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Content snapshot
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Violence
Some
Moderate; crime investigation and rural violence
Language
Barely any
Mild language
Sexual Content
Barely any
Brief adult content
Substance Use
A lot
Significant substance depictions; the opioid crisis is central to the novel's setting and conflict
Emotional Intensity
Some
Moderate; moral complexity and the weight of rural community in decline
What this book is about
Ron Rash's literary novel is set in contemporary Appalachia, narrated alternately by a county sheriff and a park ranger as they investigate the poisoning of a trout stream that implicates people from both their worlds. Rash's spare, precise prose and his deep knowledge of western North Carolina's culture — including the devastation of the opioid epidemic — give the novel its power and authority.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
Opioid crisis central to the story
Rural poverty and crime
Reader Verification
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