Review 395: The Trackers

The Trackers by Charles Frazier
My rating: 3.75 of 5 stars

The novel had a slow build up to any action and plot. Like other novels by Frazier, the detail here is particular and enhances the story.

Set in the depression of the 1930s, Valentine, or Val has he liked to be called, arrives at the small town of Dawes, Wyoming, a rural town in the West. Working for the Conservation Corps, he’s hired to paint a mural in the post office. The instructions say to portray hope. Val has free room and board with a local rich rancher and his wife, Long and Eve.

Things are going well, until Eve leaves with a Renoir painting of Long’s and the husband suspects she’s left to see her previous husband, whom Eve says is dead. Long has political ambitions and hopes her previous marriage won’t pose any problems, like her being a bigamist. Long pays Val handsomely to cross the country playing detective.

This wasn’t the best book by Frazier, nor the worst either. There were some meditative moments within the book, however I was hoping for a bit more on art and painting, since that is at the center. Overall, I did enjoy reading this.

Thanks to Ecco/HarperCollins Publishers and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.

However, I listened to the audiobook version of this book, which was well done.