The Devil All the Time

All hail the new undisputed king of Appalachian Noir.

I'm not sure how he did it, but with "The Devil All the Time" Donald Ray Pollock, had me simultaneously appalled at the depravity of some of his amoral characters and yet so charmed by the hauntingly beautiful language he uses to tell his story that I was compelled to keep turning pages.

Actually, I think I do know he did it. It all comes down to the way in which he guided me on the long, winding and often fruitless journey in search of redemption as his antiheroes. Because whilst amateur-photojournalists-cum-mass-murderers Carl and Sandy and disturbed arachnophile preacher Roy may seem beyond repair, there's at least a glimmer of hope for some members of the tenacious tragedy-magnet Russell family. As he weaves the tales of these variously troubled types together for the two decades that follow the second world war and back and forth across the state lines of Ohio and West Virginia, Pollock keeps us hanging on to his every dramatic word as we anticipate the impending chaos when certain paths eventually cross.

A bleak but brilliant tale of the disturbed and the scarred, in America's heartland.
Nic Bottomley (Tue 1st Nov 2011)