River, Sing Out Book Blog Tour, Review, and #Giveaway #LoneStarLit

Posted June 17, 2021 by Lynn in Blog Tours, Giveaways, Reviews / 2 Comments

RIVER, SING OUT

JAMES WADE

Categories: Contemporary / Literary Fiction

Rural Fiction / Crime Fiction / Coming-of-Age

Publisher: Blackstone Publishing

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Date of Publication: June 8, 2021

Number of Pages: 315 pages

“And through these ages untold, the river did act as the lifeblood of all those things alongside it.”

Jonah Hargrove is celebrating his thirteenth birthday by avoiding his abusive father, when a girl named River stumbles into his yard, injured and alone. The teenager has stolen thousands of dollars’ worth of meth from her murderous, drug-dealing boyfriend, but lost it somewhere in the Neches River bottoms during her escape. Jonah agrees to help her find and sell the drugs so she can flee East Texas.

Chasing after them is John Curtis, a local drug kingpin and dog fighter, as well as River’s boyfriend, the dangerous Dakota Cade.

Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in violent fashion as all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.

With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into the sinister world of the East Texas river bottoms, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.

PRAISE FOR RIVER, SING OUT

”With echoes of Jim Harrison, Cormac McCarthy (and perhaps a smidge of Flannery O’Connor), River, Sing Out is a beautiful, brutal meditation on survival and love in the face of nearly unspeakable violence and depravity in an East Texas community ravaged by the meth trade. Taut, lyrical, and precise, the prose soars in this important new novel by James Wade.” —Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine

”If you read one novel this year, make it this one. James Wade’s River, Sing Out, is an instant classic filled with characters that will break your heart, lyrical prose as haunted as the river it evokes, and a Southern Noir undertow that wholly sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages until it’s searing, masterful conclusion.” —May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

”Wade, whose striking debut, All Things Left Wild (2020), traveled back a century in Texas history, uses an unlikely friendship to explore an equally wild present-day landscape…A haunting fable of an impossible relationship fueled by elemental need and despair.” —Kirkus Reviews

PURCHASE LINKS:

║Blackstone Publishing ║ Amazon ║Books-a-Million║

║Indie Bound ║ Downpour ║ Hudson Booksellers ║

If you are following along with the RIVER, SING OUT blog tour (AND YOU ARE, RIGHT?), you’d already know that this novel has received some excellent reviews! I was going to copy\paste Clueless Gent’s review, as it sums up my thoughts, but the whole ethics\plagiarism of that seemed wrong. 😉

RIVER, SING OUT is a gripping and intricate story set in East Texas, where life is difficult and brutal, even to children.

This novel is chock-a-block full of characters, literarily and figuratively. Each character, without exception, is wholly developed and a clear individual, from the characters who may only been in one or two scenes, to the main characters of Jonah, River, and John Curtis. My heart went out to Jonah, who at 13 years old, is basically left to raise himself by his absent father. Jonah counting how many days of food he has left at one egg per day was pure anguish for me and my daily eggs for breakfast habit. I didn’t connect with River, to be perfectly honest. She’s making decisions and living a life I cannot begin to understand. But through Mr. Wade’s writing, I can begin to see how difficult her life has been. John Curtis is one of the most distinct characters I’ve ever read. He’s an orator, a snake-oil salesman, and an apex predator. It doesn’t pay to cross him. Or to be a trusted friend, either. His character gave me goose bumps every time he was in a scene.

Mr. Wade’s writing style is lyrical, visual, and a pleasure to read. From the mundane (a haircut for Jonah) to the extreme (River’s detox), each word is in its proper place, carefully thought out and planned. Descriptions are riveting; dialog is emotional and heart-felt. (Mr. Wade uses the word tarpaulin, instead of tarp. That’s an example of writing that I would have never even considered.)

The different plot lines flow along like smaller tributaries until they all converge into the larger river. Two scenes in the novel really stood out for me. The first is a dog fight scene and the second is a frog gigging scene. Both scenes read like Mr. Wade has had personal experience in these subjects. Or did some serious interviewing and\or research. I could hear all the dogs barking and frogs croaking in my mind while I listened to the narration. I was also squirming from the graphic details. As Bud, one of the giggers, states while his slicing up the frogs:

“Like taking his little ole pants off, ain’t it?”

I’ll spare you the pliers and other details of that quote!

Make no mistake, RIVER, SING OUT is gritty. If you are triggered by subject matters in books, this book probably has them (violence, drugs, and murder amongst the subjects here). I wouldn’t so much say I enjoyed reading this (it’s no LOL romantic comedy, that’s for sure!). But I listened attentively, anxious for the next twist of the plot, hopeful that Jonah and River get out of the messes they are in and get to see the ocean at the end of their trip.

The audio narration by Mr. Clark was captivating, sonorous, and a proper accompaniment to Mr. Wade’s writing. The character voices are distinct and easy to follow. Mr. Clark shines, though, as the narrator of the novel. (I’d listen to Mr. Clark reading the dictionary!) I’ll certainly be looking for other books he’s narrated. The production is smooth and enjoyable. There were no quality issues with the recording.

Overall, RIVER, SING OUT is engrossing and compelling, especially with Mr. Clark’s narration. The realistic characters, amazing descriptions, and absorbing dialog are worth investing the time in this novel.

Thanks to author James Wade and Lone Star Book Blog Tours for providing this opportunity to review RIVER, SING OUT. I received the novel free in exchange for my honest review.

James Wade lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country with his wife and daughter. He is the author of All Things Left Wild, which is a winner of the 2016 Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest, a winner of the 2021 Spur Award for Best Historical Fiction, and a winner of the 2021 Reading the West Award for Best Debut Novel. His fiction has appeared in various literary journals and magazines.

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TWO WINNERS

Two winners each receive an autographed first-edition hardcover copy of River, Sing Out + an autographed paperback copy of multiple award-winning All Things Left Wild.

(US only. Ends midnight, CDT, June 18, 2021)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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CLICK TO VISIT THE LONE STAR LITERARY LIFE TOUR PAGE

FOR DIRECT LINKS TO EACH POST, UPDATED DAILY,

or visit the blogs directly:

6/8/21	Book Trailer	Texas Book Lover
6/8/21	BONUS Promo	LSBBT Blog
6/9/21	Review	The Clueless Gent
6/9/21	Review	Rainy Days with Amanda
6/10/21	Top Five	All the Ups and Downs
6/10/21	BONUS Promo	Hall Ways Blog
6/11/21	Author Interview	Book Fidelity
6/11/21	Review	StoreyBook Reviews
6/12/21	Review	It’s Not All Gravy
6/13/21	Excerpt	Reading by Moonlight
6/14/21	Review	That’s What She’s Reading
6/14/21	Audio Review	Forgotten Winds
6/15/21	Review	Book Bustle
6/16/21	Author interview	The Page Unbound
6/16/21	Review	Librariel Book Adventures
6/17/21	Audio Review	Chapter Break Book Blog
6/17/21	Review	Jennie Reads

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