With the resounding success of True Detective, and the recommendation of writer Harry Shannon, I decided to check out Galveston, a novel written by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator and writer of the acclaimed HBO series.
Although I enjoyed the TV series more, there was a lot to like in this story of a down on his luck bag man trying to hide from his crazy ex-boss who would like nothing more than to go to his funeral.
Roy Cady, called Big Country without affection, believes he's dying and befriends a young hooker and her three year old "sister," as he hides from those who would hasten his death. Try as he might, Cady can't break away from the girls. The story itself is fairly simple, but it's not the tale that makes this a good read, it's the telling of the story that wins over the reader. Gritty and filled with the harsh realities from the underbelly of the underworld, Galveston is a book which left me wanting more.
Aside from great writing there are really no similarities between True Detective and Galveston, with one notable exception, "The girl sat in the living room's single chair, a large La-Z-Boy where I'd end up sleeping most nights. An army of empty High Life cans covered the floor around the chair--an actual army, because I'd used a knife to cut little strips out of the can sides so that they folded down, like arms, and I'd pulled the tops upright to resemble heads."
Galveston was Nic Pizzolatto' s first novel and was published by Scribner in 2010 and is widely available in a number of formats.
If you enjoyed watching True Detective, I'm all but certain you'll enjoy reading Galveston.
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