Rancor

Author: John House

Publisher: W&B Publishers

Release Date: August 28, 2017

Rating: 3.5 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

Can what is gained by revenge be saved by love?

Paul Roper believes that the town of Bakersville, Georgia destroyed his life as he knew it at the age of 14. His family was the typical family that loved each other, but one day in 1962 set a motion of events in order that eventually led to the death of his parents.  Shortly thereafter, he and his sister were placed in foster care and eventually split up.  Paul endured abuse in a juvenile detention center as well as other foster homes and felt that disaster followed him wherever he went.  At the age of 18, he was able to enlist in the army and soon found himself shipped off to Vietnam to endure even more horrifying experiences of death and destruction.  Eventually he found his way to becoming very competent with explosives and upon being cycled back stateside, took up an interest in firefighting and inspections.  When the legislature required that all cities and counties have a fire inspector, Paul finds that he may finally have the opportunity to extract his revenge on the town of Bakersville and rid the world of it once and for all.

This book was definitely a little different than my normal selections, but still held my interest through the entire book. It starts off in 1962 in the South with a lynching, suicide, sexual and emotional abuse, and the rarely seen darkness of the time period.  Add the Vietnam war to the mix and you’ve got a very clustered book.  Even so, the flow of the book stayed progressive making me want to get to the next chapter to see what was going to happen next.  Then there was also an unexpected love story that eventually changed Paul’s life for the better, but not before he almost ruined it for life.  I was glad to see that justice was finally served by the character who truly deserved to dish it out.

There is a lot of foul language throughout the book as well as some fairly strong sex scenes as well as implied homosexual rape. I recommend this book for mature audiences.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher.  The views and opinions expressed within are my own.