Review by Jack Smith
It seems that I am drawn to authors who write about the dark side and the desperation of men. When I started this novel I was depressed, when I finished I was suicidal. Welcome to the world of Cormac McCarthy who lives on the Texas/Mexico border and naturally writes about an environment that he is unfortunately well versed in. The time is current day and rustlers have given way to cartels and drug runners. Small border towns have become free fire zones. Llewellyn Moss, while in the desert, finds a pickup truck surrounded by a bodyguard of dead men, a load of heroin and two million dollars in cash. When Moss takes the money, he sets off a chain reaction of catastrophic violence that not even law – in the person of aging and disillusioned Sheriff Bell – can contain. Moss tries to evade his pursuers, in particular a mysterious hit man who flips coins to see if you live or die. McCarthy has created a new genre that I think of as Cowboy Noir. The 2007 movie is filled with today’s top actors who bring this black thriller to the screen. Great book, great movie, hold on to your soul.
