When I saw that there was a new MFS novel coming out I jumped at the opportunity to read it early. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy...

Color me impressed. From the first line and the atmospheric way that MFS wrote the scenes, described the characters, and laid out the story, I was floored with a feeling of wanting to be a bird in the sky or a fly on the wall in this universe. To me, MFS's books always skirt along the magic realism world, but it's a dangerous and somewhat unbelievable setting, I'm guessing on purpose. This is brilliant for a story that takes place in the South and falls under the grit-lit, Southern Noir sub-genre. The South is not a place I understand at all, so for me to travel along with the characters in any of MFS's novels I consider it a dangerous, yet welcome adventure. Lay Your Armor Down is no different, and maybe was a bit more welcoming than some others.

The line between what is real and what is magic is very thin in this novel. I loved it. The prose was incredible, mixing Kerouac's stream of consciousness and MFS's solid descriptive, figurative gorgeousness. The characters were few, but mighty, and I felt that each one developed in their own way from the flashbacks to the current time period and it was genius. I loved the feel of this book. I wanted to keep reading it and probably will go back to it in short order. I'm a super fan of this book and can't recommend it enough. If you are an MFS fan, you will want to read this. If you've never read of his books, this is a good starting point (I'd probably start with The Fighter, but if not, go here). This was a 100% win for MFS and this book will stay with you after you finish. Metaphors, reality, and wonderment await... you'll love it.

Netgalley AR edition review: It's always a pleasure to read a new Michael Farris Smith novel. He has a gift for writing extended narrative prose that is abstract and deceptive, giving the reader enough information and emotion, but not spoon-feeding the plot to the reader. Lay Your Armor Down was no different. There aren't many characters, some are presented with minimal detail, and the setting doesn't change much. No matter. MFS's description and skill at characterization gives the reader room to ask questions and do the mental work to define the plot for themselves. Lay Your Armor Down is loosely centered around a 9-year old girl who is sought after by many people for clearly nefarious reasons, two friends/colleagues that are bound by their willingness to do jobs beyond the reach of the law, and a woman who has experienced trauma and looks after her neighbor suffering from dementia. The plot that unfolds leaves many questions unanswered and, again, requires the reader to come to their own conclusions and to fill in the blanks regarding meaning, symbolism, and motive, particularly with behind the scenes activity surrounding the main characters. To this reader, Smith shows the reader the ultimate respect and, truthfully, it's a gift to be allowed to interpret important details in a novel with no limitations - almost a poetic license. This might be Lay Your Armor Down's greatest attribute; Smith takes the risk of placing a lot of the undefined details of the novel in the reader's hands and, in this case, I believe this risk paid off. Masterful.