Serena by Ron Rash
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is one of the best mysteries I've read in years. From the very first paragraph to the end, I couldn't put it down. I "read" the audio version which was expertly narrated. Set in the western mountains and hollows of North Carolina, the novel traces the villainous couple, Serena and Pemberton, as they slash and burn their way through timbered valleys, trying to stay one step ahead of the U.S. Department of Interior's push to acquire land for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There is a mythic quality to the story, especially in the superb conclusion and this is clearly intentional. It is my first reading of anything by Ron Rash and he is a skill fully storyteller.

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