Mercy of the Tide

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Average customer rating 3.5 (2 comments)

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The Mercy of the Tide is Keith Rosson’s debut novel, and it’s a strong one. Set in a tiny, depressed town on the Oregon Coast during the Reagan Administration, things start out dark, and they’re about to get a whole lot darker. Thank you, Net Galley and Meerkat Press for the DRC. This book will be for sale February 21, 2017, and those that love good fiction with a working class perspective will want a copy. This is a strong story with a tight, tense climax and a powerful resolution. This darkly delicious novel shows that Rosson is a force to be reckoned with; I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future. Full review is at Seattle Book Mama on Word Press.

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I am very conflicted about The Mercy of the Tide. The character development is wonderful. I cared about the people in the story and not just the four who are the focus of the story. There’s Sam’s best friend Toad and his uncle whose own sorrows will wring your heart. Sam and Trina’s father struggling with his own grief while trying to raise his children alone. There’s the two women who died in that awful accident, gone but never forgotten, grief for their loss animating Dobbs, Nick, Sam, and Trina. These people are fully realized, complex, interesting people for whom we come to care deeply. But then there is the plot, which just seems to never decide what it wants to be. It would be a more suspenseful, tighter, and far finer story if the entire element of Native American folklore were excised. First, it’s not based on real folklore and the Native American tribe and reservation are fictionalized. That’s just not right. If you are going to write about Native Americans in Oregon, don’t erase the real ones. Add to that the alternate history of Ronald Reagan, and the plot becomes annoying. So, as I said, I am conflicted. The characters are wonderful, so human and real. I wish they were in another story. I received an advance e-galley from the publisher through NetGalley.