The Life We Bury (Detective Max Rupert #1) by Allen Eskens #thelifewebury #alleneskens #seventhstreetbooks #vietnamveteran #writing #mystery @absltmom

“Hollywood never knew there was a Vietnam War until they made the movie.” (Jerry Stiller) The same could be said today for many Americans

When a young man, Joe Talbot, is required in a college course to write a biography of an older person, he meets Carl Iverson and his journey begins. …and so the book tells the tale of these two men thrown together in a random happening.

Joe Talbot is a struggling student. He has an autistic brother and a mother who is a absentee parent running off with any current boyfriend and leaving her son behind. Joe escapes the tragedy at home, rents a room, and starts to attend college. One of his assignments is to write a biography of an elderly person and through chance Joe meets Carl Iverson. Carl is dying and at the start, Joe thinks this is ever so fitting. For, you see, Carl had been convicted of murdering a young girl and served time in prison. He was let out to die and it is in the nursing home where Joe lays dying, that Joe and Carl’s paths cross. As time goes on, Joe becomes fascinated with Carl for Carl holds a secret, one that the tragedies of what he did and saw in Vietnam entraps him in a world of guilt and sorrow.  Joe digs deeper and is astounded by what he learns and what he finds. Is Carl the brutal murderer he was thought to be or is there more to this tragedy, more to Carl, and more to the events that conspired to bring these two men together?

Mr Eskens presents us with some wonderful characters, and a story line that was fascinating, sad, and sombre. He shows us the ravages the Vietnam War left upon the young men who returned to an ungrateful nation. In Joe,he has given us a young man who is admirable, who is dedicated to learning the truth and willing to take upon himself not only the care for Carl but that for his brother as well. In Carl, we witness the tragedy of war and how many of these young boys were never able to lead the lives they were destined to lead. The author’s compassion for these two characters adds weight to this story and made it one that I highly recommend. Thankfully, Mr Eskens has written s sequel, soon to be published, with Joe as his protagonist. I am so very anxious to read this book and hold out great hope for it to be as outstanding as The Life We Bury was.

Allen Eskens is the USA Today-bestselling author of The Life We Bury, The Guise of Another, The Heavens May Fall, the Deep Dark Descending and The Shadows We Hide. He is the recipient of the Barry Award, Rosebud Award, Minnesota Book Award, and the Silver Falchion Award and has been a finalist for the Edgar Award, Thriller Award, and Anthony Award. His work had been published in 21 languages and his debut novel, The Life We Bury is being developed for a feature film.

Allen lives with his wife, Joely, in greater Minnesota and is represented by Amy Cloughley of Kimberley Cameron and Associates, and is published by both Seventh Street Books and Mulholland/Little Brown. To learn more about Allen, go to www.alleneskens.com.