Not quite a mystery, more slow paced character study and small town history. Dry and gritty and a compelling portrait of the opioid crisis in America.

I received an e-arc of this book through NetGalley.
A well-written, character driven fiction that's part crime novel, part commentary on rural America, and part thriller. It took awhile for me to get into the story, but once I got halfway through I finished the rest in a day. The strongest part of this book are the characters. They are well fleshed out and realistic with consistent motivations. No one in this book is a Mary Sue. Another great piece are the subtle plot points that are called back to that give the book its thriller edge.
My main problem with the book is that the depiction of Indigenous peoples and the discussion of origin stories could have done with some reviewing by a sensitivity reader. I'm not sure if I would recommend this book to an Indigenous reader. It's not a harmful depiction, but it isn't as thoughtful or careful as it could be for how large of a plot point it is in the book.

Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for this free ARC.

This book was a definition "slow burn" mystery. Heather does such a great job pulling you along without the slowness that can happen with these types of books. She does do the popular thing in books right now with each chapter being a different character. However, each one is so different, you are able to keep them straight and start to feel for each one by the end of the book. I thought I knew how it was going to end but I was wrong. The ending was a great surprise for me. I'm excited to read her other books.

ONE OF THE BEST MYSTERIES I have read this year. You can almost feel the dry Nevada grit as you read about the death of a teacher in a small town near Reno and Winnemucca. Going back to prehistory, the book opens with the death of a young Indian boy in a cave. It is not until the end of the book you understand the connection. I won’t go into the plot, except that I feel so much for the 11-year old Sal who is at the center of this novel. I can’t imagine how he will have the inner strength to handle what his life has held for him up to this point. There is hope at the end, and satisfaction for the reader. The book is all about choices and how our choices determine what happens to us. A variety of characters are here, all are flawed, and all have a story to tell.

This novel gripped me from the beautiful prologue. The book could be categorized as a mystery, but it truly overlaps other genres including literary fiction and historical fiction. It is about murder, family dynamics, mathematics, anthropology, history, and addiction. At times the poetic language impressed me so much that I had to stop reading in order to let the words rest inside me. At other times, it was a page-turner, a fine beach or airplane read.

The novel centers around the murder of Adam Merkel, a middle school math teacher in Lovelock, Nevada. Seven months previously, he left his job as an Associate Professor of mathematics at the University of Nevada in Reno and traveled to Lovelock to teach middle schoolers? Why had he left? Was he running from something? Who hated him so much to murder him like that? These are the questions the townspeople of Lovelock are asking.

While teaching, Adam takes a young boy named Sal Prentiss under his wing. Sal, whose mother died about a year ago, is living with his uncles in a filthy ramshackle place off the grid, outside a smaller town than even Lovelock. The Prentiss family has the reputation of being outlaws, operating outside societal norms but no one is quite sure what they are up to. All Sal cares about is that he not be sent to foster care.

Sal is a special boy, what the book refers to as a 'watcher'. He looks into people and watches the world intuitively, taking note and trying to make sense of all that is around him. He has a rich inner life, fantastical and creative. He draws graphic novels that center on the aspects of good and evil.

Nora likes Adam and they become acquaintances. After he is murdered, she tries to find out more about his life and why someone would have done this. She is in Lovelock taking care of her elderly father and her greatest hope is to escape this town and further her studies in anthropology.

I don't want to provide any spoilers so I'll leave my review at this point. This is a very good book, at times an excellent book. Never did my interest cease and the author has the ability to create myriad worlds for the reader, each one unique and fascinating.

Dark, twisting, disturbing, but it drew me in and I couldn’t stop reading it. I wanted to keep looking for a sliver of light or redemption, and at the end I think there was some.
Sal is living a life of secrets, as are many of the adults around him. His father unknown, his mother dead, he ends up living on a hard scrabble ranch with his two uncles. He shows up at the local fire department to report having found a dead body on his walk to the school bus, burned, with his ankles tied.
It’s hard to say much without giving away any of the turns this book takes.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my review. Not a summery beach read, but still worth reading. The characters, with all of their complex layers and emotions won’t let you leave them without finding out how it all ends. I’ll be looking for more from this author.

I’m judging a 2020 fiction contest. It’d be generous to call what I’m doing upon my first cursory glance—reading. I also don’t take this task lightly. As a fellow writer and lover of words and books, I took this position—in hopes of being a good literary citizen. My heart aches for all the writers who have a debut at this time. What I can share now is the thing that held my attention and got this book from the perspective pile into the read further pile.

I think these beautiful lines got my attention but then the plot pulled me forward to read on until the end:

The air outside the cave was wavy with late summer heat, but the air inside was cool, and on his tongue it tasted of dust and daring

the boy was beautiful too, with a face as delicate as a girl's, and long-lashed brown eyes. He was his mother's only child to live past the suckling years.

the bats took no notice of him. They poured through the tunnel, out of the cave, and into the day, their eyes stabbed by light and their brains aflame with fear.

THE DISTANT DEAD
BY HEATHER YOUNG

This was a dark twisty tale that meandered around key characters. Sal whose mother died goes to live with his two Uncles. They live in a double wide mobile home that sits on a poured concrete slab of cement. One of Sal's Uncle's tells Sal that he deals in selling prescription drugs that takes the pain away from the folks that can't get them on their own--so he gets the painkillers for them. He asks Sal if he can help distribute them at school, which Sal says no.

Sal Prentiss is the dead math teacher's only friend and the new math teacher's only friend is Sal. Mr. Merkel and Sal eat lunch together every day until Mr. Merkel is found dead. This was a depressing story that centers around poverty and the people seem unhappy. I didn't like it and didn't find it redeeming or inspirational in any way.

Thank you to Net Galley, Heather Young and Harper Collins for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.

Publication Date: July 9, 2020

#TheDistantDead #HeatherYoung #HarperCollinsPublishing #NetGalley

THE DISTANT DEAD
BY HEATHER YOUNG

This was a dark twisty tale that meandered around key characters. Sal whose mother died goes to live with his two Uncles. They live in a double wide mobile home that sits on a poured concrete slab of cement. One of Sal's Uncle's tells Sal that he deals in selling prescription drugs that takes the pain away from the folks that can't get them on their own--so he gets the painkillers for them. He asks Sal if he can help distribute them at school, which Sal says no.

Sal Prentiss is the dead math teacher's only friend and the new math teacher's only friend is Sal. Mr. Merkel and Sal eat lunch together every day until Mr. Merkel is found dead. This was a depressing story that centers around poverty and the people seem unhappy. I didn't like it and didn't find it redeeming or inspirational in any way.

Thank you to Net Galley, Heather Young and Harper Collins for providing me with my ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinion's are my own.

Publication Date: July 9, 2020

#TheDistantDead #HeatherYoung #HarperCollinsPublishing #NetGalley

The Distant Dead by Heather Young is a great read! A real engrossing page-turner and worth the time of a read!!

Intriguing and compelling. This is a great first purchase for collections where crime fiction is particularly popular.

Great thriller! Interesting characters and certainly kept me guessing; I like how my own alliances changed as the story progressed. Will seek out more work by this author in the future.