Book review: Small Town Sins

Scrolling through NetGalley (a website of advanced reader copies), I came across SMALL TOWN SINS coming out August 1st by Ken Jaworowski. I was intrigued when the synopsis mentioned Pennsylvania, as I grew up on the border of New York and Pennsylvania. Small towns trope is also a favorite genre of mine.

Synopsis

Ken Jaworowski’s Small Town Sins is a gripping Rust Belt thriller that captures the characters of a down-and-out Pennsylvania town, revealing their troubled pasts and the crimes that could cost them their lives.

In Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former coal and steel town whose best days seem long past, five thousand residents have toughed it out, and have reasons for both worry and hope as this neglected place teeters between decay and renewal. For some of them, their biggest troubles have just arrived.

After years of just scraping by, three restless souls have their lives upended: Nathan, a volunteer fireman who uncovers a secret stash of money in a burning building and takes it; Callie, a nurse whose tender patient may not have long to live, despite the girl’s fundamentalist parents’ ardent beliefs; and Andy, a recovering heroin addict who undertakes a nightmare mission to hunt down and stop a serial predator.

Before long, Nathan’s stolen riches threaten to destroy everyone around him as he tries to cover his haphazard trail of lies. Callie risks her career to grant her young patient a final, and likely illegal, wish. And Andy’s hunger for vigilante justice becomes a fierce obsession that may end in violence.

As their stories barrel toward unexpected ends, Nathan, Callie, and Andy struggle to endure—or escape. They each face their pasts and gamble on their futures, and confront the underside of their rough Rust Belt town. Riveting, evocative, and unforgettable, Small Town Sins is a debut novel that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

Review

WOW. Just WOW. I didn’t know what I was getting myself into when I requested an ARC of this title! Once I started reading about the three lives - I was INVESTED. The three lives of ordinary people who are struggling. I felt for them. It is very depressing read about their struggles with suicide, family death, addiction/drugs, cheating, etc. I was constantly wondering what was to come, it was VERY hard to put down this book. It may not be a happy book but it shows the consequences of decisions we make. I can say that I’ve never read anything like this book! Looking forward to more from this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Henry Holt & Co. for the ARC. All opinions are my own.