Les is about to retire from his position as sheriff of a small town in Appalachia. He's a wise man, who may not be entirely on the up-and-up, but his heart is in the right place. Becky is a park ranger, who is Les's friend. She's suffered a traumatic event when she was a child that has stayed with her.
Les's part of the book is about dealing with meth dealers, preparing for retirement, and reflecting on past mistakes. Becky's part is about her writing poetry about the natural elements she so enjoys and looking back on her haunting past.
An elderly man who is a good friend of Becky's gets accused of poisoning the trout at a local resort. He's on a security video that makes him look guilty. But Becky is sure he didn't do it. So Les slowly and carefully figures out what happened.
The depiction of Appalachia is interesting, but coincidentally, I've recently read Natchez Burning and Gray Mountain and both of those were much better stories along with the vivid southern setting.
I'm not sure what Becky's ramblings (poetic and beautiful, but still) have to do with anything. Her backstory never comes full circle to relate to anything else in the book.
The narrators, Richard Ferrone and Tavia Gilbert, do a good job. The male narrator was, actually, excellent. Since the female part included so much poetry, I think I would have understood it better if I were reading the text. But, I didn't enjoy that part anyway, so it didn't matter. No fault of the narrator, though.
I feel like Rash just wrote this to show off his mastery of the English language. At least it is short. These characters are nothing like Serena or Laurel from The Cove. Those books were also a bit meandering and slow moving, but the plot always kept my interest. Above the Waterfall -- not so much.
Published by Ecco, 2015, HarperAudio
Audiobook obtained from the library
272 pages
Rating: 3/5
