Pickard County Atlas

A Novel

By: Chris Harding Thornton

Narrated by: James Fouhey

Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

"An atmospheric, slow-burning beauty of a book, rich with raw-edged lyricism and achingly real characters." (Tana French, author of The Searcher)

Small-town secrets loom large in this spellbinding rural noir about the aftershocks of crime and trauma that shake a Nebraskan town.

In a dusty town in Nebraska’s rugged sandhills, weary Sheriff’s Deputy Harley Jensen patrols the streets at night, on the lookout for something - anything - out of the ordinary. It’s July 1978, and the heat is making people ornery, restless. That and the Reddick family patriarch has decided, decades after authorities ended the search for his murdered boy’s body, to lay a headstone. Instead of bringing closure, this decision is the spark that threatens to set Pickard County ablaze.

On a fateful night after the memorial service, Harley tails the youngest Reddick and town miscreant, Paul, through the abandoned farms and homes outside their run-down town. The pursuit puts Harley in the path of Pam Reddick, a restless young woman looking for escape, bent on cutting the ties of motherhood and marriage. Filled with desperate frustration, Pam is drawn to Harley’s dark history, not unlike that of her husband, Rick - a man raised in the wreckage of a brother’s violent death and a mother’s hardened fury.

Unfolding over six tense days, Pickard County Atlas sets Harley and the Reddicks on a collision course - propelling them toward an incendiary moment that will either redeem or end them. Engrossing, darkly funny, and real, Chris Harding Thorton’s debut rings with authenticity and a nuanced sense of place even as it hums with menace, introducing an astonishing new voice in suspense.

A Macmillan Audio production from MCD

©2021 Chris Harding Thornton (P)2021 Macmillan Audio

Anticlimactic

The characters were well drawn, but the story was just confounding. Gloomy and hopeless atmosphere throughout then no real resolution , or at least not one that was satisfying. This writer has talent but needs a more focused approach. Not a complete waste of time but it could have been so much better.

Great Midwest Noir

For fans of Cormac. Dark drama that perfectly represents Midwestern people, and their inability to communicate. Voice actor sounded weirdly like Matthew McConaughey and did a great job of reading the book.

Remarkable. Stellar writing.

I heard that this book is a thriller and I completely disagree. This is a beautifully written, intense story about six (?) days in the life of a family that had had a tragedy years before. It’s one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. Tara French recommends this as the best book of the year and I have to say although I enjoy her writing, this writing is far more sophisticated. I can’t wait for this author to put out her next book. (Just read her bio on the back cover and it will hook you:)

I have one comment about the narrator. He does a great job and he has an amazing voice; but there’s a kind of a southern drawl that he has that I don’t think would be typically heard in Nevada. That’s for me off for a while but it’s not very important in the scheme of things. Read this book!

Dramatically Disappointed

I read a review of this book which gave it high praise. But I am disappointed. The story was dark and moody, giving the reader the impression that something big would happen with each page turn or at least with each chapter. Instead, the story plodded along, with interesting starts to character development, until the big reveal at the end, which honestly was underwhelming.

The narrator's voice is wonderfully deep and mellow, fitting the book's mood. However, there was not enough variation in his voice between characters, making it difficult to tell who was talking at times. Also, the entire book was read in a dramatic fashion. It was exhausting to listen to. Perhaps this book would have been better to read than to listen to.

i really wanted to love this

but the narrator makes me crazy. my entire family is from nebraska and NONE of them sound like this. completely spoiled this book for me even tho the story was intriguing.