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The Trees

A Novel

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The Trees

Written by: Percival Everett
Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn
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About this listen

An uncanny literary thriller addressing the painful legacy of lynching in the US, by the author of Telephone

Percival Everett's The Trees is a must-listen that opens with a series of brutal murders in the rural town of Money, Mississippi. When a pair of detectives from the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation arrive, they meet expected resistance from the local sheriff, his deputy, the coroner, and a string of racist White townsfolk. The murders present a puzzle, for at each crime scene there is a second dead body: that of a man who resembles Emmett Till.

The detectives suspect that these are killings of retribution, but soon discover that eerily similar murders are taking place all over the country. Something truly strange is afoot. As the bodies pile up, the MBI detectives seek answers from a local root doctor who has been documenting every lynching in the country for years, uncovering a history that refuses to be buried. In this bold, provocative book, Everett takes direct aim at racism and police violence. The Trees is an enormously powerful novel of lasting importance from an author with his finger on America's pulse.

©2021 Percival Everett (P)2022 Tantor Crime Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Mystery Fiction Social justice Murder Suspense Detective Mississippi
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While I appreciate the ability for mockery to take power away from evil people, it just feels like a misplaced use here. Every racist person was some sort of semi-retarded inbred hick and the only people with any sense were the black people. The harsh reality is that there are some frighteningly intelligent and dangerous racists out there, and everyone else isn't either a moron or oblivious or secretly full of hate.

Dialog was stilted and unbelievable with an overabundance of people saying What the f***? at very obvious and specific cues. The performance sadly didn't sell it either. It could have been a very interesting story, but it left me sorely disappointed.

Meh

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Just overall disappointing. The performers tried their best but material and dialogue was poor. Would not recommend

Not much of a story here

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The writing is mediocre at best. The plot is unbelievable, ridiculous and ends abruptly

It could have been great but is only mediocre

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