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.
PRAISE FOR BEASTS OF THE EARTH
“Wade’s pitch-perfect, personality-driven dialogue sings in the voice of life, and his ability to meld existential thought, situational metaphor, and cinematic setting is a full-bodied experience…A soul-deep exploration of a wounded man in crisis, James Wade’s Beasts of the Earth…secures his position as an author of extraordinary merit.” —New York Journal of Books
“James Wade writes a terrific story, but that isn’t what makes him so good. Wade is a craftsman. His books should be read slowly, to luxuriate in his word choices, his sentence structure, his character revelation. That is why he is a joy to read.” —James L. Haley, Spur Award–winning author of the Bliven Putnam Naval Adventures
“I found myself rooting for the characters throughout their near-Biblical tribulations, and the storyline kept me turning the pages, desperate to find out what would happen next. Here we have a novel that blends realism with existentialist philosophy to redefine contemporary Southern fiction. Don’t miss this tour de force of modern literature.” —David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Spur and Anthony Award–winning author of Winter Counts
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| “Beasts of the Earth is a beautiful gut-punch of a novel.” —Stacey Swann, author of Olympus, Texas |
James Wade lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and daughter. He is also the author of River, Sing Out and All Things Left Wild, a winner of the prestigious MPIBA Reading the West Award for Debut Fiction, and a recipient of the Spur Award for Best Historical Novel from the Western Writers of America.
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10/11/22 |
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10/11/22 |
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10/12/22 |
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10/12/22 |
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10/13/22 |
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10/13/22 |
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10/14/22 |
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10/14/22 |
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10/15/22 |
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10/16/22 |
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10/19/22 |
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10/20/22 |
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10/20/22 |
Review |
The story begins in two different locations and timelines. I was curious to see how the author was going to merge the two, as I saw no relation between them. But he does merge them together to create a fascinating, deeply psychological tale of abuse, hardships, depravity, and murder. A tug of war between good and bad, right and wrong, rages and swirls outside and inside the mind of Harlen LeBlanc. He truly desires to be a good man, to be kind, and do the right thing. He is the mild-mannered groundskeeper of the local high school. Folks think him odd but harmless. And he is.
But circumstances push him and force him to take action, to seek justice.
I love the way the author takes the reader back and forth between the present and the past, weaving together the story of Harlen LeBlanc and young Michael Fischer. There are several characters I enjoyed, but at the top of that list was Remus, the kind man who took a terrified, desperate boy in and cared for him.
The author has a forceful writing style. Line after line stood out to me. I’ll give you just a few examples.
“The night glowed metallic. The moon had been cut in two, and LeBlanc could not say if it was growing or fading or perhaps searching for its counterhalf somewhere in all that outer dark, examining the shine of every star as if to discern which scattered pieces of light might help make it whole.”
“He was gone in the moonlight, a black figure slipping through the blue darkness, loping beside deer and jackrabbits in that selfsame dark and by stars reflecting off the surface of stock ponds like holes shot clean through the world.”
“The streetlights hummed their siren songs and called forth great waves of insects to their death…”
“Plant petals curled and stiffened in the pale daylight, and the country was cold, and the sawgrass and moss-covered trees mantled much of the land. The air was thick and the wind biting, and inside the cabin, the fire roared, but there was little warmth felt by those who gathered around it.”
“His soul was blackened. His fate or that thing which LeBlanc believed nearest to fate, had long been decided.”
The deep psychological twists of this story are raw and disturbingly realistic. The true black souls of men are revealed, turning them into beasts of the earth.
If you are a fan of damaged characters and gritty stories, you will enjoy this one from Mr. Wade. It is the first book I’ve read of his, but it won’t be the last. He is a brilliant wordsmith, creating phrases that belong in frames on walls to be admired.
I highly recommend this book.