An adopted 10 year old boy from a highly dysfunctional family makes a cross country trek with his father and his dead friend. This book needed either a depth added to the characters or a shorter story, it dragged on for far too long.

this book really was a trip, i enjoyed the variety of characters and really enjoyed the writing. I really enjoyed reading this book and look forward to more from the author.

The wonderful characters' imagination made this book
extra special. I enjoyed it very much from the beginning.

Thank you so much, Netgalley, D. Krauss, and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There is just something about a novel that has a story-line involving a dysfunctional family. I am drawn to them for some reason. I was immediately caught up in the story of Butch and his struggle to fit in with a mother who comes across as distant and lacking parental instinctive feelings towards her son, and that of his father who is irresponsible, angry, and somewhat cruel at times. Butch's parents decide to separate, and Butch makes the difficult choice to go with the parent that he feels he must protect emotionally, while sacrificing his own happiness and security.
I had a couple of issues that I couldn't get past in the story. First, I have never been a ten year old boy, however I can't help but feel that some of the thoughts and feelings coming from Butch where a bit too advanced for his age. I would have guessed the more accurate age would have been closer to that of a thirteen year old. Secondly, the title would make one think that the story would be delving into the death of Frank Vaughn and that it would somehow intertwine with Butch. That wasn't the case and it was a disappointment for me.
I am looking forward to reading the second book, Southern Gothic, in what will be a trilogy. Maybe this book will offer more insight.

3 Stars

The year is 1965. Butch is your average 10 year old adopted boy, living in an abusive and dysfunctional family. His parents announce that they're divorcing and that the kids have to choose who they want to live with. Butch, in a hasty decision, is the only one to choose his father. This takes them on a journey all around the Southern states.

The plot is very subtle and there isn't a lot of action in this story. You are however taking this journey as a 10 year old boy and seeing the world through his eyes and his imagination, which was really fun and clever. I was reminded of Stephen King's Bobby Garfield (Hearts in Atlantis) and the boys from IT. I really enjoyed that aspect of the book, I just wish there was a bit more substance or if it were a bit shorter, I would have given a higher rating. I'm still interested in picking up the next two books in the series. I'm very curious to see how Butch turns out.

A special thank you to NetGalley, DOA Enterprises, and D. Krauss for providing me with a reader copy.

If you’re looking for a happy ending, you’d better look elsewhere. This is just one long unrelenting, depressing series of events in the life of Butch, a 10 year old with a vivid imagination and an abusive father. He is prone to hyperbole so for a while I thought maybe his descriptions of his father were an exaggeration, but they were not. The man is a monster. The only glimmer of hope is toward the end when Butch realizes he holds some sway over his father because his father fears him telling the mother about the other women in his life.

I kept putting the book down and walking away because it was bringing me down, stressing me out. After one particular scene in which his cousin is cornered by two older and bigger male cousins and Butch realizes something terrible is going to happen to her and NO ONE is going to protect her, I felt sick. No, the author didn’t describe anything, but the thought of it was enough to upset me.

A good proportion of people in this book were terrible human beings, particularly Butch’s dad’s family. Descriptions of scenes were vivid and locations so clear and visceral that I shuddered at times. The description of Maw-Maw’s house was the first such description that made me go, ewww.

Butch is afraid of being taken away and put in an orphanage, but I had to wonder why. The way he depicted his life sounded like hell, which is why I thought he must be exaggerating. It couldn’t be that bad. He was exaggerating. And it was that bad. An orphanage might have been an improvement.

I want to give the author his due. The writing is wonderful, with descriptions like these:

“The sun was a lava sledgehammer that some malicious fire spirit dropped hard and hot on their heads and shoulders, again and again.”

“Something inside Butch wadded up and blew away, landing somewhere behind the car. Butch turned and caught a glimpse of it waving frantically in the heat shimmer.”

Perhaps because of poetic phrases like the aforementioned, I continued reading beyond the point of pain. I really did not enjoy the book, but I loved the language used to tell the story. It’s really hard to rate a book like this because I recognize the skill that goes into telling the story, but I wish that talent had been directed toward telling a more pleasant one. I read to escape reality which, by the way, is much more pleasant than the fictional one in which Butch lives. I feel sad and icky after reading this book and wish that I hadn’t. That said, I would love to read something else from this author...something equally poetic, but more uplifting.

I am very sorry to review another arc so negatively, but this one also did little to capture my interest. The road trip was mostly silent, had not enough quirkyness in it, and stopped in places for long periods, making it more of a normal travel than an actual road trip. The verbal and physical abuse by the father could have been an interesting storyline, but violence alone does not make a plot, and it happened completely unreflected and unchallenged even by his son, so that did not keep me reading. And the titular Frank (deceased) - well, it was neither a crime novel looking into why his mother killed him (you could have had a parallel with the parental abuse) nor did the appearances of his ghost lead to any interesting plot points. I dnf-ed this after a painfully awkward, "you are way too young for this" sex scene (if you can call it that!), where I once again found myself asking: Why am I reading this? Author, why are you telling me this story?

A comic book, cartoon loving, commercial-jingle singing boy named Butch, who is rather sensitive with a massive imagination, goes on a road trip with his distant, abusive father. Along the way, he learns several truths about his father and himself. Traveling from Oklahoma and ending up in Alabama with several visits, meeting people who know a secret about his life, finding out he does have a voice and how to use it with a lot of growing up along the way. Frank Vaughn, Killed by his Mom by D. Krauss was often times emotional but the HUGE imagination of Butch made me giggle. He could have written his own super-hero comic books!

Didn’t even finish it! This book started on the right path and then suddenly it took a sharp turn right off a cliff. The story is all over the place. The book title and cover is what caught my attention. But the book is less then desirable.

I requested this book specifically due to the title. I thought it would be fascinating. I did read the blurb and knew it was going to be about a young boy's cross country trek. . What I didn't realize was that this child was not likable and Frank Vaughn's death was nothing but a footnote. The other characters are not fully developed. I feel very much like Frank - I have no idea what the point is. This cross country trip just shows the reader that the trauma this child goes through never ends and comes from everyone he meets. The writing itself was fine. The setting and places visited are of some interest. The overt racism is understandable as it is the early 50's. It was written about in a way that called attention to the horrific situation and made a statement. The sexual abuse and constant mentions of Butch and "the evil thing" are unnecessary. This is a 10 year old kid in the 50s and there should be more innocence and less sexual deviance on his part. It made me uncomfortable, and not in a productive way calling attention to a cause. I finished the book because I am the kind of person who finishes books, not because I cared.

* I was approved a e-book kindle download via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

Okay, so this book went way off track. I thought it was going to be about how Frank Vaughn was killed by his mom like the name of the title. However; this story deals more with a 10 year old named Butch who was adopted. Butch has/had a best friend named Tommy and they shared a love for Comic books. Unfortunately, Butch is being abused what I believed was BOTH of his foster parents. Only then after a surprise divorce do I realize whose truly at fault of abusing this poor little boy. Frank makes his appearance very seldomly beyond the grave via Butch's dreams. Butch is then forced to choose between his foster mother or father. The other siblings of his choose the mother so out of guilt and because this beautiful boy has a heart he chooses the father.....read the book to see how the time on the road with his father goes, you're in for a surprise.

Book Details:
-Cover: its the title that grasped my attention more so then the cover this time
- Setting: San Francisco to New York and the states in between
- Source: Netgalley/ Amazon Kindle 400 pages

Awesome book! I loved the darkness to this book, makes it a great thrill of a ride!!

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.