Gone Too Long by Lori Roy

 

This novel seemed to have lots to say about the inherent core depravity of the KKK and its members, but the story was simultaneously kinda muddled and more than a little obvious: I worked out the two or three big twists well before they were revealed, which ... might have been in the intended range, considering how clearly those things were telegraphed. Of course, "obvious" isn't just about plot details, and the intended message, here was pretty flipping obvious. The characters were kinda muddled and blurry around the edges, sometimes closer to the core--there are some characters who are doing things for reasons that aren't ever clear, without any apparently longer-term thinking about eventual inevitable repercussions. The prose was mostly stolid, without a lot of sparkle (some of that might have been that one of the primary POV characters is kinda uneducated). Even the ending was murky: There's clearly supposed to be something obvious happening next, but there are two options, and I don't think Ms. Roy was trying for a "The Lady or the Tiger?" kinda ending. Maybe I just wasn't in the fight headspace tonight, but this really didn't work for me all that well. Things happen.