Title:The Half-Life of Remorse
Author:Grant Jarrett
Published:May 2017, SparkPress
Format:Paperback, 256 pages
When two vagrants meet
on the streets of Muncie, Indiana, they are both unaware that their
paths crossed years before. Chic, crude and uneducated, is convinced
that Sam is nothing more than a harmless lunatic, and Sam, emotionally
scarred and psychologically traumatized by events long past, regards
Chic as just another denizen of the street. But Chic has spent his adult
life trying to purge his soul of the brutal crime he committed as a
teenager―the same botched burglary that resulted in the deaths of Sam’s
wife and son. Meanwhile, Sam’s daughter Claire is still unable to give
up hope that her father might someday reappear.When these three lives
converge, the puzzle of the past gradually falls together, but
redemption commands a high price, and what is revealed will test the
limits of love and challenge the human capacity for forgiveness.
What readers are saying:
“An often engaging and heartwarming novel…”―Kirkus Reviews
“The true wizardry of The Half-Life of Remorse
is how the random intersection of two homeless men evolves into a story
of irresistible forward motion, stunning revelations, deepest human
complexities and highest consequences. Underwriting this feat is
Jarrett’s ability to inhabit his fated characters absolutely, conjuring
their voices, their minds, their wounds, their guilt, their haunted and
mingled histories, with such spooky fidelity that you feel you are each
one of them, and all of them, all at once. Original, gorgeous, exciting
and deeply moving, The Half-Life of Remorse put my heart through all the paces.” ―Tim Johnston, author of New York Times bestseller Descent
“Acts of searing violence transform vulnerable lives in Grant Jarrett’s The Half-Life of Remorse.
Through the anguished accounts of survivors who nearly died in that
night of violence, and the delusions of one of the survivors who
imagines himself capable of magic, Jarrett creates echoes of The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale.
This resonant novel traces the lingering effects of trauma and exposes
the greatest challenge for its primary characters: self-forgiveness.”―Lee Upton, author of The Tao of Humiliation
“In The Half-Life of Remorse, Grant Jarrett proves his mastery of narrative voice, unflinching realism, and adroit yet artful storytelling.” ―Mark Wisniewski, author of Watch Me Go
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The Half-Life of Remorse by Grant Jarrett is one of BookSparks “Summer Reads” reading selection picks.
Follow the #SRC2017 hashtag on twitter to read reviews on this book as well
as reviews on the other summer books! Also, be sure to check out the BookSparks Facebook page for the#SRC2017
and other fun links. You can participate in weekly secret missions for
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