The Trees

A Novel

By: Percival Everett

Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn

An uncanny literary thriller addressing the painful legacy of lynching in the US, by the author of Telephone

Percival Everett's The Trees is a must-listen that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.

The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America's pulse.

©2021 Percival Everett (P)2022 Tantor

Extraordinary

Reading top notch
Story funny poignant and deeply moving
A totally refreshing approach to racism in the usa

Bizarre and Delightful

Percival Everett is amazing. This book is…many things, to say the least! But an enjoyable read. The audio actor is great.

Strange Fruit

Interesting story, and I loved how it was woven together, but I don't enjoy listening to dialogue full of F-bombs and other profanity. I was distracted by this narrator's inflection, which seemed unnatural, and definitely detracted from the story.

The humor, the gore, the storytelling makes you lean in!

I just finished listening to The Trees audible—and honestly, I stretched it out over several days because I didn’t want it to end. I friggin' loved it. The voice, the humor of the detectives, the townspeople, the pain, the horror, the gruesome murders—all felt alive in my ears. I couldn’t get enough. A must read!

Worthwhile

The narrator is simply fabulous. The first 75% of the novel is fantastic, but I found later sections labored and weaker in conception. Everett is a master of blending genres; not many fiction writers can move so smoothly between police procedural, humor, history, and horror. The white characters are simplistic and one-dimensional, which weakens the narrative, at least for me.