Reviewed: “Death in the Pines” by Thom Hartmann

Back in the good old days (about 2004-2010), I cared about politics because I thought voting and paying attention to issues and things like could make a difference. I’m not so optimistic (naive?) now. The point is that I know from those days who Thom Hartmann is, and I liked reading his political stuff, so when I saw a novel by him available for request on NetGalley… I requested it.

The thing about “Death in the Pines” is that it’s really a political column, editorial type deal wrapped up in fiction. Sometimes this can work brilliantly. This is not one of those times.

I’m a liberal. I want to protect the environment and stop climate change. Absolutely.

But maybe this book isn’t the place to tell the world about those things. That there is a mysterious native woman who seems to sort of haunt the main character, a hardened ex-private investigator of course, with long soliloquies on how Squirrel wants man to look at himself and how he lives in the world and consider if he could do better really does border on creepy. It’s made more awkward by the murder that supposed to be a catalyst for… something.

At one point I did think to myself “was Thom Hartmann high when he wrote this?”

I didn’t finish the book.

I couldn’t.

“Death in the Pines” is available for purchase now.

(I received a copy of “Death in the Pines” through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review – a review which is posted at NetGalley, on Goodreads, and on my blog.)