LitPundit Home of all things literary

I am not sure whether to sing praises for the moody exploration of a tortured human's character that forms the central theme of "Boot Tracks" or sigh at raw, sometimes bordering on incomprehensible style that the author Matthew F. Jones employs to create the atmosphere. I found myself ready to lay the book down for good at several places in the first part of the book only to continue because of the promising second part that I glanced through in despair. I can't say I was disappointed.

Boot Tracks follows the path of Charlie Rankin, recently released from prison, as he goes about repaying a jailbird lover through an assassination. The job goes horribly wrong, wrecking the moral fiber of Rankin, already stretched thin by his history as an abused kid. The only solace he finds is in the hands of Florence, an ex-porn star who strangely seems to be able to find a human dimension to Rankin's existence that he himself thinks had died a long time ago.

The book is no easy read since the author decides to inflict upon us the brooding feel through his style - absent punctuations, narratives cut short in mid-sentence, crossing time-shifted narratives.

(...) Rankin glimpsed through the woods out his window a lighted parking lot containing a handful of cars before a cluster of white stucco buildings.

Suggesting a top a good push would set to spinning, an upside down station wagon sat, empty and unattended (..)

Thankfully the second part of the book puts all this behind to the extent that the style begins to reinforce the storyline. Jones captures human emotions and the turmoil of the wretched soul well, while at the same time hinting at the evil that still remains.

(...) God and the devil were both ventriloquists so telling them apart in the dark was nearly impossible.

All in all, a good read with few bumps. The book left me with a lingering question - does one ever recover from an abused childhood? Does its ghost haunt one through the life?

So you think you will like "Boot Tracks"? Buy it from Amazon using our affiliate link and support us.