The Thicket by Joe R. Lansdale

(hb; 2013)

From the inside flap

“Jack Parker thought he’d already seen his fair share of tragedy. His grandmother was killed in a farm accident when he was barely five years old. His parent have just succumbed to the smallpox epidemic sweeping turn-of-the-century East Texas─orphaning him and his younger sister, Lula.

“Then catastrophe strikes on the way to their uncle’s farm, when a traveling group of bank-robbing bandits murder Jack’s grandfather and kidnap his sister. With no elders left for miles, Jack must grow up fast─and enlist a band of heroes like the which has never been seen─if his sister stands any chance of survival. But the best he can come up with is Shorty, a charismatic, bounty-hunting dwarf; Eustace, the grave-digging son of an ex-slave; and Jimmie Sue, a street-smart-for-hire who’s come into some very intimate knowledge about the bandits (and a few members of Jack’s extended family to boot).

“In the throes of being civilized, East Texas is still a wild, feral place. Oil wells spurt liquid money from the ground. But as Jack’s about to find out, blood and redemption rule supreme.”

Review

Thicket is an excellent, timely mix of revenge thriller and western, an often-grim work of brutal violence balanced with humor (often with quip-filled exchanges) and well-placed instances of cautious empathy. Its key characters’ pasts and other aspects are effectively established and reader-involving, without slowing up the pace of this terse, dire mission (to rescue Jack’s sister, Lula, from a trio of sadistic villains, Fatty, Cutthroat and N***er Pete).

Thicket is not a novel for those who are especially sensitive about murder, rape (not explicitly shown, but emotionally recounted), torture, brief instances of animal cruelty, racism, and other human-born horrors. Anyone else who enjoys a masterful and especially nasty-twist thriller may find this burn-through book a more-than-worthwhile read.

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A film version of this is supposedly forthcoming. IMDb lists the following information (as of December 18, 2019).

Elliott Lester is set to direct, from a screenplay Chris Kelley.

Charlie Plummer plays Jack Parker. Peter Dinklage plays Reginald Jones. Sophia Lillis is attached to the project as well as Noomi Rapace.

Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn

(pb; 2006)

From the back cover

“Fresh from a brief stay at a psych hospital, reporter Camille Preaker faces a troubling assignment: she must return to her tiny hometown to cover the murders of two preteen girls. For years, Camille has hardly spoken to her neurotic, hypochondriac mother or to the half-sister she barely knows: a beautiful thirteen-year-old with an eerie grip on the town. Now, installed in her old bedroom in her family's Victorian mansion, Camille finds herself identifying with the young victims—a bit too strongly. Dogged by her own demons, she must unravel the psychological puzzle of her own past if she wants to get the story—and survive this homecoming.”

Review

Sharp is a hard-to-set-down, tightly-penned crime thriller whose female-centric energy is dark, cruel and sometimes shocking. Eagle-eyed readers may spot the villain ─ or villains ─ early on, but for this reader it is not a criticism. This is an excellent page-turner, a bleak-twist read for a lazy afternoon.

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Created by Marti Noxon, the resulting eight-episode miniseries of the same name is scheduled to premiere on HBO on July 8, 2018. It was directed by miniseries creator Marti Noxon, from teleplays by various writers.

Amy Adams played Camille Preaker. Patricia Clarkson played Adora Crellin. Eliza Scanlen played Amma Crellin.  Henry Czerny played Alan Crellin.

Miguel Sandoval played Frank Curry. Barbara Eve Harris played Eileen Curry. Matt Craven played Vickery. Chris Messina played Det. Richard Willis.

Elizabeth Perkins played Jackie. April Brinson played Jodes. Violet Brinson played Kelsey. Taylor John Smith played John Keene.