Novels Now

Kirk Curnutt
329 pages

What had being the parent of a murdered child taught her? Nothing-nothing except the inexhaustiblility of her own anger, anger at constantly being reminded of what she’d lived through, what she’d always be living through, and most of all anger at the presumption that she should be over it, that she should have proved that life goes on, if not for her sake then for the sake of those around her. That was never the hard part, Sis thought. Life went on anyway, whether you wanted it to or not. The hard part was being left behind to breathe out the ghost of the one who’d gone on. - Breathing Out the Ghost, pg 49

A young boy named A.J. St. Claire has gone missing and his father, Colin, is on a self-destructive trek up and down the interstate searching for his son.

Robert Heim is a private investigator who has become too involved. So involved that he has lost his investigator’s license and is near losing his family. Still, he lays it all on the line one final time to help rescue Colin from the inevitable train wreck that is coming.

Sis Pruitt is the pillar of her family. She’s a farmer’s wife and mother of two small children. She also lost her daughter to a murderer several years ago. She heads up a support group for the parents of murdered children and she sits with others who are dealing with loss even at great cost to herself emotionally. She has tried to help others and move on but her grief remains raw

These three paths converge in a small town in Indiana. Another young boy is missing and his disappearance sparks a cascade of events that opens old wounds and leaves them all grappling with emotions and struggling for answers.

Breathing Out the Ghost is not a light or easy read. It’s a complex story that deals some very dark issues: the death of a child, missing children, grief, anger, mental illness, suicide, drug abuse, sexual perversion, marital problems, and abandonment. It deals with them in a very frank way and it doesn’t pull any punches.

However, Kirk Curnutt’s writing is clear and beautiful. Colin’s desperation to do something in the face of the loss of his son is palpable. Heim’s inability to prevent himself from jumping in to the fire with Colin again, even in the face of what it could cost him, is both admirable and frustrating. Sis Pruitt’s struggle over the loss of her daughter and to keep her memory alive, even so many years later, is heart-wrenching.

An added bonus of this book for me is that I am very familiar with several areas where the story takes place and I could envision them as I read.

This is a dark and emotional story and it’s never a comfortable read but I highly recommend it. (4.5/5)