The Ploughmen

A Novel

By: Kim Zupan

Narrated by: Jim Meskimen

A young sheriff and a hardened killer form an uneasy and complicated bond in this mesmerizing first novel set on the plains of Montana.

Steeped in a lonesome Montana landscape as unyielding and rawas it is beautiful, Kim Zupan's ThePloughmen is a new classic in the literature of the American West.

At the center of this searing fever-dream of a novel are two men - a killer awaiting trial and a troubled young deputy - sitting across fromeach other in the dark, talking through the bars of a county jail cell: JohnGload, so brutally adept at his craft that only now, at the age of 77, has he faced the prospect of long-term incarceration; and Valentine Millimaki, low man in the Copper County sheriff's department, who draws the overnight shift after Gload's arrest. With a disintegrating marriage further collapsing under the strain of his night duty, Millimaki finds himself seeking counsel from a man whose troubled past shares something essential with his own. Their uneasy friendship takes a startling turn with a brazen act of violence that yokes together the two haunted souls by the secrets they share - and by the rugged country that keeps them.

©2014 Kim Zupan (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Complicated book

Complicated book. Didn’t like it at first, but found interest in it as it developed. Very dark subjects with an extraordinary vocabulary that I almost want to listen again just to enjoy that part of it. Mainly I find myself just...Conflicted.

poetic

beautiful prose
reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy
characters are real but not pretty
places are real
feelings are real

Beautifully written, beautifully read

"The Ploughmen" is one of the best books I've read for awhile. The book has a slightly hallucinatory feel, or what one may feel if one has not slept well for many days in a row. Since the two main characters both suffer from insomnia I expect this was intentional on the part of the author.

Mr. Zupan's characters speak simply and directly, but the narrative is complex, indirect and uses English's natural ambiguity when it best suits his purposes. Some reviewers noted he uses some rarely-used works in the narration, and this is true. Despite having to consult a dictionary once (refulgent; shining brilliantly) I found his brazen exploitation of the language refreshing in a world of books intentionally written to a sub-high-school level.

Mr. Meskimen's reading is spot-on given the story. His steady, matter-of-fact rhythm is perfect to the mood and subject, and his sparing use of emotional intonation makes perfect sense in the context of this book. His character voices are great particularly for that of John Gload, all cigarette smoke and hard living.

The Ploughmen low key action and surprises

The authors voice is enhanced by the reader. Light a great story teller who keeps you listening when ur monkey mind begins to wander I hung in and skipped other distractions to finish this. Not an easy listen but a rewarding one. Well worth reading if u find Cormac McCarthy’s early books on Audible enjoyable.

Mr. Zupan is a MASTER storyteller!

I grew up in Montana (11 years in Missoula and 11 years in Great Falls) and Mr. Zupan nails the mystery of living out there in the high plains. There is magic, a strangeness, an otherness to growing up in and around the northern plains. The High Line towns with their constant winds and brooding sense of all-alone-ness do something to you and your sense of un-relatedness to others. Mr. Zupan wonderfully lays out a stark and heartbreaking tale of broken folks who fit well into my memories of many of my old friends and associates. His vivid descriptions of farming in the area around Great Falls, the sound of the tractors, (correct by brand and size) and purpose of the accessories all ring totally true. His description of search and rescue-especially the finding of the bodies-not the successful searches with happy endings-but the body recoveries-were exactly precisely heartbreakingly correct. Wilderness as my old Scoutmaster used to say: “Is a place, where if you screw up or do something stupid-you end up dead."
I knew a bunch folks from Great Falls Central High School-played football against them & wrestled against them back in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Bill Higgins, Mike Whalen, and I think Mr. Zupan might have been one of those guys-if so I am so happy to see him write such a great story!
Anyone who wishes to consume a slice of the mystery of the life on the high plains-please buy & read this book! The Audible version is absolutely EXCELLENT. Jim Meskimen's narration is genius!
I hope Mr. Zupan will share many more stories with us in the coming years!

So Very Confused

I'm not going to say the book was horrible, because it wasn't My issue is with being, personally, very confused through out the entire book and still am now that I've finished. Ultimately, this is the story of an unlikely friendship developed between a deputy tasked with guarding a serial killer during the overnight shift. Both the deputy and killer lapse into stories/memories from the past and this is where my confusion comes around. It is often difficult to know where we are in time and sometimes which character the memory is from. I like the characters but was just distracted by all the jumping around in time. Should you choose this book I hope that you do not have the same problems following along.
Jim Meskimen did a good job and was pleasant on the ears. This is the first book with his narration that I have listened to and I would certainly listen to more of his work.

Imaginative and perceptive

I thought this was a well-done novel. Characters were well drawn and believable. The situations in which they found themselves were interesting and did not seem artificially contrived. I liked the protagonist even with his flaws. The same could be said of the killer in his custody and care.

The book kept me wanting to return and read/listen to it a little more. Did not find it tedious or boring.

One of the best!

I loved this book. It is an unfolding story of being. So many reviewers loved this book, and others could not tolerate it. I understand both. My taste usually lies in a good mystery or intense fiction. But this one snuck up on me and I’m delighted that it did. To the critics I’ll say that I did not find Kim Zupan’s words too obscure or his vocabulary particularly Thesaurus-ish.
Rather than boring, the descriptive passages brought me into the folds of isolated life in Nebraska.
Most of the story is focused in the minds of two very different men; and the way they think dictates the story. There were times, just a few, when Zupan was more wordy than necessary. But then, when we think there are no rules for commas or periods.
The Ploughmen is a haunting work of art. I’d like to thank the author and the narrator for their incredible creation.

buy it.

this book is not for the faint-hearted.

incredibly Vivid writing, the writing equivalent of a Renaissance masterpiece. I had no idea that I could feel sympathy like that for a cold-blooded killer.

excellent book

I read the nook first, then bought the audio book. I was thrilled at both. This performance was excellent, captivated me. The perfect voice for this quietly intense tale.