Book Review: The Devil Walks in Mattingly {LitFuse Blog Tour}

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.

Purchase a copy: http://ow.ly/ux3hc

About the Author: Billy Coffey's critically-acclaimed books combine rural Southern charm with a vision far beyond the ordinary. He is a regular contributor to several publications, where he writes about faith and life. Billy lives with his wife and two children in Virginia's Blue Ridge Mountains. 

Learn more about Billy at: http://billycoffey.com

My thoughts:

Dark book. It's one of those after I started reading I wondered why I'd chosen it. The beginning of the book is confusing and the reader isn't really given much information as to what is going on. Apparently this book is like the rest of Coffey's books: they are all set in Mattingly. But all can be read as stand-alones. FYI: The Devil Walks in Mattingly is set four years before Coffey's other book, When Mockingbirds Sing. That is a good thing because I'd never even heard of Billy Coffey. However, for those who like a 'good book', this may just be it. The way Coffey writes is gripping. He reaches down into the characters and gives more than just the surface, facade of them. We feel their fears, their hopes, their dreams. We see what they see. Coffey does a very good job at writing. It's just his chosen topic can be a little ...uncomfortable. To me anyway. There are supernatural forces at work in the book. And there are instances of violence although they aren't terribly graphic. 

But the book is so well done that even though I felt it is dark, I kept reading it. I felt that way until somewhere near the middle or three-quarters of the way through. The main characters, Jake and Kate especially, have such a guilt from what they did, or what they contributed to, that it has eaten away at their lives. Other characters include Taylor, who also is tormented by his past, and Lucy, a girl who has spent much of her life simply trying to be loved. They are all connected.

By the end of the book, I enjoyed it much more than at the start. But I think that it is because the way the characters feel- lost, hopeless -comes through in the writing so the reader feels that way as well. Coffey is definitely a good writer. I'd like to read some without the violence and supernatural aspects.

Read other reviews here.

***Disclaimer: I received this book for free from LitFuse for the purpose of an honest review. No compensation was given and all opinions stated are my own. See Disclosure/Policies.***