SUN DOG MEMORY

An ordinary man seeks the truth about his family in Depression-era Kansas in Armstrong’s historical thriller.

Jedidiah Albright, an average man estranged from his wife and family by tragedy and hardship, is working as a railway mail clerk in the Dust Bowl of Kansas in the year 1930 when he encounters 17-year-old Madeleine Robichaux, who could be the twin of his sister, Carrie—and is the age Carrie was when she vanished from the family homestead in 1912. Knowing Madeleine is adopted and certain there must be a connection, Jed enlists the help of his surly older brother, Arthur (an FBI agent), unwittingly setting in motion a complicated chain of events that spins the narrative into mystery/thriller territory. The story alternates between 1930 and 1911, when the orphaned Jed, Arthur, Carrie, and their oddball younger brother, Tim, struggled to stake a land claim by turning virgin prairie into farmland. While the farm proved to be a failure, oil exploration in the region makes its mineral rights valuable in 1930. Inspiredby aspects of his grandfather’s life, the author authentically evokes the story’s two eras, whether describing the landscape, the people, or the vast changes in society that occurred over less than two decades, and offers a cynical view of the greed, self-interest, and official corruption that ran rampant. In keeping with the times in which the story takes place, a few unpleasant characters use racial slurs. Jed’s railway mail clerk job, which combines strict routine with sudden dangers—he carries a service revolver—perfectly suits his character: honest and unassuming yet capable of iron-willed determination and grit to protect those he cares about. Pithy descriptions bring secondary characters to life: A prissy friend of Tim’s shakes Jed’s hand “as if working a lever on an etiquette vending machine.” Female characters, including Carrie, Madeleine, and Jed’s wife, Amanda, are strong and realistic, and Jed is a sympathetic and relatable protagonist.

This fast-paced narrative effectively mixes intense family drama with rapid-fire action.