Billy Dead

Rating:
Summary: Billy Dead is a heartwrenching look into the life of abuse
Review: I liked Billy Dead very much. I found myself not wanting the story to end as I neared the conclusion. The author, Lisa Reardon, writes the characters so vividly, i fell in love with them and wanted everything to turn out well.The main character, Ray, is a young man living in a small town. He is gentle and caring in a subtle way, but he also can be ruthless and confused...as well as self destructive. His older brother, Billy has just been killed and he has to cope with the flood of memories which have been unlocked by the murder. His family had always been the disfunctional, gossip fueling family, and Ray is in the middle of it as he struggles to save an unlikely and impossible love. I give it Four incredibly bright stars and I hope to read more from the very talented, Lisa Reardon. - Jen

Rating:
Summary: A gripping read and a beautifully written, vividly imagined
Review: I normally don't write reviews on the spot like this, but I finished Lisa Reardon's book last night and just can't get its characters out of my head. "Billy Dead" is more than just another gripping read or a voyeuristic look at the secret miseries of small-town deadbeats. It's the work of a compassionate, talented writer. This may be her first book, but Reardon's a seasoned artist, and what she's done in "Billy Dead" is to chart the terrible lives of her characters' lives without succumbing to easy moralizing or ironic commentary. But what really gives this book its power is her wonderful choice of narrator. For even at his most destructive Ray Johnson never stops seeing and understanding and feeling. He's a fully empathetic character. Maybe it's because we know him to be basically a sweet, vulnerable, honest man; or maybe it's because after experiencing his story we're forced to reconsider what really makes a "healthy" or "loving" relationship. Reardon's other stroke of mastery is the book's construction--how she slowly unpeels the deeper layers of Ray's story, dropping a hint here and there but taking her time to give us the details, so that the reader becomes fully involved in her story.

Rating:
Summary: Haunting--This book tore my heart out.
Review: This is a great book and author. Shows how family abuse and secrets can tear lives apart.