Long Bright River

This is an unflinching look at the opioid crisis through a dark lens. None of the characters conform to the usual stereotypes. Cops aren't always heroes (or villains); addicts aren't always dangerous or hopeless. Everyone has secrets and people are seldom what they appear to be at first glance. In that way, it's one of the most realistic novels I've ever read, and one of the most moving.

Michaela (but everyone calls her Mickey) and Kacey are sisters who grew up in the kind of family that does not put the 'fun' in 'dysfunctional'. Their young mother dies of a heroin overdose and their father disappears shortly after in the throes of his own addiction. They are raised by their maternal grandmother Gee, who provides them with the bare minimum of food, shelter and clothing but even less love and emotional support.

The two sisters, even while living in the same Philadelphia neighborhood, take different paths in adulthood. Mickey becomes a cop; Kacey becomes a junkie. Their paths cross occasionally, mostly when Mickey runs across Kacey working as a prostitute to support her drug habit. They seldom speak but the sporadic and distant contact serves as a cold comfort to Mickey, who still feels the responsibility of being the big sister and the one who turned out "okay".

Just as it becomes apparent that a serial killer is targeting women, Mickey realizes she hasn't seen Kacey lately on her usual street corner. She tries to find out what's happened to her, even as she flinches every time another unidentified young woman's body is found. Along the way a fuller picture of the sisters' background is parceled out in flashback chapters, complicating what first appeared to be a tragic but common story.

Just like real life, there is no unambiguously happy ending here. Mysteries are solved, story lines are wrapped up, but all of the resolutions seem tentative, capable of being undone with a single slip. All the characters can do — all any of us can do — is just the best we can, one day at a time. ( )

This was good, although quite long - I was skimming towards the end. It was (of course!) set in two different time lines, although that worked well and was not confusing. The subject matter was inevitably depressing, but it was well-plotted, with realistically flawed characters. ( )

Long Bright River by Liz Moore is a novel that is set in a rundown neighbourhood in Philadelphia. It vividly depicts the damage that drug addiction does to a family. The main character, Mickey, becomes a policewoman, patrolling the neighbourhood that she knows all too well. She and her sister grew up here, under the care of their grandmother. Both their parents were lost to heroin. Their grandmother was unloving and remote, and the girls clung together, until into their teens, they went separate ways. Kacey, the younger sister succumbed to the lure of drugs. As Mickey becomes a cop and Kacey falls into street life, they become estranged.

When it becomes apparent that there is a serial killer preying on the women of the neighbourhood, Mickey becomes concerned about her sister. Her time is spent trying to track her sister down and assure herself that she is okay. Her concern over her sister eventually puts her job in jeopardy and threats are directed at both her and her son’s life.

This multi-layered story is much more than a thriller as it covers the lives of the sisters and shows how the family fell apart. The focus on the neighbourhood of Kensington and the city of Philadelphia immerses the reader in this area. Written beautifully, this is an intense family drama that can be very dark at times, but the author, after giving us lots of sorrow and pain, leaves us with a sense of hope. ( )

Mickey Fitzpatrick is a cop and when a series of young women are found dead she is hoping that her sister Kacey isn't one of them.

I quite enjoyed this book. Part thriller and part family drama it follows Mickey as she tries to find her sister Kacey. The story goes into the past which explains the sisters past.

I felt the story was a slow burn but did tick along. A few surprises along the way one of which I did predict early on. Back to the murders, which for me was on the back burner of the story and I didn't guess who was doing them.

Although the story could be classed as a thriller for me it was all about family. The story was quite enjoyable with a few twists and a satisfying ending.

I haven't read anything by this author before and would read more by her in the future. ( )

I saw the author of this book interviewed almost a year ago. She spoke so passionately about the opiod crisis and its devastating effect on so many people that I was quick to put a hold on the book. Apparently so did a lot of other people because it took a long time for the book to become available (no doubt the waiting time was exacerbated by two shutdowns of our public library system and the increased waiting time between the return of a book and when it could be loaned out again). The COVID-19 pandemic which has affected the whole world in the meantime has consumed the public's attention but we need to remember that there are other crises that probably won't be as easy to fix as getting enough people vaccinated.

Mickey (Mikaela) is a beat cop in an inner city neighbourhood in Philadelphia. Every day she sees the prostitution and drug abuse and every day she worries about her younger sister Kacey who is part of that world. She has even arrested Kacey a couple of times but, other than that, the two have not interacted for a number of years. It wasn't always that way. When they were growing up they were very close even sharing a bed at night. it was their maternal grandmother, Gee, who raised them because their mother died of an overdose when Kacey was just an infant. Soon after their father left and the two girls never heard from him again. Gee worked hard to keep a roof over their head and food on the table but she didn't lavish much love on them. In their teenage years Kacey started using and selling drugs but Mickey, quieter and shyer, worked hard at school. She had good enough grades to get into college but there was no money for that and getting student aid required her grandmother's co-operation. A police officer who worked at the after-school program the girls attended talked Mickey into going into the police force. He also talked himself into her bed but he's been out of the picture for some time. Mickey has his son to raise and she is happy to do so without his assistance. The son, Thomas, longs to see his dad of course. Mickey is concerned that she hasn't seen Kacey around the neighbourhood for some time and she starts asking questions. Her worry ramps up when the bodies of girls from the street who have been murdered start showing up. Mickey doesn't have a partner these days and so she starts looking into her sister's contacts while she is on duty. That is strictly against regulations and eventually she is found out and suspended from duty. That gives her and her invalided former partner time to investigate Kacey's disappearance and the string of murders which, of course, brings them both closer to the people who are running the drug trade. Except maybe it's not the people in the drug trade Mickey needs to worry about, maybe it is someone closer to her.

I thought this was excellently plotted. There were red herrings and plot twists that kept me guessing throughout. It was also a devastating account of the havoc drug use causes even through generations. Well worth the read. ( )