An intriguing tale of darts, drugs, and death. Russell Harmon is the self-proclaimed king of his small-town Idaho dart league, but all is not well in his kingdom. In the midst of the league championship match, the intertwining stories of those gathered at the 411 club reveal Russell's dangerous debt to a local drug dealer, his teammate Tristan Mackey's involvement in the disappearance of a college student, and a love triangle with a former classmate. The characters in Keith Lee Morris's second novel struggle to find the balance between accepting and controlling their destinies, but their fates are threaded together more closely together than they realize.
An alright book I probably wouldn't have picked this book up on my own. As it was, my dad (who is a big dart player) bought it because it had "darts" in the title. He read it, liked it, but also thought that I would like it because of the writing. So he lent it to me, and I sat on it for a couple weeks before I cracked it open.
Initially I wasn't too impressed. Sure, the guy knew darts, but I thought the whole coke thing was just an attempt to give his characters some false sense of depth. However, about fifty pages into the story, there's a drowning scene that just really hit me; really jarred me because the victim had annoyed me, but I was sympathetic. I mean, (and if you've not read the book I'm trying to be as vague as I possibly can so I don't give much away) the lady didn't annoy me so much as I understood the character from whose perspective Morris was writing from in the chapter... but when she drowns... "man," I thought, "how cold."
That point in the story had me re-evaluate my whole opinion of the characters in the book. All of the characters are believable, quirky, a bit gritty, but human. Exception: it took me a while to consider a twenty-three year old a realistic prospect for the head of a dart league; a post normally filled by middle-aged guys.
I'd check out another Keith Morris book in the future.
A great novel. Entertaining and smart and funny and sad. Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2TGL8Z2J3FMKP This is my first review -- on video -- of a book. This is a great novel, though. I hope you enjoy it!
Couldn't put it down! Morris once again creates characters that are so true and real that it's scarey. From the first pages you become wrapped up in each of these very real characters' lives. The story takes place in one life altering night. All the characters fates are interwoven creating a suspense that builds steadily until the final chapters when you can't put it down. This novel would make an excellent suspense movie!
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
