Not to be confused with Don Winslow’s book of the same name, this powerful study of revenge and repressed emotion is too little-known and unlikely to turn up on anybody’s list of classic crime fiction. But don’t be fooled – there is a chilling murder mystery at its heart, one that needs solving, though you have to wait until the very last line to discover exactly who was murdered, how and why. Set in 1920s Montana, it tells the story of two brothers, Phil and George Burbank, and examines what happens when one of them suddenly and unexpectedly gets married.
I submit this review for Patti Abbott’s Friday’s Forgotten Books meme over at her fab Patinase blog and Bev’s 2016 Vintage Mystery Scavenger Hunt.
“Peter stood wondering what words he would use to tell her he had found his father upstairs, and had just cut him down from where he had hanged himself … “
The brothers are now in their 40s but still share a room, as they always had when their parents ran the ranch, the biggest in the state. Phil excelled at school but George flunked. Phil is able to get on well with the labourers on the ranch, George is always uncomfortable around them. Phil is fiercely intelligent and independent, both at one with the nature around him and well-read. George is dull and unimaginative but is also kind and empathetic while Phil is vicious, cruel and a racist who preys on the weak. It emerges that Phil pushed their parents out of their own home (they now live in a hotel in Utah). The title is in part derived from a mountain range where his idol, Bronco Henry, said he could see the shape of a running dog, but which most people (like George) don’t have the imagination to see. But then Phil’s harmony is destroyed when George gets married – and, to make this even more disruptive, his new wife, Rose, is the widow of a man who killed himself after being ridiculed by Phil. And Phil – who while being incredibly intelligent is also very repressed about his sexual orientation – is sure that Rose’s young son, Peter, is a ‘sissy’ and so starts a cold-hearted campaign to destroy them both and get his brother back. And right from the start, we know how hard and implacable Phil can be can be, from its stunning (and wince-inducing) opening sentence:
“Phil always did the castrating …”
In her afterword to the recent Vintage Knopf edition, E. Annie Proulx describes this novel as “… a brilliant and tough book” which seems very fair to me. Modelled quite closely on parts of Savage’s own experiences and family history, his feeling for landscape is as strong as his depiction of character, while his handling of all the major set-pieces is nigh on perfect. The entirety of chapter 8 for instance is dedicated to a disastrous social occasion in which Phil successfully sabotages a dinner party at the ranch organised in honour of the Governor and his wife, every little social faux pas realised in horrible, mesmerising detail. But this is also a book with a very deftly laid out plot, with the suspense ratcheted up as Phil drives Rose to drink and draws her son Peter into his orbit as distant memories of his love for Bronco are re-awakened. To reveal more of the story would be to do the book a genuine disservice – and while it is the characters, themes and settings that will haunt you, the final sentence, in which a complex murder mystery is brilliantly revealed, will probably make your head spin, adding just the right kind of emotional flourish to a masterful performance.
I enter this review as part of Bev’s 2016 Silver Age Mystery Scavenger Hunt in the ‘evil eyes’ category, for the hardback edition of the book:
Never heard of it – seems like a good ‘un though with an interesting setup, characters and location. I like the idea of the last lie reveal, I think Christianna Brand did a similar thing in one of her books too.
That ought to read “last line reveal” of course. :s
Well actually they both might work!
I see!
🙂
it’s not the way the reviewer describes it at all, in fact he is rather misleading. It is not really a twist or a big ‘reveal’ in the last line. The ending is hinted at a long way in advance and although understated, the conclusion is understood well before the last line makes it explicit. ‘complex murder mystery’…. absolutely off point – there is no mystery and it is in no way complex. ‘brilliantly revealed’…. (slaps face) ‘makes your head spin’…. again, this makes me wonder if the reviewer paid any attention to the story. The climax could be seen coming a long way off…. the reviewer has set up some expectations here that will not be met. I’m just glad i read this excellent book before this dreadful review.
Hi Warren, as this is a blog devoted to crime and mystery, I privileged that side of it in my review as I was hoping to get readers from outside that genre to pick it up too. Sorry yuo didn’t go for my ‘spin’ on it, glad we both appreciated the book. Happy holidays.
I think as a modern-ish Western this might really appeal chum 😆
That’s what I was thinking too – it’s definitely moved onto the “to do” or “to read” list anyway.
I don’t read a lot of Westerns but I was certainly gripped here – I;d put Savage in with the likes of McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy, and of course Proulx…
That’s quite illustrious company, so a very strong recommendation indeed.
Just stoking your interest mate!
There’s another great novel with the same title as Winslow’s? Wow. Thanks for the heads up, Sergio.
It did well in its day and then got a bit forgotten – really worth rediscovering Michael
This does sound like a creepy psychological thriller, Sergio. Those family stories with doses of psychology and a past-affecting-the-present theme can be excellent. I admit it’s not one I was familiar with before your excellent review. Thanks for the ‘heads-up.’
My pleasure Margot – would love to know what you think of it.
‘…..though you have to wait until the very last line to discover exactly who was murdered, how and why.”
I am intrigued. I am arranging to get the book !
Hope you like it Santosh – I believe it is a really fine novel.
I’m not familiar with Thomas Savage or THE POWER OF THE DOG (although I did read the Don Winslow novel of the same name). I’ll have to track down a copy. Nice review!
Thanks George – hope you find a copy!
The book is easily available at Amazon (both paperback and kindle).
That’s great news, thanks Santosh.
Wow. This sounds very intriguing, Sergio. But I will definitely have to get in the mood. 🙂 I’ll wait until after the election when I’ll be more in the mood to take this sort of thing on Thanks again for yet another fascinating review. I always know that when I show up here, there’s going to be something unfamiliar yet worth my time – I think it’s just that you’re a terrific reviewer, Sergio. Your taste in books is so different from mine AND YET, here I am, wondering what you’re going to write about next.
You are much too kind Yvette, but thanks all the same 🙂 Yes, once Trump is consigned to the morgue slab of history, then time to go a little dark, maybe …
Hmmm, I don’t think so. I seem to be trending toward the classic British stuff lately, with exceptions, but not this. I don’t think I’d want to wait ’til the end to find out who, why.
Fair enough Richard, it really isn’t that kind of book anyway
You’ve made this irresistible, Sergio, dammit! Now I’m off to hunt it down!
Hurrah – My job is done!
Just now ordered it from Amazon. It’s on the way!
You have a real treat ahead of you chum!
This sounds like a very good book that might not be pleasant reading. I am usually uncomfortable reading about a cruel character who mistreats people. But I would be willing to give it a try.
Pleasant it is not but it always has the ring of truth
You made it sound so intriguing Sergio that I checked immediately at Open Library. Alas! Somebody has beaten me up to it. Lets see when my wait gets over.
Well, Neeru, I am the one who has borrowed it ! My loan expires on 28th October.
Excellent – hope you enjoy it 😀
Ahhhaaa. I had my suspicions Santosh.:) I wait your views on it.
You and me both 😀
Hope you didn’t get too bruised 😀 but wait- I see a confession coming …
Sergio, thanks for recommending the book(Have just posted about it). I found it pretty moving in parts though the last-line reveal was something of a dampner since I suspected something of that sort. And strange to say, but my sympathies were with Phil by the end.
Glad you liked it – you are clearly a much nicer person than Phil!
Never read anything by the author, Sergio. But the suspense over the murder, leave alone the identity of the murderer, until the last is definitely intriguing. Phil’s “vicious” and “cruel” character comes through your review, so I can imagine how he actually is in the story.
Thanks Prashant – the book is primarily a character study, with a strong depiction of life on a large ranch in the 1920s, with he murder element arriving late in the story. It is I think a very compelling, very modern book – I was very impressed.
Ha! I’d never heard of it, and thought it sounded very good but maybe too harsh for me. But then, there’s nothing I like better than a last line revelation, so I am conflicted now…
I reckon you would really, really like this.
Never mind evil eyes, that’s one evil-looking dog in general! This sounds a little too intense for me…
Thanks Bev – it is an exceptional book, but intense it certainly is!
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