Under the Blood Tree

 PJ GRONDIN

Stats for my copy: Trade paperback, PD House Books, 2017.

How acquired: From the author through The Review Crew.

First lines: A distant lightning flash lit up the western night sky as four boys frantically ran through the wooded acreage bordering Cypress Lake Mobile Home Park. 

(Goodreads synopsis below.)

My thoughts: I wasn't really sure what to expect from this book. The prologue got off to a good start, with four boys racing through the woods to their "clubhouse", which was an old tree, and making a pact of silence sealed against the tree with their blood.

Chapter One picks up sixteen years later, and we are introduced to the men those boys have become, and their current lives. Two of the men are married with children, and living happy, successful lives. One is married to a very fragile wife. One is an alcoholic, in and out of jail. Incarcerated at the moment, and part of a chain gang cleaning up debris around a lake. A drought has shrunk the lake, turning up all sorts of items once covered by water, and finally revealing a car with a body inside. From there, we meet the police captain and a newspaper journalist who are both investigating the crime, and we slowly learn more about those four men and their connection to that car.

There isn't a lot of action, and there is quite a bit of description. Some inner musings from the characters as the four men nervously watch the news coverage of the investigation, worrying about their part in the events leading to that car ending up in the middle of the lake, worrying about each other and the pact they made, and who will be the first to break the pact, and whether their lives are about to be ruined. It's almost a character study. Almost, because despite all we learn about each man and his life, his thoughts and feelings, there isn't a lot of characterization. Two of the men and their wives were practically interchangeable for me, as I had trouble remembering which was which until quite a ways into the book. We learn a lot about the characters, without really getting to know them. 

The writing is adequate, sometimes painting evocative and vivid pictures, such as the description of that tree in the prologue, the dried up lakebed, the condition and ambience of the various mobile homes some of the characters live in. The plot is a bit convoluted, but not necessarily in a bad way, as it kept me guessing until practically the very end. About who actually killed the man in the car, but also about the secrets being kept by the the residents of the mobile home park.

It took me a little longer to read this book than it should have, but that was probably due more to my life and my job getting busy, because despite my somewhat negative review, at no time did I consider setting the book aside or not finishing it. It kept me interested and entertained enough to stay til the end, and that's a good thing.   

Goodreads synopsis: Severe drought ravages the Southeast. There is no end in sight as residents of Central Georgia brace for more of the same; unbearably hot, dry weather. <br>The fears of four young men are realized when the shrinking water level of Cypress Lake exposes a dark secret, hidden under the lake’s surface for sixteen years. Long ago, when they were best friends, they made a pact to never speak of the secret to anyone. Now their livelihoods, their marriages and possibly their very lives, hinge on keeping a childhood promise. Will they be able to maintain their silence or will the pact be broken …Under the Blood Tree?