A solid debut that takes a lot of energy to read. Markley takes four characters- who are arguably stereotypes-and used them to turn a microscope on post 9-11 middle America. How many of these people do you know? Bill, Stacey, Dan, and Tina each represent a different thread in the tapestry, as does Richard, the dead catalyst. This is almost better taken as four character studies than as a plot driven novel. It's dark, none of it is happy, and it will make you wonder about others who walk among us. My constructive criticism is that some of it could have been pared away to make a tighter, more focused novel that might have landed a more effective punch to the gut. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. I'm curious to see what Markley writes next.

It might be just me, and the summer reading season, but I found it too dark, too slow and rambling compared to what I've been enjoying lately. I am also not a fan of overly descriptive novels, not adhering to the rules of 'show, don't tell.' Had to abandon it, because life is too short and there are too many books!

Great story....great characters, doing their best to get by....what more can you ask for. Move this to the top of your TNT pile today!

Ohio isn't the darkest novel I've ever read, but it belongs on the list. It is a beautifully written, unwieldy and unkempt social critique threaded with the mysteries that surround several crimes in a hard-hit Midwestern town. Centering on a group of high school classmates from the fictional New Canaan, Ohio, the story is laced heavily with despair.

The students come of age just after 9/11 and must confront every dark force of the new millennium (terrorism, war, recession, opioid addiction, industry loss to globalization) as they make their first decisions as adults. Four of the classmates reconnect on a fateful night 10 years after their graduation.

Divergent politics play a strong role, but they are mostly gut-level, with only a smattering of long polemic passages. A few minor characters are portrayed as solid, decent and sane, but it is never suggested they have much impact on their surroundings, so, again – dark.

The writing is astonishingly good, but the structure of the book confounded me. I stopped and started it many times, never knowing whether I would go back and finish. It was rewarding, it was masterful, but it was chaotic and quite long. I’m very glad I kept reading to the end, but that outcome was never certain.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy.

What a ride! I love a novel that includes contemporary issues and more than one point of view. Throw in some mystery and the reality of life in an impoverished small town in Ohio and you have a fantastic, fast-moving read. Full disclosure, I did not enjoy the first few pages when I picked up the book and put it back down for a few days. I gave it a try again after hearing it was listed as a Best Book of Summer and I am so glad I did.

The author has the uncanny ability to provide the complete perspective and world view of four different 20-somethings that descend upon their hometown of New Canaan, Ohio, for various reasons on the same long day. In some cases, you are able to see an event from 3 or even 4 different perspectives, and decide on your own, the "real story."

Maybe more importantly, the theme of opioids, poverty and war run through this novel, impacting all four main characters as well as their surrounding family and friends. It is an important glimpse into small town life and I felt like I was there and knew these 4 well.

If you like contemporary issues, multiple view points, a bit of a murder mystery I would highly recommend this novel I received a copy of this book from Net Gallery in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

When I first started Ohio I had an overwhelming urge to put it down and leave it there. I kept letting myself get distracted but at the same time also kept dipping back in... Until I read some reviews that reminded me why my interest had been piqued by the initial summary I had read. I don’t like giving up on the first try, and I’m so SO glad I didn’t give up on Ohio. It’s a brilliant piece of work.

That said, it’s dark, bleak, depressing, sad, hopeless, grey brilliance. You aren’t going to find many rainbows in the narrative. It’s also absolutely epic. The story mainly takes place in a small town called New Canaan in the middle of nowhere Ohio, but we are also granted visions of different places of the world through the characters eyes and experiences. From small town America we see the absolute destruction that mankind is wreaking on the world.

Rick, Bill, Dan, Tina, Kaylyn, Todd, Ben, Lisa, and Stacey grow up together in New Canaan, where high school is the usual type of high school experience you can imagine in a small US town. Told from the perspective of Bill, Dan, Tina, and Stacey, the narrative spans from the days right before 9/11 to 2017, and reads like a thriller. They all know each other in high school, some hang out together, some date, some are in love, but they all lose sight of each other in some shape or form when they graduate. But their high school experiences dominate the choices they make for the rest of their lives. And many of those choices are really shitty.

New Canaan is small town America at its most (not) glorious: a place where unemployment, opioid addiction, and desolation plague the town, and where a very strong sense of white supremacy holds its ground. There is a big sense of white boy privilege and entitlement in the male characters, and a lot of no beating around the bush prejudice, male domination, and racist and bigoted talk. And a ton of Brock Turner style crap going on that is hard to read from a woman’s point of view, but which ends up being a great overview of how normalized this type of behavior is in our society.

The novel is full of strong language (which really clashes in the most spectacular fashion against the author’s beautiful writing), awful people, disgusting events, and vomit-worthy images. Stephen Markley holds nothing back, and everything is described in a harrowing manner. It didn’t actually dawn on me that I was actually reading a thriller until I sensed that pit of intensity in my stomach, wondering what would happen on the next page, or more what would be revealed on the next page. All I can say is that if you find yourself struggling at first, just get through the prologue. It all starts to make sense once you do. I love how this novel gives this incredible overview of towns that are forgotten but who don’t forget to vote, and it definitely doesn’t become any kind of excuse for why they are the way they are. Just reality: pure, non-sugarcoated reality.

The only little thing that bothered me a little were that I got the names confused more than once, especially Ben and Bill, and this then confused me in the narrative somewhat, especially as the timelines jump back and forth quite erratically (I like that about the story though). What I’m basically trying to say is that this book requires focus, and a strong stomach.

A 4.5 in my point of view, however, if you are triggered by heavily detailed war scenes, sexual assault, and/or murder scenes you may want to sit this one out. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy!!

Also: I LOVE all of the references to literature in Ohio. The way Stephen Markley weaves it through his narrative is wonderful... The haggard diner waitress reciting poetry, the old photograph in the copy of Gaia... Just brilliant.

My review below is for the book, Ohio, by Stephen Markley.

I have started and stopped several times reading "Ohio." Not because the writing sucked or the content but because it was more like eating a feast as compared to fast food. An example - one of the characters is coming back to her hometown and it is described as such, "Five miles outside town, well before the sign that welcomes you into the city limits - weathered, aging, yet still admonishing that here lies America's heart -" Each sentence drew out what it felt to hear, smell, taste, and feel what is happening to the characters and New Canaan town is a character as well. The writing, in and of itself, is superb and I will be happy to read more from this author.

Outside of the writing skill, the book itself and the plot made it to a four star...maybe four and a half. It begins in the year 2007 with the funeral of one of the fallen sons of war in New Canaan, Ohio. It makes the most note of the people who were not there and then begins to unfold their stories of tragedy of one night when they all come from north, south, east, and west traveling on a trajectory to find answers.

Make no mistake, this novel is not for the faint of heart. Mr. Markley obviously put his own views into many of the conversations of what the world is all about, heroine addiction, the loss of innocence, sexual harassment, economy, and racial issues. The events in each chapter flow back and forth from the past to the present (book present that is) and how each of the characters are coming together for this one fateful night.

I had an idea of what was going to happen at the very end so I wasn't overly surprised. Each of the stories started as our four characters, Bill Ashcroft, Stacey Moore, Dan Eaton, and Tina Ross head back into New Canaan. Each chapter ends at the crossroad - both figuratively and literally, six years after Rick's funeral. As they are coming back into town, each story takes a view on their lives and what high school, war, and coming out, abuse, and how they were adjusting to life outside of their prison of living in New Canaan. While many of them stayed locked there of their own will or circumstances.

As the book goes forward, the real tragedies did not happen when they left high school, but while they were in it. The adult decisions, the abuse, the absenteeism of parental figures, or even a more mature mindset who could give them a direction. Each of the characters, outside of Rick, were aimless, and floated along to where life took them.

Rick would be the moral compass of the group. Disciplined in his beliefs, he took a look at life after 9/11 and made the decision to be a soldier. From that point on, all of his decisions were made with that mindset of honor and doing the right thing. To the point of the loss of his friendship with his best friends. One who goes on early in the book to OD and one who wanders the world looking for answers to the big questions and finding conspiracy everywhere but not willing to look into his own self for what he might find there.

Stacey whose decisions were made to come back due to the love of her friend Lisa and Lisa's mom request to come to town to talk. Lisa, who she loved and helped her find out who she was.

Dan, who did come back from war, minus one eye, and though an honorable man, fights with his own demons on a daily basis, denying it even to himself as he every day remembers the battles where he lost his friends.

Lastly, we come to Tina, the only one who never really left the area - moved away, but is still tied to events which happened ten years earlier, events which overshadow her until the very end.

This is not a "hope" - less book - tragic yes. There is a maturity at the end of the book where some of the characters have grown and it is wrapped in a bow, but a bow that is loosely tied. I know some other reviewers did not like the flow of time between each character, but I saw it similar to the river that runs through New Canaan, everyone is a part of it and the ebbs and flows which are part of the cycle.

I must point out, I would like to have seen a comeuppance for one of the peripheral characters, but like in life, some people skate.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.com for my honest review and opinion.

“Ohio” by Stephen Markley chronicles the people and events in New Canaan, a city in northeastern Ohio. This is a region ravaged by the “Great Recession,” an opioid crisis, and the wars both in Iraq and Afghanistan. It consists of four novellas, each from the perspective of one of four classmates who gathered in the summer of 2013. The book opens on October 13, 2007 with a community ceremony for a fallen soldier. It was an opportunity to decorate and reinvent the town as its residents wished it to be.
Markley’s eloquent descriptions develop a sense of place both in in geography and in society.
“Scabs of melting snow lingered in the brush of the field. Beyond it stretched the forest and the scotched, brush-wire look of the leafless trees.
An unseen narrator talks to the reader as the story is told. “So we begin roughly six years after the parade thrown in honor of Corporal Rick Brinklan, on a fried fever of a summer night in 2013.”
The story is driven by the characters. Background information gives them depth and believability. We know them; we emphasize with them; we live with them, and we hate them. We learn who they are; what happened to them in the past, and what they are doing now. We see the political conflict, the social agendas, the patriotism, the common sense, and the human rights censorship. The horribleness of the past and oppression of the present collide to produce a depressing and confining atmosphere.
“Ohio” is a dark and heavy book while at the same time thought provoking and challenging. I received a review copy of “Ohio” from Stephen Markley, Simon and Schuster, and NetGalley. It was not an easy book to read, and at times, the narrative was unfocused. I appreciated the depth of the characters and the beauty of the narrative; I am glad that I finished it, but it was not relaxing. The over-riding questions from this book remain, Can you go home again? Would you want to? Would they want you back

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon & Schuster through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The book begins with the death of a small Ohio hometown military boy. The core of the book is the small town, New Canaan, and the dynamics between its characters. It is a mystery as to how many of the characters die. Your heart aches for the family and friends: “You had to have faith… Faith that whatever pain you had in your life, God made up for it later.” The book ends with the death of several the high school friends.

The book takes the reader back to the Bush/Gore election with counting chads and the U.S. Supreme Court. It brings back the 9/11 tragedy with different political perspectives and the angst raised. The timing bounces from high school to “current time” (10 years after high school).

This book deals with friendships (“We didn’t have a choice who our friends were.”), relationships, drug dealing and abuse, teenagers and sex, homosexuality, and death/murder. “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars…” There are questions about God throughout the book (“You pray a little, go to church enough, get right with God…”).

Throughout the book, the reader knows at least one character is being abused but the extent is not fully known until later in the book. This book is not for those with a faint of heart due to the explicit sexual activities and language. Young people have to learn “the difference between passion and provocation.”

I found the book hard to get into but once it gets going, it is a captivating book. Keeping the characters straight is important. The book is worth reading if offensive language and sexual scenes won’t bother you.

I picked this up because someone compared it to The Big Chill, one of my favorite movies of all time. The book starts with a prelude, a stream of consciousness narrative during a parade in memory of Rick, who was killed Iraq. The book then jumps 6 years to 2013.

Then it divides into four parts, each told from the perspective of a different character returning home for their own reasons. But each was a school mate of the others and have a history from those days.

The writing here is gorgeous. I realized I was highlighting phrases almost every other page. “We begin with history’s dogs howling, suffering in every last nerve and muscle.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone able to turn a phrase like Markley. Which isn’t to say this is an easy read. When you’re into Bill’s brain, it can seem down right twisted. And when Dan remembers his time in the army, it hit me like a fist to the gut. And Tina’s section will just make you cry.

This book delves into the issues of the rust belt. Drugs abound. The recession is still in existence here, years after the rest of the country has recovered. Hope seems to be a forgotten concept. “New Canaan looked like the microcosm poster child of middle American angst.”

This isn’t an easy read by any stretch of the imagination. At times, it's so dark, so brutal, I had to put it down. It also needed a better editing job, as it rambled at times and I had trouble remaining focused. It goes back and forth between the present and memories of high school. And that ending! OMG.

In the end, I’m torn on how to rate this. This really needed to be tightened up. In places, it’s a total mess. In others, it’s brilliant. I’m willing to bet it’s going to generate a lot of attention and excitement.

My thanks to netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of this novel.

Four classmates come back to the hometown of New Canaan one summer. Bill Ashcraft is an alcoholic and drug abuser and has completely lost his way. Stacey Moore comes back to confront the mother of her former girlfriend. Dan Eaton is a veteran of the Afghanistan War and has never forgotten his first love. Tina Ross has something to settle with the former captain of the football team. There are actually four novellas in this book, each involving one of the above characters and all interacting with one character, the deceased classmate, Rick, who was killed in Afghanistan.

This book has all the markings of a book I should have loved. It’s a truly tragic story and I had read such good things about the book. But I truly did not like it. Before I chose this book, I had read that the author uses beautiful language but any beautiful language used is negated by the constant course language used by the characters. I had read that it was an emotional book but to be emotional for me, a book needs to have characters the reader cares about. I did not like these characters and couldn’t relate to their problems.

This book seems to be a social commentary on how 9/11 left our country and its people in shambles. I don’t believe we’re all suffering from PTSD as this book indicates. It’s almost written as a dystopian novel, creating a horrible, destroyed world I’m not familiar with. It seemed to me that most of the characters, though certainly not all, used 9/11 and the war as an excuse for not getting their lives together. I soon tired of reading about their self-indulgences involving alcohol, drugs and sex and sickened of them wallowing in their self-misery.

Not recommended.

I made myself finish Ohio by Stephen Markley. It is well written, beautiful writing at times, and the characters are well drawn and the theme timely and the plot is part a mystery and part a character study of a whole cadre of classmates.

But it is dark, gruesome, shocking, and violent, the characters struggling with horrible situations and issues. I stopped reading it several times. I was sure I was going to walk away, unwilling to spend more time with these broken people.

And when I finally did finish the novel, my stomach was in knots and I felt slightly ill. Graphic sex and self-abuse and violence and all kinds of stuff going on which I usually avoid like the plague..

And these kids, ten years out of high school but trapped by what happened in those few years, destroyed by it. They don't move on, they can't move on. The beautiful ones are destroyed and the less beautiful ones who love them are destroyed.

I am so destroyed, I wish I had not finished the book.

Which perhaps shows how successful the novel is--

...After getting some distance I am impress by the structure of this novel and how it reveals the truth.

I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

A brutal read. There is not much pretty going on in this Ohio but the destroyed characters make for a great story, the proverbial car wreck you can't not look at. The ending was completely unexpected; I would be shocked if anyone could see that coming. I really appreciate Markley's writing style and descriptive ability, and I think this will have a large readership. It reminded me of how I felt reading Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk... though it is a tougher read than that was.

I hate giving a negative or neutral review for a book. I tried, I really did to get into this book and I just couldn't do it. I tried on multiple occasions to read Ohio but I just was unable to do so. I think this book is one of those that people will either love or hate without a whole lot of in between. I am on the fence because I couldn't even bring myself to finish it. I appreciate the effort the author put forth and the free book from the publisher and Netgalley.

Author Stephen Markley is a keen observer of people in difficult situations and adept at setting the atmosphere of small town America. He explores the complexities of relationships, community and politics with well-crafted insightful words and descriptions, even if at times these words were crude or off-putting. I would have preferred a bit more editing of the descriptors; some were too lengthy and I would find myself skimming.

Markley clearly sees things from a fresh and unique perspective, down to the finest details. This book has been placed on my "I'll think about this book for quite some time” bookshelf. I was impressed this is a debut novel but I would not recommend if you are looking for likable characters and easy-reading.

*will be posting links below to online reviews upon book publication

Wow! This book touched on all the crises of our times - the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, terrorism and violence against America, the opiod crisis, the recession that devastated the country, and more. At once it is a mystery but also a slice of life for today. I found it totally engrossing and it had an ending I didn't see coming. The writing is very descriptive and puts you in the scene so that you can see the character interaction. The description of the characters in high school were spot-on.

I'm hearing that Stephen Markley is a major talent - and I agree. Especially since this is a debut novel. Thanks to Stephen Markley and Simon & Schuster through Netgalley for an advance copy.

Ohio by Stephen Markley was simply SUPERB. As someone who was born and raised in Ohio, getting to read a novel that revolves around my home state--and even throughout my hometown--was intriguing. The fact that Markley took on the drug problem that is running rampant, while also giving face to those weird, crazy, sometimes unacceptable or cruel behaviors that come from being in high school and wanting friends and significant others so badly was perfect. The end of the book left me stunned and thinking about it for days! I cannot wait to see what else Stephen Markley writes!

This is a story about high school friends and their individual stories colliding in 2013. Each character has their own chapter or novella, each interacting with the others along the way. Most of the characters have a shady past. New Canaan, where they are from suffers from a opioid and meth problem. The story takes place over a couple of days.

The book contains some beautifully written portions of the book, but it took me several attempts to get through this book. When the book it good it’s fantastic, there are however some really awkward descriptions or narratives. This is not an easy read, the author is a powerful storyteller.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an ARC for review

I tried so hard to read this book but it just was not for me. The story was very slow and the writing style was just too over burdened with details. I made it through the first 100 or so pages and really just could not go on. Based on other reviews it appears that readers either loved it or didn't love it. I unfortunately fall into the latter category. Thank you for the opportunity to access this book early and provide feedback.

Expected publication August 21st!

Where do I even start? I fear it will be difficult for me to even put this book into words. Ohio is a story about a community in rural/suburban Ohio, the friends and acquaintances within the community, the secrets held within, and the ghosts that continue to haunt them. One night, several people will return to New Canaan, Ohio and their lives will intertwine in an unexpected way, dredging up memories of the past, and impacting the course of the future.

Stephen Markley makes his debut in a big way, establishing himself as a powerhouse writer. His vocabulary is vast, and the way he builds sentences, paragraphs, and entire story lines is magnificent. His descriptions of the American Midwest, and communities that have suffered from the collapse of American business and industry are spot on. I am from Michigan, and although the book took place in Ohio, the similarities were uncanny. I could see this story taking place where I grew up in the suburbs of Detroit after 9/11, during the recession, when the auto industry was suffering. Although the writing is beautiful, this is definitely not a quick read. His writing evokes a lot of thought, and as such, it is takes some time to process.

Adjectives I would use to describe this book: heartbreaking, raw, realistic, powerful, heavy, gritty, and alive. The story is packed with difficult social topics including rape, sexuality, drugs, religion, and an array of political issues. The story takes place after the Twin Towers fall, and the impact of the terrorist attack are evident, from young boys in the community enlisting to fight the War on Terror to those who wholeheartedly oppose the efforts in the Middle East.

Almost 500 pages and told in 4 parts, with each part from the perspective of a different person, the first half of the book created a backdrop and gave background that was necessary to the later parts. I will say that it was a bit long, and there were times in part 3 where I found myself wanting the story to move a little faster. But, once I got to the end, I could not put it down. The way all of the characters weave throughout each other’s lives, and the journey that they all took to get to present day is incredible. It felt a tiny bit like 13 Reasons Why in that the characters reflect on the choices they each made, and the impact of their choices on the lives of others.

This book will definitely not be everybody’s cup of tea. If you’re looking for something lighthearted or fast paced, this book is not for you. But if you’re looking for something thought provoking and different from the everyday novel, with a dark and heavy edge, you will love this book.

-I was gifted this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley, Stephen Markley, and Simon & Schuster for the opportunity to review.-