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Nitro Mountain
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
6 posts | 10 read | 51 to read
An astonishing, even shocking debut written with both humor and heart by, as John Casey puts it, “a natural-born writer who inhabits every one of his characters—the good, the bad, and those who swing back and forth.” Set in a bitterly benighted, mine-polluted corner of Virginia, Nitro Mountain follows a group of people bound together by alcohol, small-time crime and music. There’s Leon, a hapless bass player who can embroil himself in trouble just by getting out of bed in the morning. And his would-be girlfriend, Jennifer, who’s living with Arnett, the town’s most dangerous thug—and hoping Leon will help her poison him. And there’s Arnett himself, a psychopath for the ages—albeit so charming and deranged, so strikingly authentic, that he arrests the reader’s attention at first sight and holds it fast. His mirror image, a singer-songwriter named Jones, has his own moral issues, though at least he’s trying to be a good man. The bright if battered soul who pulls us through this story is Jennifer, a vulnerable yet strong woman struggling heroically to survive the endemic hopelessness and violence that have surrounded her since birth. Relentless? Yes, of course, but never remotely gratuitous. Every single moment is shot through with the pain and misery that inspire so much of the music these people love more than life itself. From the Hardcover edition.
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ephemeralwaltz
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
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Another cover temptation I found while browsing. I really like this cover for some reason, despite thinking it's not really aesthetic at all!

"Set in a bitterly benighted, mine-polluted corner of Virginia, Nitro Mountain follows a group of people bound together by alcohol, small-time crime and music."

Any opinions on this one?

Christine11 I like the cover too - it‘s very striking! 😊 6y
readordierachel Intriguing blurb. Gorgeous cover! 6y
63 likes1 stack add2 comments
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A.Shari.A
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
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Looking forward to Nitro Mountain. Joy Williams calls it "Perturbingly good. Hazardous. Addictive. Harrowing and hilarious too." Thanks Knopf and Lit Hub.

Liberty I loved this. 8y
7 likes1 stack add1 comment
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Emilie
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
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Pickpick

I can't quite decide how I feel about this one! On the one hand, I didn't want to put it down. On the other hand, parts of it felt overwritten and much was excessively grotesque.

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sumaiyya.books
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
Pickpick

This book has one of the best endings ever! Definitely recommend if you want some rurAl gritty thriller!

5 likes2 stack adds
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mauveandrosysky
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
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Pickpick

Full of brutality, but with a steady undercurrent of dark humor + an acknowledgment of the humanity in each character. If you're a fan of gritty, minimalist realism and redneck noir - where morality is subjective and violence + despair are everywhere - you'll like this.

4 likes1 stack add
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Liberty
Nitro Mountain: A novel | Lee Clay Johnson
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Pickpick

This book is bleak and intense and full of sentences that left my jaw on the floor. If you like Donald Ray Pollock or Harry Crews, this book is for you.

Kosugi @Ange44 You just finished a Pollock book, perhaps this is for you. 8y
Ange44 Yeah, it sounds good! @Kosugi 8y
tkmadden loved this too! 8y
97 likes42 stack adds3 comments