I’m always amazed at authors who start off strong and still manage to get even better with each book. Eli Cranor has somehow managed to top his amazing first two books with this pulpy and grimy and terrifying, yet incredibly timely novel. Eli Cranor is the poet laureate of the bottom rung of society.

I loved Eli Cranor's first book - Don't Know Tough - so when I saw that he had another one coming out I immediately jumped on it.

Broiler follows four people - Luke and Mimi Jackson, a couple of new parents - Mimi a stay-at home mom and Luke a manager at a chicken processing plant, and Gabriela Menchaca and Edwin Saucedo, an undocumented couple who work for Luke in deplorable conditions for the employees. When Luke fires Edwin, it sets off a chain of events that deeply affect both couples.

I really loved this book. It really shows you the disparities between different "classes" (for lack of a better term). I especially loved the women in this book, and the ending was perfect.

As a fellow Arkansan, I was immediately drawn into this novel due to the location and subject matter that are the backdrop for this stellar work. Chicken processing plants are the norm in Northwest Arkansas and the reality is that immigrants, legal or not, are the primary employees of the plants. Cranor has created a collision of the "Haves" and the "Have Nots".

Plant Manager Luke Jackson had a strident upbringing in Arkadelphia. He has a rigid idea of what success looks like. He married the "perfect" wife, Mimi, that he met at the U of A. Currently, she is a stay-at-home Mom with their five-month-old son that is struggling with post-Partum depression. As the novel begins, she is attempting to reach out and establish a group of supportive friends similar to her situation.

Gabby is an illegal Mexican-American who works at the plant. She was a successful student on her way to college until her family decides to return to Mexico and she must work to support herself. She is living with Edwin, who due to circumstances and lack of ambition, also works at the Chicken Processing plant on an opposite shift from her.

As the story begins, Cranor has provided rich details about these characters and the reader clearly understands the characters' motivations once the incident occurs that establishes this thriller. Without wanting to share too much, this novel captured my interest and held it. In the first part of the novel. I thought the focus would be on the male characters, but was pleased that the characters who drive the story are Mimi and Gabby. This novel will be my recommendation for my Book Club for the Summer. There are so many rich details to discuss.