The Life We Bury

By: Allen Eskens

Narrated by: Zach Villa

College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same. Carl is a dying Vietnam veteran-and a convicted murderer. With only a few months to live, he has been medically paroled to a nursing home after spending thirty years in prison for the crimes of rape and murder.

As Joe writes about Carl's life, especially Carl's valor in Vietnam, he cannot reconcile the heroism of the soldier with the despicable acts of the convict. Aided by his skeptical neighbor, Lila, Joe throws himself into uncovering the truth. Thread by thread, he begins to unravel the tapestry of Carl's conviction. But as he and Lila dig deeper into the circumstances of the crime, the stakes grow higher. Will Joe discover the truth before it's too late to escape the fallout?

©2014 Allen Eskens (P)2015 Tantor

Critic reviews

"More complications ensue, until the novel's satisfying resolution." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

Is this Nancy Drew Meets a Hardy Boy?

Don't get me wrong, I rather liked this book. The narration was superb, lulling me to staying with this one until I finished it in just over two days. However, there were moments when I thought I was listening to an old Nancy Drew meets a Hardy Boy mystery. It was just a little simplistic, unrealistic, predictable to my way of thinking. It is an easy listen, has a few twists and turns as mysteries go, and has a somewhat pleasant ending. Yes, I mostly liked it, but a little more mystery to it all would have been welcome.

Lightweight, Quick, Easy Listen For Home or Beach

I found this book to be an easy, quick listen that kept my attention. Sure, the ending was predictable but that is what made the listen fun--I felt no need to stress out. Sometimes, "lightweight" can be a desirable characteristic. I often read reviews that describe books as a great 'beach reads'. I always wonder just what that means, since so many of us have no access to beaches or even extended stays when we do get to see the ocean. But here we have what I, myself, could describe as a great beach read, one that I could enjoy while either lying on the sand, strolling for miles along the ocean's edge, or laying down in a quaint cottage while the wind blows outdoors and it rains cats and dogs. Summer isn't even a necessary element.

Briefly then, a college student has an English assignment to complete. He must interview a stranger and write a brief biography. Our protagonist, Joe, chooses go to an old folks' home (I can say that because I am an old folk) to do his interview. He is lucky enough to be able to interview a convicted felon who is there on a compassionate leave from prison due to a terminal illness. Sure, Joe goes in with preconceived notions, but not so long after, he becomes convinced that felon, Carl, just may not have committed the crime.

The collateral characters are interesting enough--Joe's autistic brother, Joe's awful, alcoholic mother (parents always suck, don't they?), Joe's attractive neighbor, Lila, and several potential bad guys and candidates for the crime Carl was convicted of.

As long as you keep in mind that this is not DEEP literature, the writing is not exquisite, and it is the author's first novel (I think), you could find this an entertaining and charming listen.

Amazingly, author Allen Eskens lucked out and got a great narrator. Zach Villa does a bang up job and fits the story perfectly.

So, read the rest of the reviews and you decide whether to believe the greater majority of listeners or the few curmudgeons (who have just finished a creative writing class which really focused on literary criticism.)

First rate!

I came so close to not buying this book because I was under the assumption that a big part of it would be focused on the Vietnam War. Having lived through it, I could do without hearing about details of possible atrocities. If Audible hadn't kept throwing it up as a suggestion based on book's I'd purchased, I'd have never even given it a chance. Actually, the numerous reviews helped make my decision easier. After listening to a sample, I was sold on the narrator. Bad narration ruins a good book for me, and this narrator is first rate! This book is excellent, with very little of it describing the war. I'm so glad Audible kept after me.

the life we bury.. a very good title

I was a little uncomfortable with the grafic parts with Lila and the Vietnam rape.
I loved how the hero thought thru what he needed to do and how he was so compassionate with brother and Carl. The ending was very good.

An intelligent book and an engaging thriller

A struggling college student, Joe Talbert, finds himself by chance pulled into an old murder case when he begins to interview , for a biography-writing project for his English class, a dying ex-con for a biography-writing project Joe's own complicated family and personal life (a dysfunctional mother, an autistic brother and the memories of the tragic dead of his grandfather witnessed as a child) become as important as the amateur investigation that he launches with Lila, a student with her own baggage of dramatic experiences. Joe’s life and the research for truth in what appears to be a miscarriage of justice move in parallel in a plot that is intelligent, very well written and engaging. The rich character development, the dialogues and psychological aspects along with a growing suspense make this great story and a fascinating reading experience.
This is by far best book I’ve read this year: I strongly recommend it.