The Bright Lands brings to mind “football families” in Texas. Although not Texas-born, I have lived in the great state of Texas for many years. I can attest to the fact that the folks around here are downright serious about football. And if you expect to be socially compatible, and to be accepted, you better love Texas and football!

As a side note, be aware this story is more than a little sprinkled with strong language.

I was intrigued by the allusion to the beast in The Bright Lands. It put me in mind of Freud’s model of the psyche. By Freud’s definition: the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives and hidden memories. On the other hand, the super-ego operates as a moral conscience, and the ego is the realistic part that mediates between the desires of the id and the super-ego. By Freud’s belief, the predator in The Bright Lands would be the id of the human mind. And the ego had its work cut-out for it.

All in all, I found The Bright Lands, a smart and engaging thriller novel.

The Bright Lands is Friday Night Lights if the plot turned into a creepy (and very dark!) thriller.

The story takes place in a small, football-obsessed Texas town called Bentley. It begins when Joel Whitley, a New York businessman who grew up in Bentley returns after receiving concerning texts from his brother (who is also the star quarterback of the football team), Dylan. When Dylan goes missing shortly after Joel’s return, he becomes increasingly worried about what has happened to him and others’ like him in the town.

I really enjoyed two of the main the characters, Joel and Clark. They were interesting and multi-faceted in a way that is unusual for thrillers. I cared about them booth, I found myself both rooting for them and concerned for them throughout the story.

I also liked that this is a unique thriller — SO many in the genre can be similar, particularly in the ending, which can ruin a good story! That is not the case with this one; it is unique from the first page to the end.

I will say that it wasn’t as much of a page-turner for me as I had hoped! There were parts that had me racing to find the twist, but overall I wasn’t hooked so much that I was thinking about the book when I wasn’t reading it.

Additionally, I was not a fan of the hints of presence of the supernatural. In full disclosure, fantasy is not generally up my alley, so this could absolutely be personal preference but I just generally did not enjoy these sections and I did not feel that it advanced the plot in any meaningful way.

All in all — an interesting and unique thriller! Thank you to Hanover Street Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read early.

For those interested, this title releases July 7th, 2020.

This book had some sensitive content that I was definitely not prepared for based on the description. It was too much for me and I did not enjoy it. This is not something that I would recommend to others.

A disappointment. Reads more like a YA book. Football in small town Texas. Found The vulgar language unnecessary. It just didn’t work for me.

An interesting, thought provoking novel that was not what I expected when I started. While slow moving in some parts and some pacing issues, this was a well thought out novel and I look forward to seein* what this author has in store for us in the future.
Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for an advance review copy o& this book.

4 stars

High School football is king in small town Texas.

Joel Whitley returns to Bentley following an absence of ten years when he was more or less driven out of town. Now living very successfully in New York, his brother Dylan asks for his help. Joel is still haunted by memories of Bentley, but returns to help his brother. Dylan is the star quarterback of his high school football team. They appear to be headed to state, but Dylan no longer wants to play.

When tragedy strikes the Whitley family, Joel teams up with ex-girlfriend and adversary Sheriff's Deputy Starsha Clark to ferret out the hidden secrets and the truth of what happened.

This is a very well written and plotted novel. It is a very good effort for a first novel. I see good things in Mr. Fram's future. The book has a Friday Night Lights feeling to it, especially in the beginning. But there the comparison ends. This is a mystery – and more. It examines small town America, the attitudes and close knit communities – for good or ill. Well done!

I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin - Trade Publishing US & Canada/Hanover Square Press for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.

This was high up on my TBR, and I was thrilled to receive an eARC from Harlequin and NetGalley in exchange for review consideration.

Let me start by saying: The Bright Lands is an exceptional read. Raised in a football town, in a football family, I hadn't found a sports-centric thriller that resonated on so many levels--until The Bright Lands.

Joel Whitley returns to his conservative hometown when his younger brother reaches out for help. Plagued by memories of his own experiences in Bentley, Joel plans on getting Dylan out before something terrible happens. Unfortunately, things don't happen that way, and Joel is thrust into a decades-old mystery with supernatural implications.

I mean--I don't know where to begin. From the characters to the pacing, Fram's writing is engaging and consuming. Each narrative voice is rich and well-developed. Much like Derry or The Stanley Hotel, the town of Bentley becomes a character in and of itself, sliding slowly away to reveal a grotesque underbelly of grudges, racism, and hatred of anyone who doesn't fit into the "football-way-of-life" mold.

This book encompasses so many relevant topics: complex family dynamics. Drugs. Sex. Religion. Sexuality. The pressures kids face on a daily basis with no outlet.

And on top of that is a horrific element of the beast. Both symbolic and real, Fram highlights how the dark motivations people keep hidden can manifest in truly terrifying ways with resounding consequences.

The Bright Lands should be on your must-read list of 2020. Astounding.

The Bright Lands is an emotional thriller. Very intense with strong language and strong characters. A little too much strong language for me but as the story unwinds, there are many surprises, twists and turns that make this an enjoyable read. I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of this book.
#TheBrightLands #NetGalley

The subject of this book isn’t what I expected but WOW!!! I thrill ride and page turner from beginning to end - just couldn’t put it down!

Thank you Net Galley for the free ARC. Murder mystery about a rural quarterback found stabbed to death. I felt that the language full of needless curse words and made it a little juvenile. Maybe this would appeal to a younger audience.

In small town Texas, high school football is king. So when the star quarterback from the little town of Bentley disappears, everyone takes notice. Joel, brother of the missing Dylan comes home as soon as he gets the news, but it’s far from a happy homecoming. On top of his brother Dylan going missing, Joel has to face the town and the memories associated with it. The disappearance stirs up ugly memories for Deputy Starsha Clark , whose own brother is also missing. Joel and Starsha come together to try to find out exactly what’s happening in the little town of Bentley. Fram pens a gritty and shocking story about small town America