The Life We Bury by Allen Eskens
Mysteries are not normally the genre of books I choose but this book really spoke to me. I have always been fearful of being wrongfully accused of a crime and that is the premise for this story. The title of the book was also a draw with the mystery of what is buried and that everyone has secrets that they bury with them.
I enjoyed the beginning that delved into the life of Carl Iverson, starting with him as a murderer. The author focused on the fact that although we judge this man based on the one (alleged) act, he is more than just one moment in time. Joe Talbert begins to unravel the life of Carl Iverson from beginning to end and shows the compassionate side of Carl, as well as the dependable and loyal side of Carl. I shows the fact that a law abiding citizen was caught up in a crime and although he has served his time, he may not have committed the crime.
It is an unbelievable possibility that the dying Carl is an innocent man and has been imprisoned wrongfully for decades. As Joe begins to research Carl’s history, he begins to understand the kind of man Carl is and that he may be incapable of committing this crime, despite the fact that he has admitted to being a killer and a murderer. However, his guilt comes from Vietnam and not from the killing of the young girl. “I’ve always known I didn’t kill her. And now you know. That’s enough for me (page 190).” It was tragic to know that he was innocent but had little time to be exonerated despite the evidence of his innocence. “Clearing his name mattered more to him than he had allowed anyone to see, maybe even more than he himself understood (page 246).”
The decoding of the diary was a good little twist but makes me wonder that the simplicity of it would make it easy to solve at the time of the trial. There were a few loose ends left in the story and there were several simple things that really gave away the criminal before the story unfolded. There was no reason to arrest Carl other than the fact that the crime happened on his property. The premise and justification for his guilt was weak and there were no other avenues searched for answers to the crime.
I enjoyed the telling of Carl’s story through the interview process. I felt that the crime was being unraveled from the stories being told from all sides. I feel that the ending did not give enough weight to Carl Iverson and had changed its focus from the dying man to the young Joe, who solves the case. I would have preferred a full circle ending to the story of Carl Iverson. I think that the novel was good but could have used better “mysterious” hints and clues.
What was your opinion of the title? Did it sum up the story? Did the novel live up to the title?
What did you think of the crime committed?
Did you figure out the culprit before the book divulged it?
What did you think of the mystery? Was it complex enough or too simple?
How did you feel about the Joe Talbert storyline?
Did you feel that something was missing from the story?
Do you enjoy the mystery genre?
Oh my gosh. This book was excellent!! I don’t usually read mysteries either, but this book was a page turner that I simply could not put down. After enjoying this and “Girl On The Train” so much, I’m thinking I should really read more mysteries!
I considered that the title of this book had more than one meaning. “The Life We Bury” applies to the hidden pasts of several of the characters, to include Carl, Joe, Lila, Douglas, DJ and Crystal. It is also a reference to what literally happened to Crystal Hagan and the other murder victims mentioned in the book–their lives were buried.
When you ask “what do you think about the crime committed?” are you asking about Crystal Hagan’s murder? Or Carl Iverson’s false imprisonment? Both were criminal and terrible injustices. So were the murders that Carl and Virgil witnessed in Vietnam.
I did figure out the culprit before the book divulged it, but I never was 100% sure until the ending. Therefore were a lot of twists that I definitely did not see coming. This book was really fun and a quick read. After each chapter ended I couldn’t wait to start the next one. I thought the book was well written with some well honed characters.
I did like the Joe Talbert story line. It was good to see a strong male character that also showed vulnerability, compassion, patience and kindness. Joe had a difficult up bringing and was very flawed, but he still tried very hard to live a respectable life and do the right thing. I really enjoyed Joe’s brother, Jeremy, and all of his idiosyncrasies. I also really loved the strong relationship Joe and Jeremy had and seeing how much Joe loved Jeremy.
The only thing that was missing was that I didn’t feel like we learned very much about Crystal Hagan… but then again, that may have been intentional. She was murdered at a young age, so no one really learned everything about her. She never had the chance to reach her full potential since her life was cut short.
Also, I wish we had more closure with Joe and Jeremy’s mother. She was such a bad person. She was very deserving of some type of justice. But that may have been intentional as well. Can someone ever really get closure if their loved one is an alcoholic and or druggie?
All in all I thought this was a great book and great choice for book club. It was exactly what I wanted to be curled up by our fireplace reading during cold and dreary December days.
I am so glad you liked it! I enjoyed it but I still feel like it lacked some of the imagery and details that we’ve been seeing in the last few books we read for the book club. The story itself was really great but it left me with more questions in the end. I agree that we could have known a little more about the story of Crystal, we could have learned more about the terrible mom and we could have been given an update on what happens to Jeremy.
I like that you asked which crime I was referring to too. I really forgot that the injustice of Carl’s conviction really was a crime in itself. A very tragic piece of this story. Great call!
I think it was a little bit predictable but all-in-all entertaining. I was really intrigued with this mystery and I need to look for more to read that are in this genre.