Synopsis
Eli Lamp is a broken man. An ex-detective, ex-addict, and long-grieving father whose daughter, Hannah, disappeared a decade before, Eli decimated his old life investigating her abduction and is now indebted to the Crooked Wheel, a local drug gang, as an enforcer. He lives in a rundown trailer at the edge of the woods, where he keeps Hannah’s room in pristine condition and tries to make it through one day at a time.
But when the son of the Crooked Wheel’s boss is found viciously murdered in a crime scene that doesn’t seem to add up, Eli receives a new order: Find out who the killer is and your debt to the Wheel is clear forever. You’re free. This pursuit brings him into the orbit of Avery Bryant, Hannah’s best friend and the last person to see her before she went missing. Soon, Eli and Avery are entwined in a hunt for answers that spans decades, stretches the realm of possibility, and brings churning to the surface a conspiracy linking not only these current tragedies, but the buried sorrows of Eli’s past.
And though none of them dare say the word “witch,” at least not out loud, something lurks in the woods, black-eyed, clawed, and vengeful, looming ever closer . . .
Review
There are crime dramas, like the kind James Patterson used to “write” or that the BBC pumps out annually. And then there are gritty crime thrillers, like David Fincher’s Seven, or S. A. Cosby’s amazing All The Sinners Bleed. Keith Rosson’s latest novel, Crone, is a gravel pit of a dark crime folk horror that looks at morally grey storytelling and decides to focus on shades of charcoal, slate, and shadow. Yet somehow, he pens a story so utterly compelling, that you simply cannot look away from the grit.
But what is Crone about? Following Eli Lamp, ex-detective and ex-addict turned biker gang enforcer, as he continues to live and grieve the disappearance of his daughter a decade prior. But when the son of the leader of the Crooked Wheel – the biker gang for who Eli Lamp is both indebted to and working for – turns up brutally murdered, Eli is given a new task: find the killer, and your debts are settled. Eli will run into rival gang members, old flames, his daughter’s best friend, Avery, and forces darker and more vengeful than a drug-dealing, ruthless gang lord.
One of the strongest aspects of this novel is the dialogue. What blew me away was just how masterful the dialogue is in this book. Rosson, like the best writers out there, captures characters by their actions and their words – or sometimes lack thereof. Each character’s cadence, temperament, and general being, all shine through and make them feel so very utterly real. I felt like I was reading the novelisation of a very well-acted, well-written limited drama series which goes on to win Emmy’s and Golden Globe’s and launches the careers of several actors. When an author can have so many horrible bastards fill up the pages, and each one feel distinct from one another, whilst also telling a story that is visceral, compelling, exciting, unputdownable – well damn, what more could you want?!
I often say when I like a book – hell, let’s face it, in this instance, I LOVED this book – that it feels cinematic. Rosson writes in a way where I feel the crunch of bones, the crack of a broken nose, the shattering of glass, the desperation of a dying man, the sound of gunfire rocketing through the trees, the stench of blood and torn guts. He throws us into the pit with the rest of his characters and expects us to survive with them. I can feel the Wire (which is the incredibly gruesome to administer made-up drug that Rosson implements in this book) under my rotting toenails. The guy just never misses when it comes to creating a visceral reaction in your gut. I am fully immersed, in other words.
But it’s not just all blood and leather vests and trainspotting, Rosson also does another thing incredibly well; he creates an emotional tale of a grieving man, a story of painful addiction to both that grief and the temporary obliteration of emotion found at the bottom of a bottle, or that deceptive bliss as you scrape yet another length of Wire under your fingernail. But it also explores the pain that comes with addiction and the pain he causes and has caused, usually in very heart wrenching and surprising ways. And whilst Eli Lamp is arguably the main character, we do get the POV of other people, all who have been affected by the disappearance of Lamp’s daughter, Hannah. The depth of loss Eli feels, the deterioration of Avery’s life, and the now brutal killing of Trying Dave Novak’s son, coupled with the fact that no one is really a good person; it feels all the more impressive when you feel each characters depth despite disliking who they fundamentally are. Dave, btw, being such a vile, dick of a human being, and yet wouldn’t you also want revenge if your child was killed in such a manner? I challenge you to not feel for him in some way!
I haven’t even mentioned the big, overt horror in this book! Although this is primarily a dark crime thriller (with plenty of brutal, human on human suffering), it also rams in (in a way that feels surprising and earned and not tacked on) a fucking scary-ass witch! Not the “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble” kind, I’m talking the “razors for claws and a bird skull for a head and a thirst for bloody revenge” sort of witch. Think Predator with feathers. Experience this horror for yourself in all its glory, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
So, what did I think of Crone overall? Well, if you are genuinely thinking that question, then you clearly haven’t read this review then… because Crone is the best thing that Keith Rosson has written to date. Crone is heart-pounding, heart-wrenching, and heart-someotheradjective. I simply cannot recommend this book any more highly. It is dark, it is grim, it is visceral, it is emotional, surprising; it will have you recoiling and, like the claws of a raven, it will capture you in its sharp grip and not let go until the final page. Rosson has smashed it out of the park once more!
With thanks to Black Crow Books for the gifted copy in exchange for an honest review!
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