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    The Line That Held Us: A Novel
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    The Line That Held Us: A Novel
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    The Line That Held Us: A Novel
    Audiobook7 hours

    The Line That Held Us: A Novel

    Written by David Joy

    Narrated by MacLeod Andrews

    4/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From critically acclaimed author David Joy comes a remarkable novel about the cover-up of an accidental death, and the dark consequences that reverberate through the lives of four people who will never be the same again.

    When Darl Moody went hunting after a monster buck he's chased for years, he never expected he'd accidentally shoot a man digging ginseng. Worse yet, he's killed a Brewer, a family notorious for vengeance and violence. With nowhere to turn, Darl calls on the help of the only man he knows will answer, his best friend, Calvin Hooper. But when Dwayne Brewer comes looking for his missing brother and stumbles onto a blood trail leading straight back to Darl and Calvin, a nightmare of revenge rips apart their world. The Line That Held Us is a story of friendship and family, a tale balanced between destruction and redemption, where the only hope is to hold on tight, clenching to those you love. What will you do for the people who mean the most, and what will you grasp to when all that you have is gone? The only certainty in a place so shredded is that no one will get away unscathed.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 14, 2018
    ISBN9780525590699
    Unavailable
    The Line That Held Us: A Novel
    Author

    David Joy

    David Joy is the author of When These Mountains Burn (winner of the 2020 Dashiell Hammett Award), The Line That Held Us (winner of the 2018 Southern Book Prize), The Weight of This World, and Where All Light Tends to Go (Edgar finalist for Best First Novel). His stories and creative nonfiction have appeared in a number of publications, and he is the author of the memoir Growing Gills: A Fly Fisherman’s Journey and a coeditor of Gather at the River: Twenty-Five Authors on Fishing. Joy lives in Tuckasegee, North Carolina.

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    Reviews for The Line That Held Us

    4/5

    73 ratings11 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I have no idea what to rate this or what to do with that ending.
    • 5/5
      I was very surprised to like this book immensely. This easily has to be one of my favorites for 2018. I read this in almost one sitting and the plot grabbed me from the very first page. It’s dark and moody, somber and serious, but it’s worth to read from cover to cover in one sitting. You can take a guess things weren’t to go very well once things hit the fan, what you probably didn’t expect is the snowball to get big enough that it affects a larger group of people. Yet once you get to know what kind of a person Dwayne is, he’s quite the man of extremes. On the other hand, can you really blame him though? After what he’s gone through and his childhood, he truly has no one else but his brother. Now it doesn’t excuse him for what he did, but it goes to show at what extremes people would get to because of people or things being taken away from them. I just loved the overall mood and tone of the book. It’s quaint because it’s set in a small town. Everyone knows each other since childhood, certain family names stand out and are prominent due to reputation or how long they’ve been in town. It’s a great setting and the characters are realistic. Although each had their own ghosts and secrets, it provided more realism to them and they’re not so perfect and they’re all pretty much flawed. This is what made the book so good. The plot was good and provided easy reading. You’d want to know what happens and the ending wasn’t what I expected, it was a great ending however it would have been nice to hear about the outcomes of some of the characters featured. Definitely recommend this book. I enjoyed it absolutely from start to finish.
    • 3/5
      Dark southern noir, this instantly reminded me of Frank Bill. It's gory, raw, and gritty. An accidental murder and the subsequent cover up of it, will bring this small Appalachian town to it's knees. The brother of the murdered man is out for blood, and he won't stop until he gets his revenge. Told through three perspectives, this gritty revenge tale isn't something you'll soon forget.
    • 4/5
      The setting is rural Appalachia. Darl Moody goes hunting and accidently kills a man who is a member of a family that will exact revenge if they find out. His best friend and his brother become involved and, you know, no good can come from this.
    • 5/5
      Darl Moody accidentally shoots Carol (Sissy) Brewer while poaching deer on the property of Tillmon (Coon) Coward. Carol was poaching ginseng on Coon's property, when Darl mistook him for a wild hog. Calling the police would have been smart, but that didn't happen. Instead Darl panics and gets his best friend Calvin Hooper to help him, but their efforts wind up tearing apart not only their lives, but those of the people around them. Darl and Calvin aren't smart enough to hide from Carol's brother Dwayne, who is filled with an equal mix of grief and the desire for revenge. Dwayne has spent his whole life protecting Carol and isn't going to stop now. What would you do if someone killed the only person you had to love in this world? How far would you go to help your best friend? Whose life means more to you? Should you spread the pain you feel or can you find redemption and end the cycle? This book makes you think about all of those questions and leaves a giant one unanswered at the end. It was brilliant. This was my third book by this author and I'll read anything else he chooses to write. I like it that he writes southern noir with the minimum of the clichés of the genre. This book had characters with actual jobs other than meth dealer. There were no guys who spend all their time drinking beer as they ride around in their pickups, stopping occasionally to commit senseless acts of violence. Not that this book wasn't violent. It's just that I understood the motivation. Even Dwayne's, who was ultimately a tragic (though scary) figure. There are also some disgusting (non-violent) scenes that are not for the squeamish and some small animals are murdered horrifically. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
    • 4/5
      Southern noir, Southern grit, I guess there are several different classifications for this type of book. An accidental shooting, posching outside of the official deer season, leads to untold violence. Sonny is the man accidentally shot to death, mistake for a deer, leading to a cover up, that doesn't stay covered up. Revenge, one of the oldest motives in the Appalachians. Okay, I'm going to be honest. I am wimpy and this was so violent in places it was outside my comfort zone. I did admire the writing, Dwayne's mental decline as Sissy's body rotted was genius if cringe worthy. I did not feel sorry for Daryl at all. He lost someone, well the only person he loved, came from a horrible background, true, but that is no excuse for what he does, and to an innocent person . Though he does have some specisl insights and does follow his own moral code, he is definitely a interesting if albeit violent character.I have given this four stars, mainly for the writing and because I liked Cal, liked how he changed throughout the book. Liked the less than definitive ending.Despite the violence the book does highlight the importance and loyalty of friends snd family, which I did like. Also liked the less than definitive ending. ARC from Netgalley.
    • 5/5
      Holy crap this is my new fav author. I have a massive book hangover from this one. This (his) third book just came out in August. What am I going to do now? ??. I’ve read thousands of books and let me tell you, David Joy needs to be on your radar. I recommend so much the audiobook version of this. It was like listening to a movie! Macleod Andrews is a brilliant narrator. Lately I can’t seem to get enough of Southern Noir/Grit Lit. So this genre isn’t for the faint of heart. But let me tell you of this genre, Joy has a way of making you care for a character- rather than just detest them all. I can’t wait to see the future ahead for this author. Just brilliant!
    • 3/5
      Great writing. Story too depressing though. There are moments of wisdom.
    • 4/5
      The author has chosen to leave the Appalachian meth and addiction world behind with this book, The Line That Held Us, but the lyrical, poetic beauty of his writing is 100 percent present.
      For me this book was not as good as his to previous books. There wasn’t enough character development of anyone but Dwayne who is quite likely crazy, and who is the central evil in the book. The book certainly touches on a number of religious themes and morality but I don’t think this type of story was where to try this. I also was disappointed with the way the story ends.
      Great writing but not as good of a story as either of his other books.
    • 5/5
      This book is easily one of the best books that I have read this year. I finished reading this book a couple of days ago but I haven't stopped thinking about it and I don't think that I will anytime soon. This book popped on my radar when I read a couple of really good reviews around the time it was released last year. I knew that I wanted to read it but life got in the way as it often does. I am so glad that I took the time to read this book now because it was absolutely fantastic.This is the story of a small group of people in a small town in the mountains. One decision will forever change their lives and there is no going back. Darl knows that it's not hunting season but he decided to try to get a deer anyway. When he sees a hog in the woods, he takes the shot. Only it's not a hog or a deer. It's a man and everything is about to change. Instead of calling the authorities, Darl decides to cover up what happened and he asks his best friend, Calvin for help. Unfortunately, the dead man's brother, Dwayne, is determined to make those who took so much from pay for their actions.This story was rather brutal but I also found beauty in the way it brought what really matters to the forefront. This is a gritty and violent story filled with rich descriptions. There were more than a few surprises in the story and I had a hard time putting the book down because I had to know how things would work out. Even though the story was rather dark and grim, I found that this was still a story about hope, love, and the lengths a person will go to for those that they love."Fate's a funny thing, he thought, the way things might seem meaningless at the time, but wind up being what brought down a man's whole life."I thought that the writing was superb. I just felt like there was a certain beauty to the way the author put words together to tell this tale. I actually found myself re-reading certain passages because I was so taken with the prose. Not only was the writing beautiful, but the story was also nicely paced. I never felt like the story dragged with more active scenes being nicely balanced with other scenes that were more thoughtful. The story grabbed me from the very first page and never let up. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy dark, gritty stories that pack a big punch. I loved everything about this book and cannot wait to read more of this talented author's work.
    • 5/5
      David Joy has quickly risen to the top of my favourite authors list. His world is dark and downtrodden, his characters always broken and flawed and beaten down by life, but with a small glimmer of hope still in their restless souls.

      His observations of life are wonderful. His plots deceptively simple. And his writing is sublime.

      He's similar in tone to John Hart, with some Dennis Lehane thrown in for good measure, but he's darker and grittier than both.

      And he's not predictable. While I was able to figure out some of the plot points, Joy also surprised me at a couple of spots, and that's always a good thing, providing the surprise is logical while still remaining unexpected.

      I'll read anything this guy puts out now.