the life we bury

3.5 stars

This was a fun, but predictable mystery/thriller.

Joe is a young college student with a complicated family. He’s just trying to make it through college to improve his life. He needs to finish a writing assignment for an English class. He has to interview a stranger and write a biography of the person’s life. He goes to a nursing home to find someone willing to be interviewed and he meets Carl Iverson. This one decision will change everything.

Carl is a Vietnam vet and a convicted murderer. He has been medically discharged from prison and only has months to live. As Joe digs into Carl’s life and the crime he committed, Joe is convinced that Carl is innocent. As Joe deals with a dysfunctional mother and an autistic brother, he tries to find the real killer so he can clear Carl’s name.

This was our January book club pick. The book is an easy read and a good, but very predictable, story. I liked Joe’s relationship with his brother and his tenacity. By the title of the book it seems like it’s going to be a series of books, but I can’t imagine where else the story can go. If there are more books in the series, I probably won’t read them.