Published by Blue Rider Press on February 20, 2014
Deep Winter is a character-driven crime novel. The crime is secondary to the impact it has on the characters. The story has a Cormac McCarthy feel in its exploration of troubled and isolated lives. Few of the characters feel they have any ability to control their destinies. Events overtake them and they don't cope well. The plot is simple but filled with tension that elevates sharply as the story nears its conclusion. A significant amount of killing takes place, yet the story acts as a reminder of the value of life -- and of living it without judgment, pride, or selfishness.
Now middle-aged, Danny Bedford and Mindy Knolls have known each other since their childhood in Wyalusing, a town they never left. Deep Winter begins with Danny standing in Mindy's trailer looking down at her dead body. The narrative then moves back a few weeks, allowing the reader to follow the events that precede Mindy's death.
Danny suffered brain damage as a child. While the book is written in the third person, the chapters that follow Danny tend to use simple declarative sentences and language when echoing Danny's thoughts. The thoughts of the other small town characters are far from eloquent but the prose becomes more interesting in the chapters that do not focus on Danny.
Some chapters follow Deputy Sheriff Mike Sokowski, a redneck jerk who spends his days belittling Danny, using Mindy, and dealing weed. We meet additional characters in the novel's second half, most involved with law enforcement, who help carry the novel beyond Mindy's death. Whether justice will be done, or whether injustice will prevail, is the question that drives the plot. Yet what constitutes "justice" is often unclear, a point Deep Winter makes with force.
Whether people can change is another strong theme of Deep Winter. Some can, some can't, some won't. Many of the characters are torn apart by guilt. Other characters don't let themselves feel guilt. Key characters reach a point that requires them to make a choice about something that is fundamental to their lives, a choice about the kind of person they want to be. Some choose wisely. Others refuse to recognize the ability to choose. Diversity in character development and a recognition that different people respond to a moral crisis in different ways is the novel's strength. Readers looking for likable characters will find some in Deep Winter, as well as a truly despicable character and some who are flawed but worth rooting for. Samuel Gailey juggles the characters with more skill, and gives them greater depth, than is common in a first novel. He deserves an audience for his debut effort.
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