Aubrey Hamilton Reviews: November Road by Lou Berney

November Road by Lou Berney (William Morrow, October 9, 2018) is an astonishingly original piece of noir crime fiction based on the theory that President John Kennedy was killed by members of the Mafia to stop Kennedy’s attempt to curtail their activities. This theory has been tossed around a long time but has never had much to back it up.

Immediately after Kennedy’s death, the syndicate begins to methodically eliminate anyone who was involved, even peripherally. Frank Guidry, a lieutenant in the New Orleans organization who gets by on his charm and ability to convince just about anyone to do just about anything, realizes his minor errand in Dallas a couple of weeks before makes him one of the threads that needs to be cut, and he goes on the run. The only refuge he can think of is the old enemy of the boss who wants him dead so he heads west to Las Vegas.

In the meantime Charlotte Roy in a small town in Oklahoma decides that her dead-end life with an alcoholic husband is intolerable and abruptly packs her small daughters and their dog into the family car and starts out for California to the home of an aunt she hasn’t spoken to in years, desperately looking for a fresh start.

When Frank and Charlotte cross paths, he realizes she and her daughters are just the cover he needs to misdirect his pursuers, who will not be looking for a family of four. He ingratiates himself with Charlotte and tries hard to manipulate her, but as they travel together the tables are turned: the charismatic conman is enchanted by the little girls and he falls in love with Charlotte.

As the hit man on Frank’s trail gets closer, Frank and Charlotte both make irrevocable decisions that lead to the resolution of this powerful but bleak thriller.

I read this propulsive hard-hitting story in one afternoon. I am not the target audience for this book, which is darker than my usual fare. That doesn’t mean I don’t recognize it for the tour de force it is. Not surprisingly, the day after it was released a movie deal was announced. This book has blockbuster written all over it. Richly deserved starred reviews from Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers’ Weekly but not for the faint of heart.

·         Hardcover: 320 pages

·         Publisher: William Morrow (October 9, 2018)

·         Language: English

·         ISBN-10: 0062663844

·         ISBN-13: 978-0062663849

Aubrey Hamilton ©2018

Aubrey Hamilton is a former librarian who works on Federal It projects by day and reads mysteries at night.