Ohio was a refreshing read after finishing many thrillers. Markley provides a unique critique on society and highlights an often overlooked part of America. While this novel is lengthy, the payoff is worth the time dedicated to it.

This is a very sad book but thankfully fiction although these stories have a lot truth in them for many people I am sure.. Well written stories about how someone whose life had such promise and fizzles into nothing. It is a hard book to read due to the awful stories but also a hard book to put down. The last story about Tina was tough due to all her potential being snuffed out by this overbearing football player boyfriend.
Thank you Simon and Shuster and Netgalley for the ARC for my honest review.

This isn't my normal type of book. I am more into a mystery or legal thriller. This book was not a mystery, but it was mysterious! It drew you in and kept building. It got you involved in the changes along the Rust Belt and how perspectives can change as one ages and experience other places.

I enjoyed this book a great deal and recommend it?

I requested to review Ohio (thanks, NetGalley) due to excellent reviews it has been receiving online. It's a fiction book that sounded like it could be a companion piece to Hillbilly Elegy with its characters that are lower-class residents of the rural and fictional New Canaan, Ohio. The cover drew me in as well -- kind of haunting, isn't it?

The book is huge (500 pages) and is divided into four sections, one focusing on each of four characters who attended high school together in New Canaan and who are now 10 years post-high school. None are faring well.

My overriding thought as I read Ohio was -- are there really people out there who live this way? And by "this way," I mean constant cursing, sleeping with all different people, using drugs, drinking, plotting harm against others, feeling generally awful about the future of yourself, your town, and your country? The book was really depressing, because none of the characters were likeable, and they all seemed so bent on self-destruction. Nobody knew the Lord, and the only mentions He got were associated with the book's few peripheral Christian characters, who (of course) were all hypocritical and cardboard stereotypes. Talk about a downer!

The plot was confusing (the time frame jumps all over, from the current night to a few years before and after to back to high school to ... you get it). There were also many instances of pronoun confusion: "she told Bethany she could stop" -- um, who is the second "she" here? This happened over and over, unfortunately. Also, I found it difficult to keep the characters straight (all the boys were football players who tended to blend for me). But, Ohio definitely had things going for it. Namely, Stephen Markley's writing. He really is talented, and I highlighted many passages.

...that odd midwestern temperature where the remnants of winter kept stealing day after day of spring.
...what you eventually learn is that there is no such thing as linear. There is only this wild, (beep) flamethrower of a collective dream in which we were all born and traveled and died.
One spent so much time looking at the Botoxed and surgery-perfected visages of movie stars and TV personalities that it was sometimes jarring to just see what an average sixty-something woman, trampled by time and disappointment, actually looked like.
Bill had never actually met a person to whom he did not enjoy ranting.
As we all know, the way memory works is that the sweep of your life gets explicated by a handful of specific moments, and these totems then stand as narrative.
Bill sat on a blue couch and felt parts of the fabric that had turned stiff from long-ago spills never cleaned. He could see the little black pocks from dropped cigarettes.
She marveled at the power the American high school experience holds on the imagination.
That's how teenagedness works: everyone lives in a bubble of their own terrifying insecurities oblivious to the possibility that so does everyone else.
How quickly contempt can dissipate when faced with the pathetic humanness of another person. You see inside them for even the briefest moment and suddenly empathy blows through. A dark sky cleared by a hard rain.
When you reach your late twenties, you notice your peers beginning to go one way or the other. Some retain their youth effortlessly, others begin to take on time like water gushing into a breach in the hull.
He's my tribe. Gotta defend the tribe. Everyone's friends as kids. You don't know what makes you different yet.

Honestly, as I read this book my motherly side came out and I really hoped that it wasn't somewhat autobiographical for the author, Stephen Markley, who looks pretty young in photos. He's a talented writer and I do hope he can find hope and happiness as his life progresses.

Stephen Markley's Ohio is a gripping debut novel. Exploring themes that are currently burying the Rust Belt - recession, war, racial tension, political partisanship (to name a few) - four high school friends are reunited in their hometown New Canaan on one fateful night.

This is not a brief novel, but it is a purposeful one. The interweaving stories function on both a micro-level to explore the individual characters, but also on a macro-level to explore a deeper societal commentary. New Canaan is not a land of proverbial milk and honey. It's a land left shattered by the turbulence of the world around it, just as the individuals have themselves been battered.

Ohio is a meandering story about classmates in a small town and the different paths their lives take. It’s grim, topical, and brutal.

Fans of The Gunners who want a darker version might like Ohio.

This story wasn’t for me. The tone at the beginning is very different from the rest of book and because of this it took a long time to feel connected with any characters. The writing had difficulty finding its footing. Some metaphors were so random it was distracting. The story and particularly the foreshadowing were too heavy handed for my taste. With that said, I think the author was ambitious and I’m sure my harsh critique will be in the minority.

Thank you Netgalley and Simon & Schuster for an advance copy of Ohio.

I have finished 3 of the 4 stories, and it was a struggle. Still a bit undecided on the writing style, as sometimes it gets tedious when everything within sight is described. Character development is excellent, and the characters come alive and are very realistic. However, I cannot finish this book. It is so culturally relevant as the topics in this book are the headlines of today. But it is so very dark, so very dreary, so very wretched, so very hopeless, that I could not continue.

Raw, broken, dark and tired are the memories recalled, and the town, New Cannan, Ohio is much the same, holding as little promise as it did for the characters in their youth. Recalling the friendships that fostered them, the characters all seem stunned that either they survived or still want to remember this forsaken place of their youth. These were the type of friends that make you wonder why you had friends at all, as they all seemed bent on self-destruction, but now look back with a strange detached fondness.

At times the stories of their lives were captivating, and at others the writing drifted off and the plot wandered taking too much effort to follow. I found reading Ohio confusing at times. Not my choice for the type of enjoyable reading I like to do. If you pick up this book, be ready for an intense read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me to read Ohio. My review is entirely my own opinion and not in any way influenced by receiving this book.

There were some beautiful passages and a few keen insights in Mr. Markell's writing. Some of the backstories of characters were touching. However, the many elements didn't mesh, with political commentaries on financial crashes and terrorism competing with individual portraits of the sad lives of several millennials. The jumbling of the chronology of events on one fateful night in Ohio required deep concentration on the reader's part.

I'm on page
of Ohio
Review Thank You Net Galley for the free ARC.

I was hoping to get something along the lines of "American Rust" by Phillip Meyer and I did, even though this book is even darker and more despairing. It is the story of four former high school friends coming back to their home town and the changes unemployment, drugs and the loss of hope have wreaked on it and them alike. Good social critique.

I don’t even know what to say. It’s crude and vulgar and violent and political and sad and emotional and gorgeous and so damn amazing I am stunned by what I read. The storytelling is meandering and time hops and uses multiple POVs, which I ordinarily hate, in such a way that I enjoyed the different yet connected storylines. He is a magnificent writer, I hated and loved almost all of the characters, his research and detail are phenomenal that even when it’s a little tedious, you want to keep reading. I need to sit with this one for awhile.

This book is just luscious. Markley's prose is remarkable - he seems to change how he writes depending on the character telling the story. The characters are vivid and interesting and struggling to find themselves as adults while still tethered to the people and incidents that defined them in high school. Every one of the characters reminded me of someone that I knew in high school, in spite of the fact that I did not grow up in the midwest and went to high school twenty years earlier. Loved it and can't wait for the next one.

Mr. Markley is clearly a very insightful and well-educated individual, touching on political and social hot-button issues that he has researched considerably. His writing is remarkable, with vivid images, and sophisticated vocabulary. I appreciated the breathtaking landscape descriptions; he does an amazing job of luring the reader in with his imagery.

However, the sheer darkness and despair of this novel, made much of it incredibly difficult to stomach. When I first read the blurb, I had hopes for something akin to The Big Chill, replacing college buddies, with highschool friends. However, I was certainly mistaken, as there was little to no redemption or hope for any of the characters. It was simply pain, hardship, regret, and loss. The great majority of characters were unfathomably edgy, and being teenagers, it made the story quite disturbing. I honestly had to read past several scenes that were too gruesome to imagine a child doing.

Despite such difficult scenes, Markley did an incredible job of creating a feeling of desperation and recklessness that was all-encompassing. I felt each of the characters' anguish, and I was invested in the outcome of their situations, if for no other reason than a hope for redemption for these poor souls.

I really tried to read this book. After about 5 days of attempting I finally gave up. I just kept getting lost on who was who. The story line sounded good but it flipped around far too much for me

What a well-written and heartbreaking story. The level of detail in Stephen Markley's Ohio is at times overwhelming, in a good way. Though I was not as invested in all of the major characters as much as I had hoped, and the plot moved a bit slowly for my personal taste, I am sure others will disagree. Ohio is definitely worth checking out. I will not be surprised if I see this book on many "best of" lists for 2018.

Stephen Markley comes out of the gate swinging with this debut novel. Told in four parts each narrated by a different character, Ohio tells the stories of several classmates who grew up in New Caanan (not a real town, but based on Markley's small hometown in Northeastern Ohio) and graduated together several years before. Everyone has their own cross to bear and grudge to hold, There are military veterans, drug addicts, survivors of sexual assault, cutters, lesbians, travelers, activists and one mysterious classmate who seems more than a little off her rocker. Beyond the stories, which culminate in a completely banana-pants climax in the fourth part of the book, the writing is absolutely captivating. Markley hits the bleakness of small town life dead center; but fails to bring any sunshine to bear. A dark , twisty entertaining debut.

This book is a doozy. To be completely honest, I can't decide how I felt about it. It's told from the perspectives of multiple characters, all with vastly different stories to tell. The story takes place in a midwestern town of Ohio, called New Canaan and the characters all meet up one summer night in 2013, brought together by their shared history and shared secrets.  

Like I said, I enjoyed this book, but I can't say that it was my favorite read. It interested me since the story takes place in Ohio, and I like in Ohio, but the story didn't seem to mesh well in my opinion, and just felt slightly choppy. Still an enjoyable read, none the less.

Author Stephen Markley has attempted to grasp the confounding impulses of Millenial lives and the early decades of this new century and create a major theme of loss and regret. In OHIO, he is mostly successful; there is no question he creates a picture of this current era and its early adult population with amazing clarity and insight. His focus on the rust belt and its citizens leaves us with no sense of hope, though. If this is our present, our future is grim. This is a fascinating tale, as much for what is missing from it as for what is revealed. Some of the writing is breathtaking and memorable; Markley is truly gifted. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

High school history can stick with you for the rest of your life. In a small town in Ohio, people who grow up together are defined by those years, no matter how long it’s been or how much they’ve changed along the way.

In the prelude we get to know about the image the town presents during Rick’s memorial parade. A parade that is steeped in patriotism. New Canaan is a staunch bastion of patriots - the right side of politics. Lurking in the shadows, though, is a meth and opiate crisis. The stuff that people like to hide in the shadows. Markley gives us this prelude as insight into what we are about to experience with Bill, Kaylyn, Rick, Stacey, Dan & Tina, and the assorted others involved in their lives.

We start with the story of Bill Ashcraft. He’s an “activist” but also a drug addict/alcoholic. He was asked to transport something back to his hometown that he really didn’t want to go back to, save for one Kaylyn, the girl he’d always loved. Stacey Moore was Bill’s high school girlfriend, with secrets of her own involving Kaylyn. Tina Ross, the good girl, who was once involved with Bill, but later moved on, wasn’t such a good girl after all. Dan Eaton, the good guy through and through, who served in Iraq, has come back for just a one night dinner with his ex. And lastly, Rick Brinklan, big time football dude who lost his life in Iraq and is still thought of as a war hero in his hometown.

This story takes place over just a couple of days in “the Cane”, but it travels through time retelling history from high school. Markley does an amazing job of immersing the reader into each character’s story, each nuanced little bit of what has followed them from high school into adulthood. The timing of the middle east wars and the recession in the US sets a backdrop for New Canaan, a once middle-class bastion, now just a rundown suburb with a Walmart for its hub. The drug epidemic that America is facing takes center stage in this town that was once a thriving factory community. The tale of New Canaan is not unlike what is happening all over America today.

Not an easy read, this book is powerful in its storytelling. Stephen Markley is a master of words and character development. The threads of each person’s story is sewn together in a climax that will leave the reader stunned. As a debut novel, this is a powerfully written story that will stick with you.

OHIO (August 2018)
Stephen Markley
Simon & Schuster, 496 pages.
★★★★★

One of my college students recently said to me, “I hear people use the phrase ‘since 9/11’ a lot, but I don’t really know what that means.” If that shocks you, consider that she was two when the towers fell; the only reality she has ever known is the post-9/11 world. I must tell her to read Stephen Markley’s new novel, Ohio. And so should the rest of you—especially if you’re still trying to figure out why Donald Trump won the 2016 presidential election.

The question of when America began to lose its innocence rages from the halls of academia to backroom bar booths. Was it the JFK assassination, Vietnam, urban race riots, Watergate, the energy crisis, or something else? However it began, 9/11 was the tipping point in which the assumption of American invincibility toppled from its pedestal to be replaced by bleak narratives of decline, division, and deficiency—the City on the Hill transformed into Babylon on the cusp of the fall. Consider, for example, that no one challenged the very premise of Trump's “Make American Great Again” slogan. Remember when Jimmy Carter was excoriated for suggesting that the American Dream was in jeopardy?

Excuse the digression, but you need to consider these bigger questions to appreciate the chilling power of Stephen Markley’s Ohio. It opens with a funeral: that of Rick Brinklan, who was killed in Iraq. As some townspeople spout the usual nostrums of Brinklan as a fallen hero, his best friend from high school, Bill Ashcraft, prefers to blister his brain with drugs and booze rather than take part in the charade; he sees Rick’s death as senseless. Markley takes us inside the generation that came of age of age with 9/11—high schoolers in an already-depressed town faced with individual searches for identity and meaning. Rick became a knee-jerk patriot; Bill became an anarchist jerk. Yet they both hated the same things; both railed against their impotency within a chaotic and faith-challenged universe.

Markley takes us back and forth between 2003 and 2011, the latter date one in which four high school acquaintances pass through their hometown of New Canaan, Ohio: the cynical Ashcraft; soft-spoken Dan Eaton, who lost an eye in Afghanistan; Stacey Moore, a doctoral student; and Tina Ross, a beautiful woman with deep hurts and secrets. There is no such town as New Canaan, but Markley situates it in Northeast Ohio; that is, near rusted out cities such as Cleveland, Akron, and Youngstown. It’s also where you’ll find Kent State University. Cue Neil Young and a lot of unpleasant history. Markley’s New Canaan is akin to Richard Russo’s Mohawk on steroids. Or maybe I should say crystal meth. The very existence of towns such as these—of which there are myriad examples—calls into question the nation’s future. New Canaan is a place where factory workers have given way to Walmart greeters and convenience store clerks, the fate of the high school football team is a diversionary passion, and vultures circle to prey on the desperate: real estate speculators, home equity loan sharks, drug peddlers, military recruiters, right-wing hate groups, evangelists….

Markley divides his book into four sections: “Bill Ashcraft and the Great American Thing,” “Stacey Moore and a Theory of Ecology, Literature, and Love Across Deep Time,” “Dan Eaton and the Murder That Never Was,” and “Tina Ross and the Cool at the Edge of the Woods.” Each section unspools personal narratives, but also spotlights changes in New Canaan and insights into post-9/11 mindsets. Ashcraft is the one who wanted to get away, but only partially did so; he has seen much of the world, is deeply alienated, and now lives underground, though he carries with him New Canaan’s narcotic haze, alcoholic stupefaction, and hopelessness. Moore, an out lesbian and literature scholar, is the one closest to escaping New Canaan, though she has never forgiven the hypocrisy of New Canaan Christians—the ones who quote Jesus in one moment and pop pills and sleep around the next. Dan Eaton is the quiet vet still pining for the girlfriend he gave up to serve three military tours. Call him a semi-tragic figure—a guy who wants to be decent and kind but isn’t sure what those words mean anymore. Ross is darker—outwardly beautiful, but her body is scarred from self-inflicted cuts. She is also the key to unmasking New Canaan’s monsters.

Markley is masterful at character development—not just their actions, but also their internal thoughts, dreams, and nightmares. This makes the book work, as his is a large cast—not just the four central figures, but also pivotal dramatis personae such as the vivacious, wild, and sometimes vulgar Lisa Han; Eaton’s ex-girlfriend Hailey, whose life is as compromised as his; Cole, Tina’s salt-of-the-earth but dull-as-dishwater husband; and Kaylyn, the slutty but outwardly goody-two shoes Christian girl who is nothing but trouble. There is also Ben Harrington, the sensitive musician who dies young; and a bunch of ex-football players, a few of whom have turned dangerous.

That’s a lot and it’s to Markley’s credit that he makes his characters live—even the ones who are dead. He also embeds a mystery within what is essentially a tragedy. Ohio is a tough book and a slow read, but it’s also one of the most honest works on post-9/11 America I have yet to encounter. You feel despair, desperation, and flickering hope on every page. If this sounds depressing, it is at times, but if you want to understand the mindset of those who turn to opioids, bigotry, misanthropy, and charlatans, Ohio is the ticket. Some early reviewers have given up on Ohio and more’s the pity; Markley makes it clear that self-anesthetizing doesn’t work, a list that includes head-in-the-sand ignorance.

Rob Weir