I don't read a lot of mysteries these days. I don't have anything against them, but other books usually attract my attention first. I heard great things about this from Michael Kindness of the Books on the Nightstand podcast, as well as my friend Rachel from the YouTube channel Shades of Orange. Eskens was present at Book Expo America this past May to promote his follow up novel, The Guise of Another, which was released last month. Since I picked that one up based off this one's high praise, I figured it was time to read the debut.
In this story, we follow a broke young college student named Joe Talbert. Besides going to school full-time and working in a bar, his mother has some serious issues and his brother Jeremy has autism. As he is dealing with these life stresses, he is tasked with writing an elderly person's life story for a Biography class. Choosing a nursing home to carry out the project, Joe meets Carl Iverson, a Vietnam vet and convicted murderer/rapist who is dying of cancer. The two begin warily interacting and eventually Iverson starts revealing details of his life as a type of dying declaration. Joe quickly becomes entangled in Carl's account (and in particular his passivity) and they become confessors to each other. In this process, alarm bells go off for Joe that this case has serious discrepancies. He then starts digging into prior case evidence for clues.
Eskens is an attorney by trade and this is his first novel. I'm not surprised that Eskens works in the legal system. For me, there is a noticeable difference between even the most well-researched books and the authors who have personal/professional experience with their writing subject...there is this element of truth and authenticity. I felt that here quite strongly. I think the pacing of this book is perfect. There isn't anything that felt unnecessary or artificially inserted for shock value to keep the reader engaged. It feels like a naturally progressing story arc. Highly recommend for all mystery lovers who are looking for an original, well-written story.
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