Lamentation

By: Joe Clifford

Narrated by: Timothy McKean

In a frigid New Hampshire winter, Jay Porter is trying to eke out a living and maintain some semblance of a relationship with his former girlfriend and their two-year-old son. When he receives an urgent call that Chris, his drug-addicted brother, is being questioned by the sheriff about his missing junkie business partner, Jay feels obliged to come to his rescue. After Jay negotiates his brother's release from the county jail, Chris disappears into the night. As Jay begins to search for him, he is plunged into a cauldron of ugly lies and long-kept secrets that could tear apart his small hometown and threaten the lives of Jay and all those he holds dear. Powerful forces come into play that will stop at nothing until Chris is dead and the information he harbors is destroyed.

©2014 Joe Clifford (P)2015 Cherry Hill Publishing, LLC

Critic reviews

" Lamentation is one of those 'can't put it down' page turners of a read and documents author Joe Clifford as a gifted storyteller of imagination and technical expertise. Lamentation is a deftly written entertainment from first page to last and highly recommended for both personal reading lists and community library Contemporary Fiction collections." ( Midwest Book Review)

"At first, I confess this was not very exciting. I had little or no interest in our first-person protagonist and the basic situation seemed rather obvious. Except it winds up into a very unexpected climax of considerable emotional power. So what was initially, and even in retrospect, a pretty simple, by-the-numbers plot with a resolution we've seen before, turns out to be a genuine success. Despite all my forebodings, this simple little thing proved to be a real big hitter." ( San Francisco Book Review)

"Clifford (Junkie Love) understands human potential for moral collapse and redemption, and his lean, gritty prose never lets characters or readers off the hook." ( Publishers Weekly)

Lamentation-Plot twists that had me intrigued to read

I was a bit skeptical of audiobooks, but thought I'd give it a try after hearing a raving review of Timothy McKean's delivery of Joe Clifford's novel LAMENTATION. It took me awhile to embrace this method of "reading," but in the end I was not disappointed. McKean truly brought Clifford's characters to life for me, and the story line fully engulfed me.

Clifford skillfully wove a tale of believable characters and plot twists that kept me interested. I would highly recommend this book and look forward to more of Joe Clifford's books. I also enjoyed the freedom of enjoying a great book via Audible while I drove, folded laundry, and weeded the garden. I will definitely search out audiobooks read by Timothy McKean.

Excellent Listen!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Joe Clifford gives the listener not only an evocative setting and a taught, brilliantly structured plot, he actually makes us care deeply for the characters in a very real, uncontrived and uncompromising way. This is a rare quality in the genre. Timothy Mckean meets the standards set for the story by Clifford with a studied and gripping style that feels unencumbered by pretense.

Who was your favorite character and why?

My favorite character is Chris because, in all of his human error, he still holds onto a strong sense of honor that is rare in the society that he seems perpetually outside of. I also enjoyed Timothy McKean's voice for Chris the most.

What about Timothy McKean’s performance did you like?

It seemed that Timothy McKean held the weight and urgency of the plot perfectly while giving added voice to each character's tremendous emotional dimension.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I listened to it almost straight through with only one 10 minute interruption.

Good read...

A short book, but interesting. I read that the second book December Boys, is fantastic and the ending to this book. I'm going to read it and see...

The Beginning of Joe

Where does Lamentation rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This was a very good book. Since I heard book 2 first, I knew he would be ok. The poor guy just can't catch a break.

What other book might you compare Lamentation to and why?

I compared this book to the next in the series. The story was a great beginning in the tale of Joe's life and how it can all go wrong.

What does Timothy McKean bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He provided the voices which brought the characters to life.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

You just start wondering will anything go right for this poor man.

Any additional comments?

This audiobook was provided by the author/narrator/publisher free of charge in exchange for an unbiased review.

Simple? Sure. Big Deal YES!!!!

Comment stolen from book summary, "this simple little thing proved to be a real big hitter" I'm a Joe Clifford fan, Junkie Love was phenomenal. Another great story with spot on narration by Timothy McKean. Highly Recommend

Brutally Slow Plot

I made it to chapter 10 before I pulled the plug. The author's writing is clean, nothing in his manner that I disliked, so if there had been a compelling story I'd have stuck with it. He had a great opportunity to kick the plot off when the main character's crackhead brother told him he'd found something on a computer. But instead of revealing anything about what it was we're left in the dark for another half dozen chapters. How am I supposed to care about anything that's going on? Someone gets murdered that I don't know. :shrug: I was begging for a reason to care about the plot or the characters but eventually I gave up.