pursue this author, although I do think he is a good writer. Not my type of book, but also, not one I regret reading.
July 11, 2023
I read Cows, Matthew Stokoe’s first book, and gave it a middling review. I was so fascinated though I immediately bought Stokoe’s three other books. There’s no connection between the books (at least as far as I can tell) but I’ve been reading them in order of publication date.
Empty Mile is Stokoe’s third book and it’s just so different from Cows you’d hardly believe the same person wrote them. But at the same time, all of the characters are twisted and have horrible secrets.
I can almost draw a line from Steven and Lucy to Johnny and Marla. Almost. But Empty Mile is a lot more empathetic and maybe introspective than Cows and a even step past the story and population of High Life, his second book, which I also greatly enjoyed.
The basic story is Johnny returns home after an eight-year absence following an accident. He comes back to find his girlfriend has waited for him, but she’s been through some things. Then he’s got to deal with a mentally-diminished brother and an emotionally-absent father. Not to mention a sketchy former best friend and a bunch of even worse rich townsfolk.
It’s quite a story and if you’re a fan of Stokoe’s other work, Empty Mile will not disappoint. My real rating on this is 4.5 but we can't do halves, unfortunately.
Colony of Whores is next up for me then I guess I’ll wait to see if Stoke has any new books in the works
Empty Mile is Stokoe’s third book and it’s just so different from Cows you’d hardly believe the same person wrote them. But at the same time, all of the characters are twisted and have horrible secrets.
I can almost draw a line from Steven and Lucy to Johnny and Marla. Almost. But Empty Mile is a lot more empathetic and maybe introspective than Cows and a even step past the story and population of High Life, his second book, which I also greatly enjoyed.
The basic story is Johnny returns home after an eight-year absence following an accident. He comes back to find his girlfriend has waited for him, but she’s been through some things. Then he’s got to deal with a mentally-diminished brother and an emotionally-absent father. Not to mention a sketchy former best friend and a bunch of even worse rich townsfolk.
It’s quite a story and if you’re a fan of Stokoe’s other work, Empty Mile will not disappoint. My real rating on this is 4.5 but we can't do halves, unfortunately.
Colony of Whores is next up for me then I guess I’ll wait to see if Stoke has any new books in the works
August 20, 2023
The opening of Empty Mile was what I wanted so many other "Returning to home-town" stories to give. It pulls on visuals and senses to convey the energy and emotions of the protagonist. It has such vivid descriptions that suck you into the movements and it gets to the point without dumping exposition in barrel-fulls before you've had a chance to breathe. Empty Mile lets you slip into Johnnys' shoes and feel the run-down back street grit underfoot.
A highlight of the writing is the dialogue as a credit to the author flows smoothly, often times I found I could pick out who was talking just from the speech, and that gave them a real sense of voice and presence. Generally, the characters were incredibly well written and the story comes as a consequence of actions, believable ones at that.
Some parts of the descriptions could be a little repetitive, and a stronger female presence would have been appreciated, Marla specifically I would have liked to have felt more personality that didn't hitch on her feelings for or about Johnny.
Nevertheless, this was an exceptionally well-written and atmospheric book for those who enjoy mystery and tragic domino effects.
A highlight of the writing is the dialogue as a credit to the author flows smoothly, often times I found I could pick out who was talking just from the speech, and that gave them a real sense of voice and presence. Generally, the characters were incredibly well written and the story comes as a consequence of actions, believable ones at that.
Some parts of the descriptions could be a little repetitive, and a stronger female presence would have been appreciated, Marla specifically I would have liked to have felt more personality that didn't hitch on her feelings for or about Johnny.
Nevertheless, this was an exceptionally well-written and atmospheric book for those who enjoy mystery and tragic domino effects.
November 20, 2024
I really enjoyed this. It's quite a tragic story about guilt and the inability to avoid one's past and its recurrences in the present. Of the three novels by Stokoe I've read at this point, it's probably his most realised piece that cuts back heavily on content people would be shocked by. It's probably the only Stokoe I could easily recommend to readers who wouldn't bother with more transgressive material. Any book that can grab you and make you read 200 pages in one sitting stands out. I really enjoyed the surprising amount of info about gold prospecting and how it figures into the plot. Similar to High Life, there's a great unfolding mystery here that really sucked me in and kept me wondering where the book was going. Its ending is a gut punch but one that feels well earned and ties perfectly back to the books inciting incident.
April 1, 2022
Eeek! I got about 122 pages in before I had to give up on this one. Wow. Talk about a book that I HAD TO WORK TO PICK UP.
I’ve read ‘Cows’ and ‘Colony of Whores’. Both of those were much better written than this. ‘Empty Mile’ honestly seemed like a high schooler’s first attempt at a novel. Wowzers, Stokoe, you can do better than this, sir. Why on earth did you send this to the publisher and why did they publish this???
I had previously gotten used to Stokoe’s vulgar, lewd, erotic and shocking writing style but this… just too predictable.
Matthew Stokoe, please sit down, read ‘Cows’ and re-think your writing style. This is not it. You have the potential to be great. It’s unfortunately not in the murder mystery category!
I’ve read ‘Cows’ and ‘Colony of Whores’. Both of those were much better written than this. ‘Empty Mile’ honestly seemed like a high schooler’s first attempt at a novel. Wowzers, Stokoe, you can do better than this, sir. Why on earth did you send this to the publisher and why did they publish this???
I had previously gotten used to Stokoe’s vulgar, lewd, erotic and shocking writing style but this… just too predictable.
Matthew Stokoe, please sit down, read ‘Cows’ and re-think your writing style. This is not it. You have the potential to be great. It’s unfortunately not in the murder mystery category!
June 7, 2023
This is probably Matthew Stokoe's most refined work. While it's missing the volume of obscene behavior of "Cows" and "Colony of Whores," Stokoe finds a nice medium here. Like "Colony of Whores" and "High Life," he paints a picture of a seedy underworld with depraved villains and conflicted protagonists, but there's enough rape, sexual depravity, and complicated motivations to make your mother cry. Through the droves of violence and hopelessness in a story about finding gold, he makes you really care about the characters.
July 6, 2024
Criminally underated and all too often eclipsed by the infamy of his debut "Cows." Matthew Stokoe proves he's much more than a "shock value for the sake of shock value" guy with "Empty Mile." Interestingly enough, this work explores many of the same themes as Stokoe's grittier entries, namely how the pursuit of a dream can utterly destroy a person and ripple into the lives of everyone around them. I can't recommend this enough. If you're a fan of crime, neo-noir or anything in the rest of Stokoe's catalog, do yourself a favor and read this book!
March 8, 2022
Matthew Stokoe is now one of my favorite writers after reading all of his books. Out of all 4 of his books this is one of the most "normal" stories and it keeps you guessing until the end. However, I would put it towards the bottom of his books when it comes to my favorites.
Compelling story about a man who lives with a mass amount of guilt and just wanting to reconcile it.
Great read nonetheless.
Compelling story about a man who lives with a mass amount of guilt and just wanting to reconcile it.
Great read nonetheless.
November 8, 2017
Mr.Stokoe likes to lay it on thick.
This worked wonders with his two previous novels: "Cows", coprophagia and bestiality taken to absurdist levels and "High Life", sexual degradation & coprophagia taken to noir-ish levels. Both extremely well written and deliciously disgusting.
But "Empty Mile" removes the magic realism and just layers on the misery, on top of misery. True it has an exhilarating centre-piece involving a forest at night and a carcrash, but this one for me was just depressing.
This worked wonders with his two previous novels: "Cows", coprophagia and bestiality taken to absurdist levels and "High Life", sexual degradation & coprophagia taken to noir-ish levels. Both extremely well written and deliciously disgusting.
But "Empty Mile" removes the magic realism and just layers on the misery, on top of misery. True it has an exhilarating centre-piece involving a forest at night and a carcrash, but this one for me was just depressing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 10, 2022
My least favorite Stokoe. Good enough to finish. It did have a really cool mystery throughout it, and I dig the idea of gold prospecting as a central theme. Just doesn't have the magic that High Life or Colony of Whores had. If you like his work, then you're going to read it anyhow - and I think it's a good idea.
October 7, 2023
What a departure from Cows! This was a story that kept me wanting to go further. I really felt for the characters as they went through the events that lead to the conclusion of this book. Stokoe, in my opinion, has proof of being a good writer above and beyond the shock value of Cows. Highly recommend this one!
December 8, 2022
Felt like torture porn. Every character is awful and horrible things keep happening without ever really explaining to us why, it feels like tragedy for the sake of tragedy and shock value. Everyone is awful just because they are awful and horrible things keep happening because... bad luck I guess
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