The Life We Bury

By: Allen Eskens

Libby audiobook 8 hours

Read by: Zach Villa

Published: 2015

Genre: murder mystery

"College student Joe Talbert has the modest goal of completing a writing assignment for an English class. His task is to interview a stranger and write a brief biography of the person. With deadlines looming, Joe heads to a nearby nursing home to find a willing subject. There he meets Carl Iverson, and soon nothing in Joe's life is ever the same."

There were times I found this story extremely distressing or just plain irritating. But it was interesting enough to draw me forward.

What I disliked: 

• Joe's selfish, alcoholic mother. She doesn't deserve to be a parent! Insisting that Joe use his college money to bail her out of jail . . . blaming him for her problems. Ugh. She was awful!
• The graphic descriptions of Carl's experience in Vietnam. Stomach churning.
• The crime that Carl was committed for . . . and that horrible crimes like that are actually done to people.
• Sometimes, Joe's "romance" with Lila (?) was irritating. He just bugged me.

What I liked: 

• The unfolding of details (e.g. the distinction between killing and murder) of Carl's experiences in Vietnam
• The suspense toward the end!
• Joe's kindness and patience with his severely autistic brother Jeremy.
• The ending.
• I liked when Joe defended Lila's honor and didn't take advantage of her (after they went to the play).
  
• The Minnesota places! I like local locales in my books.
  

I'm probably too tired to do this justice. It was hard to read at times (I had to shut it off when his mother was being awful to him.) but I'm glad I stuck with it to the end. The vocal work was good.