Kings of the Earth

by Jon Clinch

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

Kings of the Earth, is based on the true crime of the Proctor brothers, Vernon, Audie and Creed, dairy farmers in upstate New York. The three brothers rarely leave the farm and heavily depend on each other. The Proctors have always shared a bed until the oldest, Vernon, who suffered from cancer, dies in his sleep with the other two suspected of murder.

The novel is told from various points of view flashing back to their childhood in the 30s to 1990 with the murder in question. Through this, the reader grasps a better understanding for the boys, leading to what could have been the motive and that Audie and Creed were victims themselves.

I have mixed feelings for this book, it had a very interesting plot and grew more familiar with the characters through the flash-backing, but seemed to stay in the past a little too long and would have preferred a little more focus on the crime in question. There was also a nephew, Tom who played a large part in the novel. Tom, was a pot dealer growing his crop on his uncle's property, and besides allowing his uncle to smoke marijuana to easy his pain was very self-centered. Unfortunately, this relative took up a large chuck of the story and really could have done without.

Kings of the Earth was beautifully written with the flow between narrators and decades blending easily from one telling to the next. Even though I went into it think it would be more along the lines of a true crime novel, was a little more fictionalized than I would have thought or liked, but it was still a very intriguing read.