Redemption Road, Part 2

As promised, here are some more observations from John Hart's Redemption Road.  I also wanted to include some samples of his writing.  And a little chronology of my emotional reactions.

The 1st big observation I made is that this book took me 9 days to read.  I can usually knock out a 417-page book in a week or less.  I tried to figure out why it took me longer than usual.  I think it's that I savored the story and the writing.  Hart reminds me of Pat Conroy.  Now I know I've said this before.  But I can't help repeating it here.  I've often said that nobody can write as well as Conroy and still have a story that is easy to read (you all know what I think about books that are too literary - The Goldfinch? - 19 pages?  Hello?). Well, John Hart is definitely in that ballpark.  He creates emotion, tension, and excitement in a well-written, but easy-to-digest, way.

Here's how well he writes.  And I dare you tell me you can't see and feel how vivid his descriptions are.

"A hug died stillborn and awkward."
The car was a "...brushstroke of color in the road."
The "...building rising on her left, then falling away as if sucked into the earth."
"...The prison like a fist in the distance."
Speaking of photographs, "Another close-up hissed across the table."
"Elizabeth's paralysis snapped like a glass rod."
"He crossed himself again and felt the kind of chill that only comes once or twice in a lifetime."

Was I emotionally connected to Elizabeth and a number of other central characters?  You be the judge:

"Hmmm"
chills
cried out loud
more crying
chills + grimacing
tears
"Wow"
"What?"
"Oh no"
raised eyebrows
dropped jaw

Needless to say, I was very caught up with a number of characters - some major and some less major.
Let David Baldacci sum up my  feelings:  "People in publishing have always known that John Hart can flat-out write..." Harlan Coben says:  "Big, bold, and impossible to put down. Redemption Road had me from page one.  JOHN HART IS A MASTER STORYTELLER."

Heard/read enough?  Mark your calendars.  It's coming Tuesday, May 3.

P.S.  Do you remember when I told you that there was a character in Dennis Lehane's Any Given Day that was so heinous that I made a strong (negative) emotional connection?  Well, Hart pulls that off in Redemption Road.  And let me just say...it's not pretty.