I loved Dark Ride by Lou Berney and finished the book in one sitting! It reminded me much more of his first book, The Long and Faraway Gone then of the recent November Road.
Hardley is paying a parking ticket when he notices two small children sitting on a bench, a little girl and a little boy. Both children have what appear to be cigarette burns on their skin and Hardley decides to investigate. He tries to talk to the children's mother but she scurries off. He tries to report this to Child Protective Services and the case worker he's speaking to quits halfway through the interview. Then Hardley decides to take things into his own hands and help these children and heaven help anyone who stands in his way! He's surrounded by a wonderful cast of characters including a "goth chick" named Eleanor and a 16 year old sidekick named Salvador.
I highly recommend this title! Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this digital ARC.

It’s been five years since Lou Berney’s last novel, the multi-award-winning November Road. But, in Dark Ride, Berney’s themes are once again children in jeopardy and the unexpected anti-hero.

Hardy “Hardly” Reed is a weed-smoking, lost twenty-three-year-old who is somewhat stoned all the time. He’s in a dead-end job, working evenings at Haunted Frontier theme park, playing ghosts. He’s fine with that until the day he has to pay a ticket at the municipal building. He sees two children, a girl and a boy, sitting on a bench outside an office. They appear to be about six or seven. Even stoned, Hardly recognizes cigarette burn marks on both children. He does try to report that to Child Protection Services, but everyone brushes aside his concerns. How can they do anything if Hardly doesn’t have names?

Now, Hardly is obsessed. And, he realizes he’s the only one who can help the two children. He can’t even live his own life. How is he to help those two kids? After getting advice from a cougar realtor, Hardly decides to become an investigator. After he identifies the mother of the two kids, Hardly makes the mistake of hanging around their neighborhood. He’s threatened, but he won’t give up. Even when he’s attacked, Hardly won’t give up.

In the course of his investigation, Hardly makes several friends, smokes less weed, and starts to change. But, he finally realizes he might be the only one who can save those two children.

Berney’s once again written a heartbreaking book with an ambiguous ending. It’s no November Road. But, Hardly Reed is an unforgettable character, an anti-hero with an obsession that changes his life.

Dark Ride is a page-turning read. Twenty-one-year old Hardly Reed works as a zombie at a local amusement park--a low energy job that gives him enough money to buy weed, maintain his beater car, and pay rent. Hardly is at the DMV to enroll is the deferred payment plan for a traffic ticket when he notices two young children sitting together on a bench. Hardly speaks to the children, and, as he does, notices cigarette burn marks on the young girls ankles and the young boys collar bone. From there, Hardly becomes obsessed with finding out who the children are and saving them from the abuse. Hardly engages the help of his friends and family to rescue the kids and their mother from their abusive father and husband who is a prominent local attorney. Readers will be asking why Hardly puts himself and his friends in danger on his mission, but also be quickly turning pages to find out how his concerns are resolved. Good story.