​BOOK REVIEW: THE YEAR OF THE STORM BY JOHN MANTOOTH

“‘The Year  of the Storm’ (2013):
Genre-bending fantasy coming-of-age horror has a welcome rerelease”

One of the highlights of this latest year in books was the welcome discovery of Hank Early who wrote two outstanding ‘Hillbilly Noir’ thrillers “Heaven’s Crooked Fingers” (2017) and its direct sequel “In the Valley of the Devil” (2018). The first book was so good I had already, excitedly, bought the sequel before I finished the first and had the great pleasure of reading them back to back last summer. Set in a mountainous region of rural Georgia, both novels feature Earl Marcus, a private detective (with a load of issues) who returns home after two decades in exile to solve a strange family mystery. Although they are not horror novels, these incredibly atmospheric dark thrillers with a vague supernatural undercurrent and are top loaded with superb characters and terrific plots. I’ve never drunk moonshine in the Georgian mountains, but these great books take me right there. I give these detective thrillers my highest possible recommendation.
 
What’s this got to do with John Mantooth’s “The Year of the Storm” which was first published in 2013 you quite rightly ask? Mantooth is the alter-ego of Hank Early and since his “Earl Marcus” detective novels have seen some success Mantooth’s “The Year of the Storm” has been rereleased with a new cover and prequel novella “Broken Branch”. Bracken MacLeod also writes a new introduction. 2019 should see a third book in the series and I cannot wait.
 
Before we get into the nitty-gritty of the outstanding “Year of the Storm” I must stress how incredibly different this book was to his detective novels. Apart from the similar rural settings, one would never imagine they came from the same hand. Now that’s clever writing. For a while is seemed this 2018 rerelease would be published under the name Hank Early, but in the end they decided to stick with John Mantooth. I think overriding reason for this was because the books are such different experiences and detective fans might not necessarily enjoy “The Year of the Storm” and with Hank Early well on his way in creating his own very successful brand of ‘Hillbilly Noir’ one can understand why they have been kept separate.
 
I love both Mantooth and Early and soaked-up every moment of this weird and wonderful tale. The novel opens sometime after fourteen-year-old Danny’s mother and autistic little sister disappear in a huge storm. There were no clues and the police are baffled, but slowly it is revealed that the mother was loaded with problems of her own. After her vanishing Danny has a fractured relationship with his father and his story is a convincing coming of age tale of friendships, school and loss. Soon he makes a new best friend who has many issues of his own but might be able to help Danny who refuses to believe his mother is dead. Months later, a worn-out Vietnam veteran named Walter Pike moves into a nearby shack and turns up at Danny’s door claiming to know where his mother and sister are, which introduces a crucial supernatural angle to the plot. To some extent you will also question what truly is the truth? As there is more than a whiff of an unreliable narrator and a story being misremembered over time.
 
The second story thread takes us back to 1960 to when Walter was a teenager and the issues and prejudices he had growing up in the same neighbourhood. The two stories may be generations apart, but soon they converge in a very powerful manner. Combined this brilliant story covers many areas; how we process traumatic experiences, memory of childhood experiences, loss and standing up for yourself and friends. The unconventional supernatural twist is a very clever aspect of the story, whereas the author’s detective novels are much vaguer this is very focussed and is effortlessly threaded into the novel and pulls it in an unexpected direction. However, I’m not going to provide any further spoilers, but prepare for a strange journey.
 
I love strange genre-bending novels which defy categorisation and “The Year of the Storm” is up there with the best of them; a deft combination of fantasy, thriller and coming-of-age drama.  It has so many terrific sequences; those dealing with bullying (a boy is almost drowned in quicksand) and the exploration of sexuality (and confusion) were amongst the finest. Like with his detective novels, the author has a terrific knack for effortlessly laying down a believable time and place. Ultimately it’s a very powerful and engaging story of friendships and the extraordinary circumstances that can bring people together and tear them apart.
 
Whether this author is writing as John Mantooth or Hank Early I recommend you check out either his detective thrillers or “The Year  of the Storm” an unconventional and quirky read which is worthy of a rerelease.
 
Tony Jones