A Place Called Hope

A Place Called Hope by Morgan Greene
9/19/24; 383 pages
Canelo 

 

A Place Called Hope by Morgan Greene is a very highly recommended small-town crime thriller. This is an excellent, atmospheric, compelling novel that has great emotional depth.

Hope is the struggling, dying small town where Lucas Caldwell, 18, lives and wants to escape - but he can't. He has to take care of his little brother Rueben, who is delayed and acts younger than his 12 years. Their mother, Liss struggles with addiction to alcohol and drugs which makes her ability to hold a job problematic, let alone caring for her sons. Right now Lucas's job pays for food and clothes from the thrift store for Rueben. Liss has no idea how much Lucas does to make sure Rueben is cared for in her absence.

Liss ignores her father, Lucky, who is in a care facility, but Lucas loves his grandfather and visits him regularly. When Lucky takes a turn for the worse Lucas is able to talk to him just before he dies and Lucky confides a secret he has been holding for years. This secret leads to a decades old crime and potentially millions of dollars. Looking for the windfall that could bring his family out of poverty and provide for his little brother opens up the floodgates of violence, greed, and corruption.

Lucas is a fully realized character who has strengths and flaws. His care for Rueben is thoughtful and loving. He shares his grandfather's secret with his best friends, Bryson Shaw, son of the richest, greediest man in town, and Constance Abernathy, who is truly a good person and long time friend. They become embroiled in the drama and violence, especially Bryson, who is really a jerk. The narrative mainly follows Lucas but there are several other minor characters who are struggling, living on the fringes of society, and feel hopeless. They stand in sharp contrast to those who are greedy and corrupt.

A Place Called Hope features excellent writing in the descriptive, atmospheric, compelling, tension-packed, and complex novel. It is also peripherally a story of the downtrodden. It is not always an easy novel to read as most of the characters are deeply flawed and the despair, maltreatment, violence, and corruption seem to be readily turned to as the greed increases. As the plot unfolds, the tension, danger, and violence increase incrementally right up to the heart-pounding ending. Thanks to Canelo for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.