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Cemetery Road
The new novel from a critically acclaimed and award-winning author - When Errol ‘Handy’ White returns to his native Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his old friend R.J. Burrow, who has been brutally murdered, a terrible secret threatens to reveal itself. Twenty-six years earlier, Handy, R.J. and O’Neal Holden pulled a heist that went horrible awry, and Handy’s been waiting for it to come back and haunt them ever since. Was the murder linked to the past? Handy knows he can’t leave until he finds out for sure.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
22 people are currently reading
394 people want to read
About the author
Gar Anthony Haywood
40 books70 followersaka Ray Shannon.
Gar Anthony Harwood also writes as Ray Shannon. He has won the Shamus and Anthony Award for his mystery fiction. He writes stand-alone novels and short-stories as well as series. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, written scripts for television drama series (e.g. New York Undercover and the District) and Movies of the Week for ABC. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.
Gar Anthony Harwood also writes as Ray Shannon. He has won the Shamus and Anthony Award for his mystery fiction. He writes stand-alone novels and short-stories as well as series. He has also written for the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times, written scripts for television drama series (e.g. New York Undercover and the District) and Movies of the Week for ABC. He is a member of the Mystery Writers of America.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
December 27, 2018
I'm surprised that this isn't a more well-known bestseller. It shows that you can't always trust those sales numbers in a search for quality. Because this was one of the most well-crafted mystery novels I've read in a while. It follows a middle-aged repairman named Handy White who travels back to his native Los Angeles in a half-hearted attempt to look into the murder of an old friend, a murder that might have something to do with tragic events that happened in their younger days nearly 30 years prior.
Not only is it very well-plotted and entertaining with a perfect pace skillfully transitioning between the past and present stories to develop the mystery, but it also has prose that's at times incredible in it's sharp proficiency. It might not be the most surprising mystery, as it's fairly easy to figure out who's been doing what, but the book's strength is in how it gets there and how it tells it's story of guilt and remorse, debt, and redemption, and whether or not full redemption is ever truly attainable.
Not only is it very well-plotted and entertaining with a perfect pace skillfully transitioning between the past and present stories to develop the mystery, but it also has prose that's at times incredible in it's sharp proficiency. It might not be the most surprising mystery, as it's fairly easy to figure out who's been doing what, but the book's strength is in how it gets there and how it tells it's story of guilt and remorse, debt, and redemption, and whether or not full redemption is ever truly attainable.
Right around the time he hits his middle forties, a man starts giving serious thought to dying well. In his sleep, in his own bed, or in the course of a street fight meant to settle something meaningful. His end doesn't have to be poignant, just devoid of dignity. You wouldn't think that would be too much to ask.
But how a man leaves this world, much like the way he comes into it, is almost never his own call to make, so evil men die on satin sheets in 400-dollar-a-night hotel rooms, while good ones breathe their last lying face down in cold, dark alleyways, their bodies growing stiff and blue on beds of rain-soaked newspaper.
February 24, 2010
I was thrilled to run across a new fiction title from one of my favorite mystery writers, Gar Anthony Haywood. His Aaron Gunner detective series have brought me hours of reading enjoyment. His pen name Ray Shannon books were sassy and smart yarns. I got a kick out of his funny Loudermilk series, as well. CEMETERY ROAD is a stand alone hardboiled fiction set in L.A. I won't go into the plotline. What I will mention is the great sturdy prose and the astute understanding of youthful regret and guilt here. A powerful, vibrant story, I read it in one sitting, not something I can pull off too often. Loved it.
November 29, 2020
"It rained all day Friday, a hard rain that dropped out of a cold black sky like a wall of three-penny nails."
"Los Angeles has always been a metropolis fueled by a single dream – becoming the Next Big Thing – and the weight of that wonderful, desperate hope looms over every inhabitant of the city like a pending death sentence. White, brown, rich, poor; musicians, actors, busboys, attorneys – no one is immune to the Dream. Outsiders often describe LA’s collective mood as ‘laid back’, but what it really is is a form of shock, a seemingly lifeless state the mind retreats to when the pain of wealth and fame deferred has become too great to bear."
"I’m not a cop, and I’m not an investigator, and nobody’s hired me to do anything. I’m just an old friend of the deceased who’s not going to sleep worth a d*mn if the police f*ck this one up, accidentally or otherwise, so yeah, I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong."
"But how a man leaves this world, much like the way he comes into it, is almost never his own call to make, so evil men die on satin sheets in 400-dollar-a-night hotel rooms, while good ones breathe their last lying face down in cold, dark alleyways, their bodies growing stiff and blue on beds of rain-soaked newspaper."
"The difference between a good man and a bad one often comes down to nothing more than the quality of his judgment. In making life-altering choices, his conscience may speak to him, but it is the voice of reason he ultimately adheres to, the basic math of what he has to gain versus what he stands to lose."
The parts are familiar — take MYSTIC RIVER and mix well with Walter Mosley's Los Angeles and a soul-scorched soupcon of James Lee Burke in this tale of a haunted childhood come to roost in the middle-aged present — but the sum is much more than the parts, and the sum is Gar Anthony Haywood at the top of his game.
The plot is robust and rich with surprising twists, but this is a novel of character, and the capacity for criminals to feel guilt, and the capacity they have for wallpapering over that guilt as long and as far as they can, until they can't. A stunning page-turner with serious thematic depth and an unrelentingly bleak beauty..
"Los Angeles has always been a metropolis fueled by a single dream – becoming the Next Big Thing – and the weight of that wonderful, desperate hope looms over every inhabitant of the city like a pending death sentence. White, brown, rich, poor; musicians, actors, busboys, attorneys – no one is immune to the Dream. Outsiders often describe LA’s collective mood as ‘laid back’, but what it really is is a form of shock, a seemingly lifeless state the mind retreats to when the pain of wealth and fame deferred has become too great to bear."
"I’m not a cop, and I’m not an investigator, and nobody’s hired me to do anything. I’m just an old friend of the deceased who’s not going to sleep worth a d*mn if the police f*ck this one up, accidentally or otherwise, so yeah, I’m sticking my nose in where it doesn’t belong."
"But how a man leaves this world, much like the way he comes into it, is almost never his own call to make, so evil men die on satin sheets in 400-dollar-a-night hotel rooms, while good ones breathe their last lying face down in cold, dark alleyways, their bodies growing stiff and blue on beds of rain-soaked newspaper."
"The difference between a good man and a bad one often comes down to nothing more than the quality of his judgment. In making life-altering choices, his conscience may speak to him, but it is the voice of reason he ultimately adheres to, the basic math of what he has to gain versus what he stands to lose."
The parts are familiar — take MYSTIC RIVER and mix well with Walter Mosley's Los Angeles and a soul-scorched soupcon of James Lee Burke in this tale of a haunted childhood come to roost in the middle-aged present — but the sum is much more than the parts, and the sum is Gar Anthony Haywood at the top of his game.
The plot is robust and rich with surprising twists, but this is a novel of character, and the capacity for criminals to feel guilt, and the capacity they have for wallpapering over that guilt as long and as far as they can, until they can't. A stunning page-turner with serious thematic depth and an unrelentingly bleak beauty..
November 20, 2010
This is the first time i,ve read anything by this author.This was a truly amazing read.He truly raises the bar for thriller writers. The story is set in South Central L.A.A childhood friends death brings Handy back home to resolve some consequences caused by a crime they committed in their youth. And to find the killer of his friend.
February 13, 2012
Guilt. It’s a powerful emotion, one that wrestles with heart and mind alike and usually wins with an easy pin-down. Just ask Raskolnikov and Handy White.
Cemetery Road opens with memories of the last day Handy spent in Los Angeles. The year was 1979, the smell of tar was overwhelming and Handy and his buddies O’Neal Holden and RJ Burrow are burning the money they’ve stolen from a rather unpleasant drug dealer.
It’s a shame they couldn’t have burned their guilt along with it.
Instead, the three men go their separate ways to suffer the twisted consequences of their robbery for the next 25 years.
When Handy gets news that RJ Burrow has been murdered, he attends the funeral fearing the worst – that what happened when they were young has finally caught up with them and that he’ll be next in line.
What follows is an investigation by Handy into the death of his friend. This main strand is threaded in with the recounting of the robbery that set the chain of events in motion. Past and present move on apace, each engaging and impossible to separate.
Gar Anthony Haywood does a splendid job with an excellent premise. Like many of the finest, he uses the voice of the story to describe the impact life’s events have upon the way the world unfolds, as well as paying witness to the inevitable movement of progress that is so much bigger than any individual.
Each chapter opens superbly, as though the author has treated them with the respect one often sees for the notoriously difficult first line. Within these openings, he injects the profound into the ordinary and in doing so adds an extra weight to the things he is about to describe.
It’s a fine book. Well written throughout. The plots run in parallel perfectly well and his handling maintains a variety of tensions and unanswered questions like a juggler who can keep enough balls to supply a tennis match in the air at any one time.
I really enjoyed the slow reveals, the confidence with which Haywood allows Handy to meander through LA and the insides of mechanical objects in whichever way he so wishes and the detailed descriptions of the internal and external worlds on show.
Cemetery Road is a thought-provoking read and a very entertaining one.
Cemetery Road opens with memories of the last day Handy spent in Los Angeles. The year was 1979, the smell of tar was overwhelming and Handy and his buddies O’Neal Holden and RJ Burrow are burning the money they’ve stolen from a rather unpleasant drug dealer.
It’s a shame they couldn’t have burned their guilt along with it.
Instead, the three men go their separate ways to suffer the twisted consequences of their robbery for the next 25 years.
When Handy gets news that RJ Burrow has been murdered, he attends the funeral fearing the worst – that what happened when they were young has finally caught up with them and that he’ll be next in line.
What follows is an investigation by Handy into the death of his friend. This main strand is threaded in with the recounting of the robbery that set the chain of events in motion. Past and present move on apace, each engaging and impossible to separate.
Gar Anthony Haywood does a splendid job with an excellent premise. Like many of the finest, he uses the voice of the story to describe the impact life’s events have upon the way the world unfolds, as well as paying witness to the inevitable movement of progress that is so much bigger than any individual.
Each chapter opens superbly, as though the author has treated them with the respect one often sees for the notoriously difficult first line. Within these openings, he injects the profound into the ordinary and in doing so adds an extra weight to the things he is about to describe.
It’s a fine book. Well written throughout. The plots run in parallel perfectly well and his handling maintains a variety of tensions and unanswered questions like a juggler who can keep enough balls to supply a tennis match in the air at any one time.
I really enjoyed the slow reveals, the confidence with which Haywood allows Handy to meander through LA and the insides of mechanical objects in whichever way he so wishes and the detailed descriptions of the internal and external worlds on show.
Cemetery Road is a thought-provoking read and a very entertaining one.
February 28, 2010
This is the first book I've read by Gar Haywood. I read this book based on Ed's review.
When his old friend R.J. Burrow is brutally murdered in Los Angeles, Errol "Handy" White must return from exile to attend the funeral, certain that a terrible secret is about to reveal itself. (from inside jacket of book)
Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this book. However, when giving it a rating, I was torn between a 3 and a 4. I would have given it a 3.5, but because the story was complex and layered, I rounded up to a 4.
The story takes place in present LA, but also has an extended flashback to the events concerning Handy White. He wonders if maybe he is next on someone's hit list; someone seeking vengeance for something that happened twenty-six years earlier.
I was as intrigued with the unraveling of the twenty-six year event that caused Handy to be worried, as I was the solving of the murder of R.J.
A good read, one I would recommend.
When his old friend R.J. Burrow is brutally murdered in Los Angeles, Errol "Handy" White must return from exile to attend the funeral, certain that a terrible secret is about to reveal itself. (from inside jacket of book)
Overall, I would say that I enjoyed this book. However, when giving it a rating, I was torn between a 3 and a 4. I would have given it a 3.5, but because the story was complex and layered, I rounded up to a 4.
The story takes place in present LA, but also has an extended flashback to the events concerning Handy White. He wonders if maybe he is next on someone's hit list; someone seeking vengeance for something that happened twenty-six years earlier.
I was as intrigued with the unraveling of the twenty-six year event that caused Handy to be worried, as I was the solving of the murder of R.J.
A good read, one I would recommend.
August 2, 2010
Interesting to read for many reasons including the intimate look at Los Angeles from the eyes and experiences of a former resident who sees the before and after portrait of a version of Los Angeles not often portrayed, not the glitter of Tinseltown, or the glamor of celebrity, but the gritty reality that many black residents experienced.
The story builds slowly revealing a sober reality that the best laid plans often go badly awry, and have the potential for violence and despair; as well as the eventual realization that revenge isn't really that sweet, especially for the victims. Eventually we come to realize that a life can be ruined when lived under a cloud of remorse, but in the end the reparation and attempts to atone for the errant deeds do some good and keep the faith in human nature alive. The truth may not be something we want to hear, but without realizing its message we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
The story builds slowly revealing a sober reality that the best laid plans often go badly awry, and have the potential for violence and despair; as well as the eventual realization that revenge isn't really that sweet, especially for the victims. Eventually we come to realize that a life can be ruined when lived under a cloud of remorse, but in the end the reparation and attempts to atone for the errant deeds do some good and keep the faith in human nature alive. The truth may not be something we want to hear, but without realizing its message we are doomed to repeat our mistakes.
May 21, 2012
I really enjoyed this book - it was well-written and well-plotted. The L.A. setting interested me - the novel presented a side of the city that I had not seen before in fiction. The writing style seemed reminiscent of a very noir-fashion. The characters really came to life - all the more impressive due to the novel’s brevity (only 215 pages in the hard cover version). The entire novel packed a surprisingly powerful punch - everything the plot and the backstory unfolded into an absolutely stellar novel. The plot also contained some very surprising turns - Haywood is a talented author to watch out for!
July 19, 2011
First of all, had it not been for the ALOUD series at the Los Angeles Central Library, I don't know if or when I would ever have discovered Gar Anthony Haywood's writing. As is evidenced by my rating of this book, however, I am very grateful to have discovered his work. 'Cemetery Road' is a smart, suspenseful, well thought-out, and well organized work of crime/mystery fiction. It is not a particularly lengthy book, but it is a fantastic story that is deserving of a reader's time. There is no doubt that I will be reading more from Gar Anthony Haywood and I would suggest that any reader of fiction (crime/mystery or otherwise) take a look at 'Cemetery Road'. It really is a very good book.
May 1, 2010
What an amazing read! Gar Anthony Haywood raises the bar for thriller writers in this literary, yet approachable tale of a man who unwillingly, yet obsessively takes it upon himself to find the killer of a friend from their dubious past. I have highlighted so many passages in “Cemetery Road” to later return to that I don't dare lend my copy out. My plan is to now acquire everything else Mr. Haywood has written and revel in his lyrical passages.
December 31, 2018
One of the central themes of noir film and literature is that the past is inescapable, and that's certainly the dominant theme in this long-awaited novel from an acclaimed, but not widely known, writer. The story is narrated by Handy, the sensible one in a trio of three high school friends who lived a life of petty crime back in late '70s Los Angeles. Spurred by an incident involving a girl and some drugs, they decide to step up their game and rip off a local drug dealer. Bad things happen (although what exactly that was isn't laid out until well into the book), and three friends agree to split up and never meet again.
Twenty-five years later, one of the friends is found shot to death in a car, a murder which reunites Handy with the third friend and reopens that closed door to the past. As Handy pokes around a little, looking into the murder, it spurs a reassessment of the trio's friendship and the dark events that led to his moving to Minnesota those decades ago. The chapters alternate between the past and present, slowly revealing what went down years ago, and how it might or might not relate to the present. Handy is a sad middle-aged man with nothing to show for his life other than some deft mechanical repair skills and an estranged daughter. In attempting to solve his old friend's murder, he's also trying to bring some kind of closure to the past that's haunted him for so long.
The story has plenty of twists, turns, and startling revelations, but at the same time, isn't particularly memorable. What I really took away from the book is a keen sense of the weight Handy carries with him, and the sense of melancholy revisiting the past can bring. Oddly enough, what it reminded me most of is the Dennis Lehane book Mystic River, and like that book, I could see it making a good film.
Twenty-five years later, one of the friends is found shot to death in a car, a murder which reunites Handy with the third friend and reopens that closed door to the past. As Handy pokes around a little, looking into the murder, it spurs a reassessment of the trio's friendship and the dark events that led to his moving to Minnesota those decades ago. The chapters alternate between the past and present, slowly revealing what went down years ago, and how it might or might not relate to the present. Handy is a sad middle-aged man with nothing to show for his life other than some deft mechanical repair skills and an estranged daughter. In attempting to solve his old friend's murder, he's also trying to bring some kind of closure to the past that's haunted him for so long.
The story has plenty of twists, turns, and startling revelations, but at the same time, isn't particularly memorable. What I really took away from the book is a keen sense of the weight Handy carries with him, and the sense of melancholy revisiting the past can bring. Oddly enough, what it reminded me most of is the Dennis Lehane book Mystic River, and like that book, I could see it making a good film.
June 27, 2023
I was looking for a typical 'airport thriller' so I gave this a try. This doesn't quite fit the bill but it is a mystery and at the end it picks up steam.
For me it's a bit too Noir for the mood I was looking for. The story is fine and having to remember when it starts the characters are so young helps because I wasn't thinking the reason that our main character comes back into town wasn't as serious as the character thinks it is. I'm still not sure that Haywood made it convincing that the inciting incident would have come back to them.
The mood is pretty dour the entire time and the main character Handy has some other secrets that I guess are supposed to add to depth but for me, I didn't care about them. He also has his 'thing' which is fixing old stuff but it never adds to the story at all.
The story wraps up though and like I said before once it gets rolling it's not too bad, but I do think the set up drags for my tastes because of the style more than the story itself.
For me it's a bit too Noir for the mood I was looking for. The story is fine and having to remember when it starts the characters are so young helps because I wasn't thinking the reason that our main character comes back into town wasn't as serious as the character thinks it is. I'm still not sure that Haywood made it convincing that the inciting incident would have come back to them.
The mood is pretty dour the entire time and the main character Handy has some other secrets that I guess are supposed to add to depth but for me, I didn't care about them. He also has his 'thing' which is fixing old stuff but it never adds to the story at all.
The story wraps up though and like I said before once it gets rolling it's not too bad, but I do think the set up drags for my tastes because of the style more than the story itself.
November 3, 2019
I like Harwood’s mysteries in general. He has a variety of ways to look at a crime. He writes efficiently and smoothly. His characters are believable; just enough off kilter so the reader believes they could be drawn (or sucked) into a nasty and dangerous world.
This book is my favorite of the Harwood books I have read. Handy, the protagonist, fled LA long ago after a crime which is only very slowly revealed. He comes back for the funeral of one of his cohorts, and comes to believe the death was not as clean cut as the police (but not the deceased’s wife and daughter) believe. Everyone winds up on the cemetery road; the question is how one gets there.
It’s clear that he is not a trained detective, but he’s smart and tenacious. And he’s basically a good guy, which means the reader both suffers with him and roots for him. A very fun read!
This book is my favorite of the Harwood books I have read. Handy, the protagonist, fled LA long ago after a crime which is only very slowly revealed. He comes back for the funeral of one of his cohorts, and comes to believe the death was not as clean cut as the police (but not the deceased’s wife and daughter) believe. Everyone winds up on the cemetery road; the question is how one gets there.
It’s clear that he is not a trained detective, but he’s smart and tenacious. And he’s basically a good guy, which means the reader both suffers with him and roots for him. A very fun read!
November 13, 2020
I discovered this novel via someone’s online list of “best contemporary noir fiction.” Had never heard of the author so I went looking for the book. Glad I did. How is it possible that Gar Anthony Haywood isn’t a household name? Why is he not with a major publishing house? This novel is easily among the best I’ve read in the last couple of years. I’ve read a dozen or so bestsellers lately, crime thrillers, all of which were lousy. By contrast, The writing and careful plotting in Cemetery Road is a breath of fresh air. Great dialogue, strong characters. These feel like living, breathing human beings.
March 3, 2024
I needed an audiobook for driving and the man who narrates this one is just fantastic. In other words, I specifically searched for books narrated by JD Jackson and he didn’t disappoint. The problem? The book did.
Overall the story was okay but it also was pretty convoluted and the characters felt fairly flat to me.
But what really frustrated me was the idea of blame…and ultimately where that blame was laid. It just didn’t make sense to me — particularly in the last quarter of the book, I became increasingly irritated with how the author portrayed the role of all the characters in what happened in the past and present.
Overall the story was okay but it also was pretty convoluted and the characters felt fairly flat to me.
But what really frustrated me was the idea of blame…and ultimately where that blame was laid. It just didn’t make sense to me — particularly in the last quarter of the book, I became increasingly irritated with how the author portrayed the role of all the characters in what happened in the past and present.
March 23, 2018
I think we all have something in our past that haunts us to some extent, perhaps even something that will stick with us until our dying day. Maybe, in the case of this novel, it's the poor choices we made as kids that snowballed into more than we ever anticipated. This was a well written story and I truly felt that I could relate to the protagonist most of the time. It's part drama and part unexpected mystery, of which kept me in the dark to the very end. This author has a lot of promise and I may just have to get my hands on some of his other works.
October 4, 2022
Not Worth The Time
I wanted this to be good but, for me, it just wasn’t worth it. The mystery was convoluted and not worth the payoff. The characters were not well differentiated. There was nothing new here. Most critically, I didn’t care about any of them, even the narrator. There was no one to root for or to root against, just a plodding march through a messy crime as they tried to come to terms with the past, often making things worse. I only finished it by speed reading the last half to see if anything actually happened that was worth knowing about.
I wanted this to be good but, for me, it just wasn’t worth it. The mystery was convoluted and not worth the payoff. The characters were not well differentiated. There was nothing new here. Most critically, I didn’t care about any of them, even the narrator. There was no one to root for or to root against, just a plodding march through a messy crime as they tried to come to terms with the past, often making things worse. I only finished it by speed reading the last half to see if anything actually happened that was worth knowing about.
December 22, 2017
This is a fairly tight, propulsive tale in the noir tradition set in urban Los Angeles. The subplots involving the narrator's personal life threaten to derail the main story at times, but overall the author keeps things moving toward the inevitable conclusion while skillfully jumping back and forth between the present and the past events that led to the current conflict. This is the first book I have read by Gar Anthony Haywood, and I will certainly read his work again.
June 9, 2022
The reviews are right; the writing is top-notch. Even so, I felt myself waning at around 44% finished. It was the writing, and the glimpses of the past that kept me going. I’m glad I did! (I can easily toss a book if I get bored). By 66% it picked up and wrapped up to be a really good story. Note to Hollywood: this would make a great movie when you get done with “Avengers 59”
February 21, 2024
Slow start to this book. Only really started to pick up about half way into the story. Also, another tale about a guy, who for no reason, has to be the one to solve the mystery of his friend who he hasn't seen in 27 years.... And everyone is telling him to stop but all of sudden this guy is like SO important to him.... Ugh... Hard to believe and such an overused narrative...
February 11, 2019
Convoluted story line.
May 31, 2021
Just could not get interested in this book
July 16, 2023
***1/2
March 28, 2024
I kinda couldn't wait for this to end.
May 23, 2012
Written for the KAZI Book Review (http://kazibookreview.wordpress.com/):
Gar Anthony Haywood, author of the Aaron Gunner Mysteries, delivers an intricate and thoughtful crime story with his newest novel, Cemetery Road.
The story centers on Errol ‘Handy’ White, who returns from Minnesota to his hometown of Los Angeles to attend the funeral of an old friend who was murdered. This friend, RJ Burrows, and another friend (O’Neal Holden, now a local politician) committed a heist with Handy that went terribly wrong 26 years ago, thus causing Handy’s flight to the Midwest. Handy, who is still wracked with guilt about these tragic events, is convinced that RJ’s death is connected somehow. Cemetery Road follows Handy’s journey to attempt to find the truth, and, as a consequence, confront the past he has been avoiding.
Haywood skillfully alternates between telling the present-day story of Handy and revealing the actual events of the bungled heist. This method allows him to layer the two stories, slowly revealing the details of the robbery while Handy continues his investigation of RJ’s murder in the present day. His ability to keep the tension built in both storylines makes this a difficult book to put down.
One of the hallmarks of Cemetery Road is the way Haywood makes Los Angeles almost into its own character. His rich descriptions of LA, both of the people and the landscape, give the reader a rich backdrop on which to paint the characters. This especially gives Handy’s interactions with the city an extra depth as he is reminded of the city he left 26 years earlier.
Handy is a richly drawn character, and Haywood is at his best when describing his protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. Handy acknowledges his flaws and past mistakes with regret, but often feels powerless to change things. Despite the fact that he was a petty thief as a young man, he seems to be deeply moral and set on attempting to right past wrongs. This is a flawed man, and he knows it, but he is determined to make the best of what he has left of his life.
Haywood touches on several themes throughout the book, such as not being able to go home again, having to confront your past, and attempting to correct past mistakes. Handy’s journey through Los Angeles is one traveled with regret, but also a hope that things can be put right. Haywood combines a skilled portrait of a man haunted by his past with a gripping heist story, and he produces a top-notch piece of crime fiction.
Gar Anthony Haywood, author of the Aaron Gunner Mysteries, delivers an intricate and thoughtful crime story with his newest novel, Cemetery Road.
The story centers on Errol ‘Handy’ White, who returns from Minnesota to his hometown of Los Angeles to attend the funeral of an old friend who was murdered. This friend, RJ Burrows, and another friend (O’Neal Holden, now a local politician) committed a heist with Handy that went terribly wrong 26 years ago, thus causing Handy’s flight to the Midwest. Handy, who is still wracked with guilt about these tragic events, is convinced that RJ’s death is connected somehow. Cemetery Road follows Handy’s journey to attempt to find the truth, and, as a consequence, confront the past he has been avoiding.
Haywood skillfully alternates between telling the present-day story of Handy and revealing the actual events of the bungled heist. This method allows him to layer the two stories, slowly revealing the details of the robbery while Handy continues his investigation of RJ’s murder in the present day. His ability to keep the tension built in both storylines makes this a difficult book to put down.
One of the hallmarks of Cemetery Road is the way Haywood makes Los Angeles almost into its own character. His rich descriptions of LA, both of the people and the landscape, give the reader a rich backdrop on which to paint the characters. This especially gives Handy’s interactions with the city an extra depth as he is reminded of the city he left 26 years earlier.
Handy is a richly drawn character, and Haywood is at his best when describing his protagonist’s thoughts and feelings. Handy acknowledges his flaws and past mistakes with regret, but often feels powerless to change things. Despite the fact that he was a petty thief as a young man, he seems to be deeply moral and set on attempting to right past wrongs. This is a flawed man, and he knows it, but he is determined to make the best of what he has left of his life.
Haywood touches on several themes throughout the book, such as not being able to go home again, having to confront your past, and attempting to correct past mistakes. Handy’s journey through Los Angeles is one traveled with regret, but also a hope that things can be put right. Haywood combines a skilled portrait of a man haunted by his past with a gripping heist story, and he produces a top-notch piece of crime fiction.
September 8, 2015
Mixed feelings.
I hate it when a narrator is relating the story and then goes "oh, what I didn't tell you is that yesterday I called his sister and got answers to my questions that's why I'm asking this guy these question". That type of thing happens alot here. Including a jaw-dropper after the final confrontation -- to which I responded "you've GOT to be kidding me!"
OTOH, tricks like that keep it from being 475 pages.
I also don't think it's fair to the reader for a first person narrator not to mention the most important fact -- the driving incident of his entire story that occurs before anything else -- until just about the last paragraph.
That being said, it packs quite a wallop when it lands. Oof!
Like I said, mixed feelings.
EDIT: And weeks later I'm still thinking about it. That counts a lot.
I hate it when a narrator is relating the story and then goes "oh, what I didn't tell you is that yesterday I called his sister and got answers to my questions that's why I'm asking this guy these question". That type of thing happens alot here. Including a jaw-dropper after the final confrontation -- to which I responded "you've GOT to be kidding me!"
OTOH, tricks like that keep it from being 475 pages.
I also don't think it's fair to the reader for a first person narrator not to mention the most important fact -- the driving incident of his entire story that occurs before anything else -- until just about the last paragraph.
That being said, it packs quite a wallop when it lands. Oof!
Like I said, mixed feelings.
EDIT: And weeks later I'm still thinking about it. That counts a lot.
February 2, 2011
At first I wasn't going to read this novel because it is set in a gang crime ridden area of Los Angeles and this is the kind of location I've lived in and worked my entire life, so needless to say the subject at hand could easily become boring and redundant to me, but Gar Anthony Hayward is a true story technician and managed to make an honest depiction of the inner phyche of a trio of inner city, gang style brothers. Eventually after much intrigue and investigation the novel evolves and takes the reader on a realistic journey through the mindset of three best friends trying to find any path to a better existence outside of the hood. Unfortunatly their crimes of the past eventually catch up to them as is usually the case..........Entertaining and engrossing. Johnny Flora
April 24, 2016
This is an engrossing story which kept me intrigued by the way it alternated from present to past, slowly revealing the backstory bit by bit, with the current story being just as gripping. It was interesting to see how guilt affects each of the characters, all of whom are flawed in some way - there are no good or bad guys in this story.
One criticism of the story is that I thought that Handy's daughter was superfluous to the story - that particular thread lead nowhere and to me it looked as if she'd been invented as a red herring. (I won't say for what, to avoid a spoiler).
Other than that, a great story with a typically noir ending - some resolution, some things left hanging. Just like real life.
One criticism of the story is that I thought that Handy's daughter was superfluous to the story - that particular thread lead nowhere and to me it looked as if she'd been invented as a red herring. (I won't say for what, to avoid a spoiler).
Other than that, a great story with a typically noir ending - some resolution, some things left hanging. Just like real life.
August 6, 2010
I read this at a time when we were going through some family drama and, for that reason, I didn't give it the attention it so richly deserved. Still, I am struck by the wonderful plotline and the story-telling over the two periods of time encompassed by the book. Haywood's writing style is magnificent. It's expansive and wonderfully descriptive. Case in point? As Handy describes his daughter, "She had taken the sorryow of a motherless child and made a funeral blanket out of it, a shroud she could curl up in to retreat from all the warmth and light of the world." How often do you find something so beautifully expressed in a detective novel?
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