Name: When These Mountains Burn
ISBN: 9780525536888

David Joy

When his addict son gets in deep with his dealer, Raymond Mathis decides to take matters into his own hands. Denny Rattler supports his adrenaline-chasing habit through careful theft, following strict rules that keep him out of jail. Until he makes two choices that change everything. When a DEA agent gets a single lead about the drugs, he'll need help from the most unexpected quarter to solve the case. As chance brings together these men from different sides of a relentless epidemic, each may come to find that his opportunity for redemption lies with the others.

When These Mountains Burn

Ryan LaFerney

"Life was for the living and death was for the dead, and there was enough beauty and grace in both to mend the most tender and broken."

When These Mountains Burn is a book about addictions and especially a book about grief. As I'm sure you know, opiates steal thousands of souls every day. In North Carolina, where When These Mountains Burn take place (I believe), in 2018 alone, an estimated 79% of drug overdose deaths involved opioids. It's an epidemic that is literally destroying our society, tearing families apart.

David Joy's When These Mountains Burn tackles this horrible subject in a fast-moving story crime story, one that is focused on the bonds of family, father and sons, and the horror of addictions and the hope of healing. 

The novel is about Raymond Mathis, Denny Rattler, DEA Agent Ronald Holland, and addiction. Mathis is attempting to save his son from opiates and is trying to carry on without his wife who is deceased. This impulse to rescue his son is ruining him, both emotionally and financially. Denny Rattler is a Cherokee Nation member and heroin addict. Denny commits calculated, small crimes to get funding for his next high. Holland is a DEA Agent who has lost his belief in the criminal justice system. Holland is a mercenary, in it for money and excitement. As the novel progresses, Raymond’s son dies with Denny in the room. Simultaneously, Agent Holland investigates the murky drug-world of Western North Carolina.

These three men, through the weight of unavoidable decisions, become entangled with one another. A vigilante, a junkie, and a lawman float through Appalachia’s hills. Things get violent, unexcepted alliances are formed, and it ends in a very surprising way. 

And I personally found the ending to be incredibly powerful and moving.

With memorable characters, ingenious plotting, and attention to detail, and often, moving prose, Joy has written a masterful work of crime fiction. It's unforgettably powerful and quite visceral. Don't miss out on reading this novel.

David Joy is truly a gifted storyteller. I look forward to reading more of his work.

When These Mountains Burn

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