Long Bright River by Liz Moore

Kaceey’s Review:

Long Bright River has been sitting quietly and lonely on my shelf for well, let’s just say too long! Not sure why. Just never felt like the right time to read it. Once the audio version became available I knew it was the perfect opportunity to dive in and enjoy both the written and listening experience.

Mickey grew up in Philadelphia where she now serves as a police officer. Having lost several many family members to drugs, Mickey is now fearful of losing her younger sister Kacey to the same demons.

Closing in on what could potentially be a serial killer of young females living on the streets, Mickey prays her sister won’t be among the victims.

This is a slow burn of a thriller, putting you on the dark, back-alley haunts of one of the more undesirable sections of Philadelphia. Providing a front-row seat as you witness the utter devastation drugs have had, leaving so many lives in ruins.

The narrator did an amazing job to keep me engaged throughout. Highly recommend.

If this one is still sitting on your shelf it’s time to pick it up. You’ll only regret waiting so long.

A buddy read with Susanne.

Thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group

Susanne’s Review:

Disturbing, Heartbreaking, Honest. 

When it comes to literary fiction, if I’m being frank, the dirtier it is, the better it is.  By that I mean, I like it complicated, messy and at times, really difficult, because in my opinion, that is real life.  

Lucky for me, “Long Bright River” by Liz Moore certainly fit that bill and then some.  

Long Bright River is a novel about dysfunction, layered on top of even more dysfunction – just how I like it.  

Addiction, Poverty, Familial Dysfunction, Disparate Treatment.  

Sisters, Mickey and Kacey couldn’t be more different.  Growing up on the outskirts of Philly where drugs run rampant, both sisters took very different paths.  Mickey became a cop, Kacey became an addict, and then some.  Kacey’s life is not pretty, though she never purported it to be.  What it is, is ugly, hard and wholly prevalent. Mickey took a different path, and is now a single mother, working a demanding job, always worried that Kacey won’t last another day.

While patrolling Kensington, where Mickey resides, bodies of female victims start piling up.  Someone is on the hunt and Mickey appears to be the only one to spot a pattern.  Unfortunately, Mickey also realizes that her sister Kacey has been missing from the streets for over a month.

All Mickey knows is that Kacey’s situation could be perilous.  Intense desperation, utter despair, and a driving need to find her sister, lead Mickey on a hazardous goose chase.  

A gritty, character-driven novel that leaves it all out on the table.

A buddy read/listen with Kaceey that was sitting in our queues for way too long.  So glad we finally got to it. For me, this was a top read for 2020!

Thank you to Edelweiss, Penguin Publishing Group – Riverhead Books for the arc.  Thank you to my local library for loaning me a copy of the audiobook.

Published on Goodreads.