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The Devil All the Time

By Donald Ray Pollock

Set in the holler of Ohio and West Virginia this sinister tale weaves together the lives of some of fiction’s saddest souls. Spanning from the end of WWII to the 1960s we follow Willard Russell and his son Arvin as they try to save his mother through sacrifice, Carl and Sandy Henderson who pick up hitchhikers to brutally murder, and Roy and Theodore a twisted duo of preaching fools. All of their stories happen independently, but come crashing together in a destructive finale, and a bucket of blood. Being adapted by Netflix into a movie produced by Jake Gyllenhaal and starring Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, and Bill Skarsgard. Release is May 2020.

320

July 12, 2011

“Only in the presence of death could he feel the presence of something like God. “

Thoughts

Sheesh. This story drips with dark and twisted tones as it weaves in and out of the lives of its characters. While one hundred percent jarring at first this evil tale moves quickly and almost glances over the most shocking stuff you’ll read in a book. You sort of become numb to the brutal violence and absolute filth in the dialogue and start to accept it around page one hundred. After that your inner devil comes out and you keep opening the book back up for more. While you’ll read some lines and immediately need to go to church, the book examines religion and confronts the vice grip it has on this type of town. Every character, including the most righteous, have a painful addiction that enables their decisions. For most, it brings them to their reckoning. For the select few, it lifts them up on their road to redemption. Sure, you may vomit while reading this, but it’s one of those books that will make you think back on its characters fondly. Really excited to see how Netflix adapts this with its star-studded cast, and if they can handle all the gore on the screen without getting sued.

The Devil All the Time

By Donald Ray Pollock

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