By Daniel Woodrell

Published 2006 by Hodder and Stoughton ISBN: 978 0 340 89798 0

I picked up this novel aware of the recently released award winning film (I have yet to see it). The dust jacket and opening pages were filled with gushing praise for author Daniel Woodrell. The story intrigued me and I wanted to see for myself whether the book lived up to the hype.

The story sees a 17 year-old girl, Ree Dolly, who has a missing father, a depressed and reclusive mother and two young brothers to look after. She is really up against it living in a poor rural area in the Ozarks of Missouri. One day her already harsh world is shattered when the local Sheriff tells her that her father has put up their house for his bail and unless he shows up for his trial in a week's time, they will lose it all.

She knows her father is involved in the local drug trade and manufactures crank (crystal meth), but everywhere she goes in her quest to find him the message is the same: stay away and keep quiet. In the bleak harsh winter surrounded by snow, ice and hostility Ree presses on undaunted to save her family.

I must say that this novel totally captivated me. Woodrell’s writing style is sparse, tight and above all mesmerising. His descriptions of the Ozarks and the conditions Ree encounters are so vivid and that you feel you are standing there with her feeling the icy wind on your face.

The growing unease and the hostility she encounters as she looks for him hit hard and totally convince. I found myself really concerned for her wellbeing which is irrational as she is a fictional character in a book but once again is testament to Woodrell’s skills as a storyteller!

This is a tough, close-knit, suspicious world where outsiders are not welcomed and old feuds last for decades. Woodrell has an excellent ear for dialects and expressions and when I read that he is from the area he is writing about I was not surprised. He has not only captured the beauty and the danger of this part of America but he has provided us with a thrilling and gripping novel with an original and compelling heroine.

I wholeheartedly agree with the critics that grace the jacket of this book. It is a masterpiece, not just a great thriller but something that has managed to capture a certain time and place with great skill. Read it and you will not be disappointed.