The Life We Bury by Allen Askens

The Life We Bury is a phenomenal debut novel that centers about a college student’s journey to clear an innocent man’s name. It all starts with an assignment for an English class that leads the main character Joe Talbert to meet Carl Iverson, a man who spent 30 years in prison for the murder of a 14-year-old girl. Carl is now dying of cancer in a nursing home. The novel follows Joe as he becomes obsessed with finding the truth of Carl’s story, but also coming to terms with the truth concerning his Grandfather’s death. Juggling an alcoholic mother, his autistic brother, and an alluring yet passive female neighbor, Lila, Joe becomes determined to not just write Carl’s true story but to prove his innocence.

Eskens’ debut novel is both difficult and easy to read. The majority of the story centers on the rape and murder of a young girl, for which Carl is accused of, and the abuse Joe suffers at the hand of his mother. However, it is an easy read because of Eskens’s ability to bring his characters and their surroundings to life. He does this by creating a page-turning plot that is both heartbreaking and suspenseful.

Some may see Joe’s overall assignment as a plot device to bring the reader into Carl’s past, but at the same time it feels like a natural part of the story and does not affect the flow or quality of the storytelling. Dialogue can be hit or miss in some novels, but one of Allen Eskens’ strengths is his production of natural dialogue that feels like a movie playing in your head.

A drawback to The Life We Bury is the slight shift into cliché plot elements towards the end of the novel. But I won’t talk about them in specific details because...spoilers. However, none of these cliché moments are deal breakers for enjoying the novel. Some are for the purpose of creating an emotional response in the lead up to the story's climax, while another is an emotional device for the readers to gain some closure and not worry too much about the characters after the events of the end of the novel.

The Life We Bury is truly a character-driven story. Each comes to life with each page, making it hard to say goodbye when the book comes to an end. This is a novel that should not be passed by in the abundant market of crime thrillers. It is that kind of book that will sit on your shelf for years to be pulled off occasionally and re-read for guaranteed entertain from start to finish.

Review by Sarah Hinrichs