The Last Talk with Lola Faye Book

Every time I read a Thomas H. Cook book I'm always struck anew by just how good of a writer he is. He creates these terrific seemingly simple yet upon closer examination infinitely intricate dramas of ordinary lives visited by violent crimes and the way those visitations come to be and remain to echo and haunt. So to say that at the heart of this book is a murder mystery would be accurate, but also terribly insufficient. At the heart of this story is a heart. A heart of a man who, despite achieving moderate success in life, has been emotionally stunted by the events of his youth and a conversation that brings him back to life. Cook is in top form here, the plotting throws surprise curveballs just as you think you have it figured out, the writing is superb, humanity with its small kindnesses and outrageous cruelties of everyday life observed with outmost poignancy. This was by far the most emotionally engaging book I've read in a while. Impossible to put down, read in it one evening. Highly recommended.