Customer Reviews

Tidewater Blood

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4 star:		(2)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Pulse pounding suspense and lyrical affirmations of setting are not at all antithetic in William Hoffman's extraordinary 11th novel, Tidewater Blood. An explosive opening crackles into a mesmerizing tale of treachery and revenge, as a hunted man seeks to save himself by probing his haunted past. Set in the bountifully vernal Virginia countryside and the craggy cliffs of West Virginia's coal mining area, here is Southern exposure with a sharp Southern twist.

The patrician LeBlanc clan, proudly descended from gentrified Huguenot stock, gathers annually to celebrate themselves. On this, their 250th anniversary, they have again dressed in antebellum costume to share an opulent feast on the plantation mansion's portico - a meal never tasted as the porch suddenly explodes killing the eldest son and his family.

Immediately suspect is Charley LeBlanc, the family's miscreant son. A dishonorably discharged Vietnam veteran and former resident of Leavenworth, Charley has seceded from civilization, foraging for food near the makeshift he inhabits on a Chesapeake Bay inlet.

Brought in by the police who try to coerce a confession from him, Charley is reluctantly represented by a young court appointed attorney. When it becomes clear that he may pay for crimes he did not commit, one of the scruffiest, most emotionally scarred, yet deeply affecting heroes in contemporary fiction takes off to find the real killer.

During the ensuing odyssey, with the law nipping hungrily at his heels, Charley relies on his war taught skills: "I'd learned to nest keeping part of myself alert - an outer fringe of consciousness that sensed movement and alien sounds in darkness." His quest takes him to the mountainous West Virginia coal mining area, to a nearly abandoned town where his father oversaw a mining operation during World War II.

While Mr. Hoffman's narrative skills are abundant his character definition is superb. We meet an aged, independent backwoods woman, the memorable Aunt Jessie Arbuckle, who has a reason to help Charley. "Had seven children, all gone and spread to the four winds, " she tells him. "The last I heard from was Jacob, the youngest. Lives in Seattle and sent me a Christmas present, a GE toaster, and I got no electric. You chew?"

There is Blackie, the "he done me wrong" disfigured honky-tonk proprietress, another of life's secessionists. "I tell you one thing," she vows, "I don't use the word love no more." Add a grizzled mountain hermit who lives by stealing copper rigging, and a host of others, cinematic cameos all.

As Charley solves conundrum after conundrum to reveal the real killer, he also unearths some long buried secrets about the aristocratic LeBlancs and about himself.

Praiseworthy in every respect, this harrowing adventure captures readers with the opening page and holds them spellbound until the closing sentence. To call this tale a first-rate thriller isn't enough; to deem the author's prose splendid does not do it justice. Tidewater Blood is an exemplary achievement, one that may bring Mr. Hoffman the popular recognition he so patently deserves.

- Gail Cooke

William Hoffman taught me some years ago at Hampden-Sydney College, so I have followed his work with great interest. What is it that makes this book so compelling? It is Charley LeBlanc's resilience in a world that gives him little, if any, succor. Virtually every character he encounters distrusts him, most are arrayed against him, a few tolerate him. The sole advantage he has against his adversaries is an unspoken bond among the downtrodden. LeBlanc's unerring instincts keep him alive, if not quite thriving, as he works to solve a mystery that makes him the prime suspect in the killing of several members of his own family. As ever, Hoffman writes with style and intensity. He makes me proud to have studied under him.

I have an obscure connection to Mr. Hoffman. He and I both attended Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia, and although we never met, I have been aware of him and to some degree his work for more than 25 years.

Mr. Hoffman is an accomplished novelist and story teller, but I couldn't get past the fact that this seemed less a reader's than a film watcher's journey. And the idea that Tidewater Blood is a "suspense" (as the book jacket says) is less descriptive of its value than an older genre term: it is much more a picaresque journey of an independent son of the south through his conscious and unconscious past.

It's neither a page turner nor a put-down. What Tidewater Blood is is good, solid fiction from a writer who may be tiring of the work that comes with writing very well.

I choose not to hold it as the best example of Mr. Hoffman's talent.

I picked up Tidewater Blood because of the article about mid-list writers in the Washington Post. I, too, am a writer, although not nearly as published. I know all too well the difficulty of Mr. Hoffman's struggle. It's a shame because he's a good writer and Tidewater Blood is a good book.

It's refreshing to read a contemporary novel that builds the plot by use of clean descriptions and strong dialogue while at the same time moving the story forward. Writing well is one thing, and having a story to tell is another. It's nice when you find that rare book that does both (unlike some bestsellers I could mention).

The only problem I had with the story was the frequency of Mr. LeBlanc being rescued by good samaritans. I don't know if I'd be so quick to help out a homeless fugitive, but Mr. LeBlanc repeatedly received food, clothes and shelter from strangers.

I hope Mr. Hoffman continues to publish more novels. I hope he continues to rage against the machine. I know I will.

Everything about this book was interesting. I especially liked what Charles LeBlanc did to survive while he was being hunted. And, survival seemed to be a key element in this story. The circumstances surrounding the murders were quite unique here also, definitely worth the wait to the end. I highly recommend Tidewater Blood.

This book served as my introduction to the talented Mr. Hoffman, and a fine introduction it was. The south is everywhere in this book, from the spare, elegant physical descriptions of places and things, to the clipped, almost abbreviated speech of the characters.

How Charles LeBlanc-a character as close to a hermit as one can get-is accused of murdering a large chunk of his estranged family and manages, through native intelligence and dogged determination, to vindicate himself makes for wonderful reading. I literally couldn't put this novel down, and carried it everywhere with me until it was done. William Hoffman is a fine writer; there isn't one extraneous word in this book. And aside from learning some interesting facts about Virginia, I also found out about a large number of wild-growing things, both animal and vegetable, that one might eat in order to survive.

This is a very worthwhile novel, offering insights into alienation, anger and the need of some for wide-open spaces. I look forward with enormous anticipation to reading his other books.

I was a little let down after reading all the raves about this book. The local color was enjoyable and educational - I really felt like I was there. But the characters were cardboard and the plot drifted along slowly. The payoff was detailed but lacked suspense.

Only recommended for those who have read every other thriller out there.

Hoffman was new to me. I heard about him because of his death and an editorial in the Richmond Times Dispatch exclaiming about the quality of his writing and the fact that he was an unknown gem near us. He had been a professor at Hampden-Sydney College.

Tidewater Blood is a remarkable book - tough-minded, well-crafted, and exciting. An honorable outcast faces deadly accusations and his family's rejection. This is a thoughtful reflection on the human condition in the guise of a suspense novel. I loved that combination.

Charley LeBlanc is an ex-con and the black sheep of the family and has been on the outs with everyone for years. When most of the family is killed by a bomb he becomes the main suspect in the murder. With almost no means of support or help Charley must jump bail to clear his name or spend the rest of his life in jail.

As some of the other reviewers have mentioned, the book was slow-paced. What I found fascinating was the way Charley was able to survive with almost nothing but his native wit. He has no money, no one to help him out yet he always manages to find someone who'll lend him a few dollars, or perhaps give him a free meal so he can continue to struggle on. The best part was the revelation when the murderer and way the murder was carried out are revealed. I don't think anyone will guess this one ahead of time.

This is not a slam-bang thriller but the prose is very good as well as the plot. The characters are a bit sterotypical but if you can look beyond that I think you'll enjoy this book.

Clear, evocative descriptions highlight this excellent novel by William Hoffman. Hoffman draws you in to the pages of Tidewater Blood until you can taste the rich, plaster dust in the shattered mansion of an old Virginia family, or feel the immense weight of the timeless, coal-laden mountains of West Virginia. The destroyed mansion is a metaphor for a ruined family, and the shrouded, ancient mountain coves a cautionary tale of our place in the world. Justice is well served as ex-con and fugitive Charley LeBlanc reaches into the mountains to uncover his family's secrets. The black sheep of his family, Charley is searching for his place in life, hoping to find it before the law catches up to him. If there is a flaw to Mr. Hoffman's fine book, it is perhaps a too-pat ending. Tidewater Blood is highly satisfying, nonetheless.