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Michael Farris Smith

Blackwood Paperback – 10 Dec. 2021

by Michael Farris Smith (Author)

175 ratings

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A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES NOVEL OF THE YEAR

From the author of Desperation Road, longlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger

The small town of Red Bluff, Mississippi, has seen better days, but now seems stuck in a black-and-white photograph from days gone by. Unknowing, the town and its people are about to come alive again, awakening to nightmares, as ghostly whispers have begun to fill the night from the kudzu-covered valley that sits on the edge of town.

When a vagabond family appears on the outskirts, when twin boys and a woman go missing, disappearing beneath the vines, a man with his own twisted past struggles to untangle the secrets in the midst of the town trauma.

This is a landscape of fear and ghosts, of regret and violence. It is a landscape transformed by the kudzu vines that have enveloped the hills around it, swallowing homes, cars, rivers, and hiding terrible secrets deeper still. Blackwood is the evil in the woods, the wickedness that lurks in all of us.

Praise for Blackwood and Michael Farris Smith

'If you're a fan of Southern or Rural Noir - James Lee Burke, Daniel Woodrell, Donald Ray Pollock, the literary children of Flannery O'Connor - you'll feel uncomfortably at home [...] Though Farris Smith has five novels under his belt, he is little known in Britain. That ought to change: let some Mississippian mayhem, murder and misery into your lives' - The Times

'Smith is emerging as one of the great chroniclers of America's dispossessed. A haunting and utterly compelling read' - Mail on Sunday

'You will not be disappointed' - Daily Mail

Print length

256 pages
Language

English
Publisher

No Exit Press
Publication date

10 Dec. 2021
Dimensions

19.7 x 2.2 x 12.8 cm
ISBN-10

0857303902
ISBN-13

978-0857304063
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Product details

Publisher : No Exit Press (10 Dec. 2021)
Language : English
Paperback : 256 pages
ISBN-10 : 0857303902
ISBN-13 : 978-0857304063
Dimensions : 19.7 x 2.2 x 12.8 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 79,839 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 13,478 in Thrillers (Books)
- 13,999 in Mysteries (Books)

Customer reviews:
175 ratings

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Customer reviews

5 star		37%
4 star		30%
3 star		22%
2 star		8%
1 star		3%

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Dunroving

Grim story with no sense of redemption

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 August 2020

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Augh. I read quite a lot of noir and although I can handle grim stories, I always hope that somewhere, in someone, at some time, there's a sense of redemption - even if it's just a brief epilogue describing a damaged character eventually finding love, or salvation. In this story, I felt myself metaphorically reading from behind my hands, hoping that "in this chapter, please let something good happen". At times, the author even seemed to lead you down a garden path of hope, before bringing down the "meat cleaver", so to speak. I hope the author's other stories are not so bleak, as I enjoyed his writing style.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 August 2020

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A bleak, harrowing, dark, haunting book that ultimately engulfed me in sadness. Farris Smith is gifted writer and the atmosphere created in this small town tome is to be congratulated.
I would suggest that if readers enjoy ‘happy ever after’ reads they should prepare themselves for something more troubling with this.
There are disappearances, murders, poverty, gossip and an insight into the people of Red Bluff, where the plot is set.
Colburn has returned to the small town, 20 years after leaving. He carries the stigma of his father hanging himself. Colburn is trying to discover his own character traits and how the hanging has affected his life. He becomes involved with Celia, bar owner. This attracts the anger of Dixon who was Celia’s school boyfriend.
A poverty stricken couple with a boy, arrive in town at the same time. They live in a hovel in the forest. The man is painted as a disgusting character with mental health problems. The woman and boy push a shopping trolly round each day, gathering cans and bottles to pay for food.( My Sympathy for this family ebbed away as the book progressed.)
Sheriff Myers is in charge of policing Red Bluff. His powers are tested to the limit when twin boys go missing and initially Coburn is a suspect.
That is the core of the plot. The interaction of the various characters fill out the storyline and the disappearance of the twin boys is the catalyst.
Definitely recommended and not a pleasure to read in respect of subject matter but as a portrayal of small town life- a must.

Helpful

Lagoon

Strong writing. Weak storytelling.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 July 2020

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Dark and, at times, akin to the writing of the wonderful John Connolly, I couldn’t make out the story. Some chapters were clear enough in themselves, but at no time could I discern a story running throughout the book. The conclusion didn’t offer any clarity; I remained none the wiser. Nothing wrong with a bit of noir, but I’d sacrifice that for a story that keeps me invested.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Paul Allen

Unremittingly grim, unremittingly brilliant

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 June 2020

Verified Purchase

If you like happy endings you need to look elsewhere, but this is a brilliantly written book. It seems to be advertised as a paranormal story but it isn't - instead it is an unfolding tale about the way unspoken family secrets affect everyone around them interacting with a story of the way downward fortunes carry on downwards. It will leave you breathless.

Helpful

A. W. Skinner

Lots of noir, but no real characters.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 12 August 2020

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This tries to be very noir, but did not really create any sense of foreboding for me. The characters were simply two dimensional, and I did not care about any of them. Not badly written, just not engaging.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Eddie Smyth. Author of The Revenge of the Stoned Rats: The novel previously known as 'The Prince'

Haunting

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 3 August 2020

Verified Purchase

I only came across Michael Farris Smith about a week ago, but I've already finished two of his books. Desperation Road was an excellent find, but I think that Blackwood might have even surpassed it. Beautifully written, atmospheric, eerie, dark, but not completely without hope. I expect that this is a novel that's going to stay with me for a long time.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J. Dixon

Good prose, miserable story

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 September 2020

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The plot is lost halfway through, it just becomes a tale of misery with little to redeem it. Really wish I hadn’t bothered

Helpful

Walter Bull

Michael farris smith

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 July 2020

Verified Purchase

Have read desperation road and the fighter,,,this guy can tell a story,,,,I thought this book was every bit as good as the other two,,he is one of the very best southern writers around and I would expect his high standards to continue,,,looking forward to his next offering..recommend this book fully..

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