Yates’ debut novel, Black Chalk, was one of my favorite books of 2014 and I had high expectations for his sophomore effort. Though Grist Mill Road wasn’t perfect and I didn’t love it as much as Black Chalk, I couldn’t put it down. It’s the kind of book I could’ve read in one sitting if I had the time. It’s part coming of age story (reminiscent of My Sunshine Away) and part psychological thriller, while managing to remain literary (well…until the overly thriller-y ending). The opening Prologue reveals the big “what” of the story and will take your breath away, but the intensity doesn’t let up as you start to learn the “how” and “why.” I do wish Matthew’s backstory had been introduced earlier in the book and that certain storylines hadn’t been told in letter format. Nevertheless, Grist Mill Road is a solid choice if you like dark, twisty, literary thrillers about extremely complicated friendships (a la If We Were Villains).

The first chapter of this book is incredibly violent and gory. If you can get past that, this is an interesting look at what led up to that violent event and how the consequences of it affected the lives of three people twenty years later. Not all of the characters are likable but you can understand where they are coming from, thanks to the backstory of their childhoods. I'm conflicted about the ending; I wish I could have read more about how the characters move on after the last events int he story.

This book was crazy for me at times. When I first started reading it, the female character seemed like "Stepford Wives" and that's how I read them and how they sounded to me. I almost put the book down. Then, all of a sudden the voice I'm reading changes and she does have a mind of her own. I had the same thing happen to me with one of the male characters. I was reading it one way and then it changed.

I think a lot of this was because of the fact the author would tell one side of the story, so I was seeing that character from that point of view. Then I would hear a different side of the story and my opinion and everything would change.

I'm not saying that's a bad thing. It was just different for me. I really enjoyed the book a lot though. That is until the end. I did not like the last chapter. Maybe I missed something along the way, but I did go back and read the next to the last chapter again. It seemed like the author sorted out two of the characters but not the third.

Overall, I thought it was a good read and I sped through this one pretty quickly.

Thanks to Macmillan-Picador and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Yates’ novel opens with that visceral passage, leaving little mystery as to what happened to Hannah. She was shot 49 times by her friend Matthew, while his friend Patch watched. This happened in August of 1982. In 2008, Hannah and Patch are married and living in New York City, seemingly happy. A chance encounter with Matthew sends all of their lives into a tailspin.

What they knew, how they felt, and what really happened is slowly unveiled in this literary thriller. Alternating between the past and the present, Christopher J. Yates masterfully weaves the tension, mania, and despair of the main characters together, creating a true page turner (even if I really did miss quotation marks). No one is fully innocent, but not one is fully guilty either. Grist Mill Road reveals how anger, passion, history, and love bind us in the most unexpected ways.

Grist Mill Road is a book about cowards, bullies, revenge, and childhood.

This is a book split into two timelines. It opens with a gristly act that no one will forget, for their various reasons, and then meets back up 26 years later when the main characters have met back up shockingly enough.

There is a twist you won't see coming

I want to write a one-word review: YES! Unfortunately, I don't think the good people at NetGalley or Picador would be too happy with it.

If you like mysteries, read this. If you appreciate Stephen King's brand of horror where humans and their actions fuel the nightmare, read this book. Be warned, it starts off with a bang and slows down before you are caught in a vortex where neither characters nor readers can escape.

He stood frozen as she was shot over and over...their lives would never be the same. Grist Mill Road is told in several different perspectives, past and present, twisted in a way that the reader is propelled through the pages to learn the truth, a truth only one character knows, and he will not be telling.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

The story is told from the points of view of the three main characters: Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah. The narration alternates between 1982 and essentially present time. The story begins in 1982 when the characters are teenagers. Their actions and motivations then are almost plausible. Unfortunately, when they reconnect as adults, nothing makes sense. There are no explanations for their behaviors - past or present. The reader is left with a host of unanswered questions about the relationships among the three.

This book started out strong; the beginning chapters grabbed me and the author's writing style intrigued me. However, as it progressed, I started to lose interest, especially when it went on and on about a cement company's history and glacial striations... What kept me going were the little nuggets of information that were omitted (but continuously hinted at) until they were revealed near the end, which turned out to be a little disappointing.

There's a lesson to be learned here, labels are for soup cans!

I kept seeing reviews for this novel from others on Goodreads, and I had added it to my TBR list. I saw that it was on NetGalley, and I wanted to request it, but I also saw that it had a publication date in January, which made me second guess my decision to request it. I just had so many other titles with a January publication date that I didn't want to add another. BUT, as a few more weeks went by, the desire to read it grew, and after taking another look at NetGalley I saw that it was now listed as a "Read Now" selection, and I thought, heck with it, I'm going for it! I knew that with only two days shy of the publication date that I wasn't going to get it finished in time, but I simply didn't want to miss out. I have to say, I very glad I took the risk. This novel is slowly and cleverly crafted. It's a delicate story and one I feel that has a powerful message.

At the start of the novel, we learn of a senseless crime involving, Hannah, Patrick (Patch), and Matthew. Hannah is tied to a tree and shot repeatedly with a Red Ryder BB Gun by Matthew, with the last shot tragically causing her to lose her left eye. All the while, Patrick sits by and watches and does nothing to stop it. Matthew decides he wants to leave her there for the vultures, but Patrick cannot live with this decision, it's here that Patrick finally decides to step up and come to Hannah's aide. Matthew eventually serves time for what he has done, but Patrick, he is not named as an accomplice. Patrick is unsure of why? Is it because he didn't leave Hannah there to die?

Fast forward, twenty-six years later, and Hannah and Patrick are now married. Slowly, the story of what happened on August 18, 1982 begins to unfold, and the events that led up to that day. It's here that Christopher J. Yates creates such robust characters. Carefully letting us inside the mind of each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew, understanding what impacted their decisions before and after the events of August 18, 1982. It's clear, that none of them, have completely recovered, while some appear more successful than others, deep within, their guilt and secrets are slowly eating away at them. It's only a matter of time before the guilt takes over and someone snaps.

"Because now it seems to me I have the chance to write my own ending. Now I can truly become the hero of the piece. Only this time around, I can make it the truth."

One thing that I really enjoyed was the narration of this novel. I simply loved how this story was told. Perhaps it's not completely original, but I thought it was perfect for this storyline. I loved how it was a confession of sorts for each, Patrick, Hannah, and Matthew. Each finally unburdening themselves of what took place feeling the shame, the guilt, the torment, somewhat easing, though never fully feeling absolved. It really allowed you to connect to the story and the characters. To get a true sense of the pain of each, and by the end, you realize that all are victims of some jaded upbringing. What's really tragic, is even into adulthood, all three are so vulnerable and unfledged after having been burdened all those years. It's as if they are forever stuck in the past.

One last thing I will mention, a pet peeve of mine. To be honest, I am not familiar with Christopher J. Yates as a author, I have not read his previous work, and I'm not familiar with his biography. Now, in reading this novel, I never would have guessed he was from the UK, that is, until his use of the word "notes" when referring to currency. In America, we don't use the word "notes" when paying for our meals or merchandise, so when I read this in a novel that is set in America from a UK author, it just irks me. This by no means affects the overall read of the book, but it's something to take note of if you're going to write novels set in America if you're in the UK.

I want to thank NetGalley, Macmillian-Picador, and Christopher J. Yates, for allowing me the chance to read this novel in exchange for my review! It was a great read!

This was for me a rather mediocre read. I thought the flow of the story was at times choppy and that there was at times too much unneeded 'filler'. The 'mystery' was rather anti-climatic and I did not like the ending.

Slow buildup, but a really intriguing and surprising finish. While I found the primary female character somewhat unbelievable, the mystery was an intriguing one. I particularly liked the descriptions of New York state parks-- as an avid NY hiker, I recognized many of the locales, thinly veiled in false names.

I'm sorry, I didn't like this book - I hardly ever say that about a book, but I really couldn't get into it because it was way too graphic for me.

Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates is getting great reviews, it’s a dark literary thriller that begins in New York 1982. I really don’t need to know more than that, 80’s? Yes. Dark? Thriller? Yes. East coast? I’m all in.

Let’s take this further and check out the plot:

Grist Mill Road is a dark and twisty Rashomon-style narrative which is expertly plotted. The year is 1982, the setting an Edenic hamlet some 90 miles north of New York City. There, among the craggy rock cliffs and glacial ponds of timeworn mountains, three friends—Patrick, Matthew, and Hannah— are bound together by a single, terrible, and seemingly senseless crime. Twenty-six years later, in New York City, living lives their younger selves could never have predicted, the three meet again–with even more devastating results.

Here is a triple helix of a story structure, a sharp-edged love triangle complete with an Atonement style revelation. Character-driven, gorgeously written and wrenching, it exposes the poisonous resentments, sexual longings, and reservoirs of violence that roil just below the orderly surface of small-town life.

I have so many books to read that my nights are completely booked, literally and figuratively!

After hearing such great things about his debut, Black Chalk, I couldn't resist the opportunity to read the second novel by Christopher Yates, Grist Mill Road. The story begins powerfully, and the first paragraph is an attention-grabber.

"I remember the gunshots made a wet sort of sound, phssh phssh phssh, and each time he hit her she screamed. Do the math and the whole thing probably went on for as long as ten minutes. I just stood there and watched."

In a wooded area north of New York City, teenage friends Hannah, Matthew and Patrick become irrevocably connected through their participation in a crime in 1982; Hannah is a victim of this crime, and as the novel progresses to present day, the affects of her experiences become apparent in her daily adult life.

What an imaginative, captivating story line! In addition, while alternating narrators can often be tricky and troublesome, Yates masterfully kept me on the edge of my seat, wondering where this narrative would lead and desperate for the conclusion.

"So that’s where I began, writing the opening lines a few weeks before Christmas 2007, obviously unable to see the story for what it was truly, the seed of a tragedy far greater than mine alone, the beginning of everything that’s happened since the day when I first sat down and typed out the words, I grew up ninety miles north and half a decade away from New York City. Because just as with my favorite book, In Cold Blood, this story you’re reading once started out as a perfectly ordinary, everyday tale. Until, very suddenly, it wasn’t."

There were a couple of things about this novel that I did not enjoy, but I feel certain that many will not be bothered in the slightest. The first is that Yates uses no quotation marks which made it a little tough, at times, for me to stay engaged.

The second is that a story is only going to keep me "on the hook" for so long; once I realized that the story would meander for a bit before it advanced, I found myself less and less interested. I also had some issues with the narrative of one particular character, toward the end of the book, but I don't want to spoil anything!

Overall, I liked Grist Mill Road l and will certainly recommend it to others because of the unique story and flawed, broken characters; it has received excellent reviews from many other readers and I'll be adding this to my Best Books to Read on Spring Break List!

The opening scene of Grist Mill Road is harrowing, twelve-year-old Patrick watches out of sight as his fourteen-year-old best friend Matthew shoots thirteen-old Hannah whom he has tied to a tree forty-nine times with a B.B. gun. I emphasize their ages because there are significant differences between twelve and fourteen, especially when Patrick is a young twelve and Matthew is an old fourteen.

As the contemporary narrative opens, Patrick and Hannah are married. Patrick has just lost his job and is struggling to find another. He is also haunted by guilt for failing to stop the shooting, an irrational guilt as it’s unlikely he could have succeeded. Moreover, he confronted Matthew, was attacked by him, feared Matthew would kill him, played dead to survive, then got up, his head bleeding from a massive blow, untied and brought Hannah to safety and saved her life. Still, his failure to say something during the shooting feels like a failure, though if he had, Matthew might have shot him, too. Hannah has no idea that Patrick witnessed the shooting and refusing to discuss what happened, gives Patrick no opportunity to tell her. Being weak-willed and deferential, he keeps his secret and feels more guilt.

They might have still managed to muddle through life more or less successfully even though Patrick loses his job and has fixated on the boss who fired him and falls into depression. But then Matthew comes back into their lives and all hell breaks loose.

Told through narratives by each of the three principals, Grist Mill Road is suspenseful and interesting on many levels. The writing is descriptive, in particular in creating a sense of place in the Finger Lakes, describing the land and how it came to be. The natural history is the best part of the book for me.

In many ways, Grist Mill Road is a successful thriller. The prose is better than competent, sometimes extraordinary. The plot is new and intriguing. It considers important themes about trust, empathy, and responsibility, but it took everything to keep from throwing it across the room in disgust. There are a couple reasons for this. There are three narratives, those of the men are fully realized and complex. Hannah’s is shallow and often driven more by her cop friend than her. Hannah seems to have no agency at all. She is only half-realized.

More seriously, Matthew shot Hannah forty-nine times and yet, we are told we “don’t know what she did” and asked to hold her partially culpable for his action. So what exactly could someone do or say that would inspire the cold-blooded forty-nine separate shots. Shooting her once? Hitting her? That says impulse and rage. Forty-nine is cold-blooded and vicious. It is considered. No, there’s no “but she” about it and that we are asked to “but she” a thirteen year old girl to forgive shooting her forty-nine times is appalling. I don’t mind being asked to feel empathy for Matthew. I feel empathy. I understand the pain he might have felt. Feeling empathy for him should never require that I accept the culpability of his victim. I found it completely offensive to be asked.

I received an e-galley of Grist Mill Road from the publisher through NetGalley.

Grist Mill Road at Macmillan | Picador
Christopher J. Yates

A story of a man, Patrick, driven by guilt to mental deterioration. As a child he and his best friend Matthew, committed an unspeakable act against Hannah, a girl they both had feeling for.
Years later Patrick is married to Hannah and has lost his job. He is slowly unraveling as he lives with the guilt of that day when Hannah was injured.
Patrick begins a food blog as a distraction from his inability to find work. The blog receives wide acclaim and soon Patrick is offered a stunning proposal. The proposal leads to the further detriment of Patrick and perhaps the loss of the one thing he loves the most, Hannah.

The plot sounded good and the opening scene grabbed my attention, but then couldn't keep it. It just didn't capture my interest enough to keep reading. I stopped about a quarter of the way through. Promising but didn't do it for me.

{My Thoughts}
What Worked For Me
A Harrowing Crime – Grist Mill Road begins with a bang, literally. In the first few pages, 12-year old Patrick (Patch) watches as his best friend Matthew fires 49 BB’s into Hannah, helplessly tied to a tree. This scene is so graphically written that your only response will be horror. Christopher J. Yates knows how to grab your attention!

Vivid Storytelling – Grist Mill Road starts out being narrated by Patch as he tells the events of that brutal August day back in 1982.

“And yet I watched.

What does it mean to watch? When a crime takes place in front of you, what is watching? Is it a failure to act or simply keeping your eyes open?

I was twelve. I was twelve years old.”

The past is alternated with the characters’ lives 26 years later where Patch and Hannah are somehow married. Patch’s self-deprecating narration really works and is a pleasure to read. The same is true of Hannah, who begins adding to their story in the second part of the book. Her style is a little tongue-in-cheek, even a bit flippant. She keeps the story lively.

A Different Sort of Mystery – There is no mystery surrounding the crime in this story. Instead, the mystery forms around what happened after and more importantly what will happen next. That, coupled with getting the whole story from multiple sources, caused confusion, in a good way. With each page, the need to know grew.

What Didn’t
Matthew – I had issues with almost everything about Matthew’s part of the story:

His storytelling in the form of a letter.
Matthew’s distaste for label words such as girlfriend and boyfriend.
The forays into natural history lessons.
His childhood relationships.
Who he became as an adult.
I know I wasn’t meant to like Matthew, so maybe this was what Yates wanted. Perhaps Matthew is actually part of what worked for me?

Slow Middle and an Odd End – I felt like Grist Mill Road really stalled a bit in the middle, losing steam from the first half. This was roughly the point in which all three began narrating. The very end, I just have to ask, “Why?” I have no idea what I was meant to take away from the book’s last scene.

{The Final Assessment}
I’m a huge fan of Christopher J. Yates’s debut, Black Chalk, so was eager to read his sophomore effort. With all second novels, I’ve come to fear the “sophomore slump,” but I would not put Grist Mill Road in that category. For me it didn’t quite deliver the raw, breathless impact of Black Chalk, but none-the-less I was always engaged and eager to get back to reading. I’ll definitely be at the front of the line for all future books written by Yates. Grade: B

Note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

When my book bestie five starred this sucker I knew it would probably be one I wouldn't take four weeks to read. It only took me one!

Now I gotta admit. When I first started reading it I thought Kelly had bumped her head on one of Mitchell's tusks.
It was boring as heck!


It starts off with a first chapter of super evil stuff and then turns into a looooonnng description of food blogging and a damn cement company's history.


And I LIKE the food blogging thing! That's bad when I was bored at something like that.

Kelly kept telling me that it got much better. I totally mumbled under my breath that she had lost her dang mind and turned nice when I wasn't looking.

Then suddenly, it happened. It all came together and I don't think I'll forget this book in a week like I do most of the others I read. (Old lady brains)
In between us talking about our freezing to death or my cat eating me. (She chews my feet!) We did decide that this is similar to Mystic River...in the fact that the super boring does turn around and knock your socks off. But not around my feet eating cat. She'll eat your toes.

Yes, I KNOW I rambled on and on about nothing for this review. But this is one of those that you want to go into it not knowing much of anything.


Booksource: Netgalley in exchange for review.