A FAMILY OF KILLERS

Warren Bullock doesn't trust himself. Not when a little voice in his head keeps insisting he do terrible, horrible things. So far, he's kept his hands clean, but who knows what will happen if he lets his guard down? He might hurt someone. He might kill someone.

When some family friends goes missing, Warren's father sets out to find them. But then Warren's father disappears, too. Warren knows he's not the best choice to head a search party. Any of his brothers would be better, but his brothers all have farms and families of their own. It's up to Warren to head out and bring everyone home.

So Warren sets out for Kansas, following his father's footsteps, and in Kansas, he runs into a roadside inn run by the Bender family. They claim his father never came through, and Warren fears the trail's gone cold. But the Bender family seem... strange. And they've been watching his every move. Suddenly, Warren isn't so sure stopping by this wayside inn was the best choice...

THOUGHTS

This book feels like a definite improvement, craft-wise, over Don't Go to Sleep. It weaves history with thriller and sets up some pretty solid characters to carry the story. Overall, I enjoyed the read.

PROS

Lawlessness	I really appreciate that this book takes place in Missouri and Kansas, two states that rarely get any page time in contemporary publishing. And I appreciate, too, that this book dives into the history of these states, their lawless beginnings when they were just starting to be settled--when they were a battlefront, really, between locals and settlers and immigrants seeking fortune. Of course you can get away with a lot here. There's no set law in place to stop you, and there aren't enough people around to notice.

Nasty Descriptions	When it becomes quite evident that something truly terrible is happening in this lawless land, the descriptions of what Warren finds are... horrific. But in a good way. In the way they should be. The rot and desecration Warren stumbles across proves quite visceral in a way that shocks and elevates the tone of the story.

True Crime	Bryce Moore tells a compelling story here, a story built up on true crime (and true speculation from the past and today). This crime was once notorious, and Bryce Moore is helping to make sure this crime doesn't get lost in the annals of history by revitalizing it for a contemporary reader to experience right alongside Warren.

CONS

While I appreciate Moore's decision to represent mental illness in a historical context (something that is so rarely seen in historical fiction, which only perpetuates the myth that mental health struggles are only contemporary woes), this depiction of what I assume to be OCD was... not it. Especially in the opening pages, when Warren is really struggling, it feels like this book relies more on stereotypes than actual experiences of mental illness. And having your mentally ill character hearing violent, sociopathic voices just isn't where it is at. Intrusive thoughts can certainly be violent, but the depiction here felt more Mental Illness Is Scary than OCD Is Hard. And that's just... an underinformed narrative in the year 2024.	Mental Health Woes

The Southern accent written out in these pages is so strong it feels both difficult and uncomfortable to read, and I'm absolutely bewildered by this choice. Missouri, where Warren is coming from, is only very loosely considered to be Southern, and the local accent most definitely reflects that. A strong Southern drawl just isn't a thing in this state (take it from someone who has, you know, actually lived in Missouri before). Warren is also not a Missouri native, his family having moved several times (most recently from California). So the fact that they're all sporting this accent, too, feels... not right.	Southern Stereotypes

This is truly the longest "investigation" that ever happened. Don't get me wrong. I understand travel limitations and the slow spread of word-of-mouth news back in the day. Obviously, this isn't an investigation that's happening swiftly. It just, realistically, cannot. But at a certain point, it felt like the "investigation" had taken up way too much time, both in the plot and in the timeline of the book. Warren's investigation isn't particularly focused, and so his own lack of drive, motivation, and suspicion doesn't help the overly-long investigation, either.	On and On and On

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6/10

Fans of Bryce Moore's Don't Go to Sleep will like this new take on true (historical) crime. Those who love Willa Cather's My Ántonia will like to dive back into the frontier of these Great Plains states.