Book Review: The Devil Walks in Mattingly

About the Book: For the three people tortured by their secret complicity in a young man's untimely death, redemption is what they most long for . . . and the last thing they expect to receive.

It has been twenty years since Philip McBride's body was found along the riverbank in the dark woods known as Happy Hollow. His death was ruled a suicide. But three people have carried the truth ever since---Philip didn't kill himself that day. He was murdered.

Each of the three have wilted in the shadow of their sins. Jake Barnett is Mattingly's sheriff, where he spends his days polishing the fragile shell of the man he pretends to be. His wife, Kate, has convinced herself the good she does for the poor will someday wash the blood from her hands. And high in the mountains, Taylor Hathcock lives in seclusion and fear, fueled by madness and hatred.

Yet what cannot be laid to rest is bound to rise again. Philip McBride has haunted Jake's dreams for weeks, warning that he is coming back for them all. When Taylor finds mysterious footprints leading from the Hollow, he believes his redemption has come. His actions will plunge the quiet town of Mattingly into darkness. These three will be drawn together for a final confrontation between life and death . . . Between truth and lies.

My Thoughts:  To be honest, this was not my favourite book, and I only finished it because I had committed to reading it and writing this review.  However, this is not because the book itself is "bad", but more that the style of the writing is not my personal preference - the wording has an artsy feel and the subject has some supernatural/borderline weird aspects to it.  

That being said, the author deals with the question of how we deal with sin and guilt in our lives.  Some of us bury it deep inside, unwilling to deal with it.  Some of us try to atone for our sin by doing enough good deeds to somehow make up for what we've done.  Some of us try to rationalize it away but have to twist reality in order to do so.  But what we need to do with it is deal with it head on.  To acknowledge our responsibility (but not take on responsibility for the actions of others), and to repent, throwing ourselves upon the mercy of the only One who can forgive and wash away our guilt.

I liked the actual storyline, but would've enjoyed it more had it been stylistically different.

Thank you to Litfuse Publicity for organizing this tour and providing me with my complimentary review copy.