Book Review: We Are Always Tender with Our Dead (Burnt Sparrow 1) by Eric LaRocca

3/5 stars. I read some of LaRocca’s short stories earlier this year and was excited to get into his full-length novels. Unfortunately, this novel demonstrated that his longer fiction might not be for me. The story is really about Burnt Sparrow and its inhabitants, and this is an ugly, depraved town, with some of the wickedest perversions I have ever seen portrayed in a book. However, the story bounced around too much. It seemed like it was setting up one story, then changed to something else, then went back to the earlier idea and added a new twist. The novel finished with a completely different focus, a separate piece of fiction from the main character. I understand that this is the first book in a series, but the disparate storylines, with no resolution for any of them, put me off of the story quite a bit.

With all of that being said, LaRocca is a fine writer, has created an unusual locale, and developed some intriguing, if completely mad, characters. I certainly would caution a reader to be prepared for some extreme sexual acts, some gore, and some very disturbing moments. The term horror applies very well to this novel!