The Light Between the Pines - by Warren Read (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In the stillness of a pine grove, a wrecked car tells a story no one wants to hear.

Red Miller has lived long enough to know when someone is lying, especially his daughter, Gina. On an afternoon in early fall of 1979, Red gives Gina's boyfriend money he knows he won't see again, then watches his daughter slip further away, wondering where it all went wrong. Five years later, a call from an Idaho deputy changes everything: Gina has vanished after a fatal car crash, and Red has a grandson he's never met. Haunted by his failures and the memory of a wife lost too soon, Red travels to a small Idaho town in search of answers. But what he finds is more than a mystery; it's a reckoning-of love misspent, of the fragile ties that bind us, and of the strange, stubborn hope that still lingers in the quiet spaces between regret and redemption.

The Light Between the Pines is a powerful, slow-burning portrait of family and fallout, told with the sparse beauty and emotional precision of Kent Haruf's Plainsong and Richard Ford's Wildlife.

Review Quotes

Praise for Ash Falls:
"(Read) meticulously weaves the gritty, hard-knock lives of many men and women from this impoverished, rural town in mountainous Washington into "tight little complicated knots."...A moody, haunting foray into rural Americana in the mold of Daniel Woodrell and Christian Kiefer."--Kirkus Reviews

"In this fine first novel, Read deftly portrays the competing feelings of suffocation and loneliness that can breed in small towns. Pair this with Daniel Woodrell's marvelous Tomato Red."--Booklist

"Though set in a bleak place at a bleak time, Read's novel ultimately is one of hope. As it winds to its conclusion, each character finds a key to closing the self-created distance between who they are and who they'd like to be, culminating in an extraordinary Christmas Eve act of love. Most readers will enjoy."--Library Journal

"A well-crafted, subtle psychological thriller."--Publishers Weekly

"A stunning display of grit made alluring. Both beautiful and stark, Ash Falls is a slice-of-life portrait that gives color to the grayest of times."--Shelf Awareness

"Ash Falls is a dynamite debut: keenly observed, well-paced, and dripping with atmosphere. Read's gritty, hard-knock characters walk off the page."--Jonathan Evison

PRAISE FOR ONE SIMPLE THING

"A gripping tale of crime, intrigue, and complicated family relationships...This hard-hitting literary noir is a real knuckle-biter."--Publishers Weekly

"Nicely atmospheric with compelling characters and smooth writing, (One Simple Thing) makes for a pleasant diversion during a time of pandemic."--Booklist

". . . mixes compassion and hope among its suspenseful twists." --Foreword Reviews

"Tension is inescapable . . . One Simple Thing is hardly so simple."--Popmatters