Wow! Dark tale, too close to the truth.
582998
I almost quit reading about 20% of the way in. It was too depressing.
Then I realized that our country is just a gnat's whisker away from this being truth.
It's a long read, over 500 pages. And the characters come and go, eventually, they all come together.
I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. You'll recognize a lot of things you fear. The constitution is replaced, guns are banned, gold and silver are illegal.
Foreign armies are patrolling because our soldiers won't fire on Americans trying to defend their homes.
Terms like "The Rural Pacification Program" are government speak for "shoot on sight".
It's sad on many levels. The author doesn't sugar coat anything. It's not at all PC.
Two Hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast, while at the same time two earthquakes devastate the Mississippi valley.
Power is out, bridges are down, supplies can't be delivered, and the government is crippled to act.
When the food runs out in the cities, the urban dwellers start raiding the farms, and guess what, the farmers didn't surrender their guns.
If you're out after curfew, or seen with a gun, a drone will not ask questions.
Some people, once called extremists have hoarded ammo, water, and food, and they're not about to be killed for it.
Bodies rotting in the streets and roads. No police, no power, no water, no food, no gas, no heat, no law.
And it's all believable.

A band of misfits decides to take matters into their own hands. A few were former Army Rangers, so they know how to kill,
and after what they have witnessed, kill they do. They'll die before they see the country they love be run into oblivion.

The president is an avowed socialist, the first half-black president, who meets with a former terrorist to discuss "social justice".
You'll recognize a lot of newsworthy people in the "fictional" characters.

I didn't really like the ending, I'm not sure it was doable.

Not only did I finish, I'm buying a hard copy to give to friends.
4409135
This book might take the shape of fiction, but the facts are too true and chilling!  God is calling us.
3641196
This is a dark book. With an even darker ending. But that's not a spoiler because this extraordinary tale by Hannah Kent (published in 2010 when she was only 25 years old!) is based on actual historical events. While it is a novel, the author's prodigious research gives the story authenticity.

Taking place in Iceland in 1828, "Burial Rites" is a (partially) fictionalized account of the life and death of Agnes Magnsdttir, a young woman found guilty of the murder of her lover. While she awaits her execution, she is housed in the remote country home of a low-level government official, his wife and two grown daughters. She chooses a young and inexperienced priest named Tti to counsel her. The family is frightened to accommodate the prisoner, but something happens over the months that Agnes lives with them. She talks. Tti listens. The family listens. Is Agnes really guilty of this horrific, bloody crime?

While the murder may be the tantalizing centerpiece of the story, the descriptions of the north of Iceland are so vivid, the reader can almost feel the brutal cold, see the snow and hear the howling winds. Like I did, you may find yourself looking online for photos of a badstofa, turf homes and the barren winter landscape of north Iceland.

This isn't a light beach book. It is by turns disturbing, alarming and sorrowful with no humor to lighten the woeful tale. But it is an incredible book that will give you an appreciation for this time and place and the most basic of human emotions that transcend both.
841508
While disturbing, things closest to the truth are.
Human trafficking story.
1735332
Holy s***. Just...whoa.

This is a well-written, gripping tale of the darkness of life, the chain reaction of choices and consequences, the unpredictability and toxicity of emotions. Of how the people we always think of as good for us may not turn out to be so in the end, and the ones we believe are the root cause of our pain and suffering may not even know. Of how the lies we tell - the little white ones to ourselves and our friends, the dark vengeful ones we tell to our enemies, the drama we cook up to get what we think we want - bind themselves into a web that traps ourselves and keeps us from getting the one thing we didn't even know we wanted.
1986199
This memoir tells the haunting story of how a boy makes a tragic mistake that lands him in prison. Of course this leads to a life of frequent  rape and psychological torture. This true tale will scare the crap out of you. It also shows how badly our justice system is often ran. This issue deserves great scrutiny by those in power. Darkly fascinating. This author is very brave.

Michael Travis Jasper, author of the novel "To Be Chosen"
1736804
I borrowed this KindleUnlimited book.  it was quite dark and a psychologically troubling story. I enjoy dark psychological tales,  and really enjoyed it. The writing resonated with me when the theme seemed to be based on the thought that "we are all monsters, but we wear masks."  This gave me chills as the statement seemed to be proven true, the farther I read.

The story action starts immediately, was about a mother, Emma,  loses her six year old son when their village is hit be a flood. The child, Aiden, somehow disappeared from the school where staff were supposed to be safeguarding the youngsters. Yet Aiden disappears, assumed to be a victim of the flood.  I really don't want to go further and risk spoilers, but the story is quite a shocker.

As the plot progressed, I tried  (like Emma, the mother) to figure what happened. I didn't find it predictable at all, because the tale could have taken different tracks--but I had no idea where it would end up.

I thought it was well written; I believed the characters and the circumstances, and the mother's reactions.  If you like your whodunnits on the dark side, you'll enjoy  this one.
3047661
The Curse is a very well written fiction.  But, it deals with absolutely inescapable truth.
Politicians, in their unquenchable desire for revenue to fund more government programs---coupled with their empty promises of reducing taxes or spending more on education "IT'S ALL FOR THE CHILDREN" -- have stooped to taking a percentage (thank you Gov. Lowell Weicker) of gambling bets to pay for our government.
Bob Steele has done a masterful job of weaving together many varied and enlightening strands into the fabric of a gripping story of how one family gets absolutely wrecked by the government's need to help the poor native americans to right the so called wrongs of the past.
My wife read it in a day.  It took me 2.
Readers will relate to this story of government/politicians rolling right over everything and everyone to get what they want--
There is also much interesting factual history woven into this gripping story.
A very worthwhile, fast paced, long overdue book that shines a very bright, clear light on a dark, growing and fast emerging crises in the states that have sanctioned big time gambling to the disservice of their citizens.
621002
I could not put this book down. One chilling story. I was thinking that at the end I was going to find that it was based on a true story. What a horrific thought.
2311401
This was so good and yet so disturbing as a true story. But it was hard to put down in hopes of a good ending. It was well-written and you could feel you were there (disturbing as that would be).  Very good book!
4293675
What a dark, disturbing, and ultimately satisfying journey is contained within these pages! This re-imagining of the story of Huckleberry Finn's father presents a new and intriguing background to Huck's story. Pap Finn is a depicted as a hopeless drunk, a rabid racist, and a cruel, sadistic, perhaps emotionally dead individual who witnesses (and commits) several murders, abducts both his escaped black mistress and his estranged son, and tries everything he can (up to and including murder) to return himself to the graces of his stern and disapproving father (known only in the novel as "the Judge.") There were many scenes here that made me cringe, and one in particular that made me groan loudly because it explained (in very disgusting detail) something that had been somewhat puzzling and inconclusive in a previous scene. The odd thing, though, is the way that, throughout all the shocking events and horror, Clinch's prose just flows so beautifully! I look forward to his two subsequent novels.
4727406
Based on a true story....I was amazed at the lengths that greed and envy will propel people to do the most despicable things. You can't make this stuff up.
1985150
I just can't even.

It is a dark story. So that's what I'll say about it, but read it :)
2689473
A little dark & gloomy for me, but quite an interesting read, particularly as it is based on a true story.
2118746
A fascinating, riveting true crime tale.  If it weren't for life's responsibilities, I would have finished this book within 24 hours!  As it is, I am a devoted spouse, parent, and public servant (something the author/"protaganost" knows little about) and had to be content with finding any spare moment possible to continue reading this impossible-to-put-down nightmare of a story. Most true crime novels are quick, simple reads that satisfy those of us intrigued with the darker, primal side of humanity. This book, unlike all other simplistic true crime nonfiction books and romance novels (which I put into the same category), was well developed and written in a manner that required more of the reader.  There was more than just the required plot and basic character development.  Interestingly enough, the author was the most interesting character of the book with his moral short-comings and lack of self control or ability to empathize.
3207894
It seems life consists of sorting out the truths from the untruths. Trungpa has some good points and I love the title, but this is a dark dark book. If you decide to read it, do so with great care. Also it would be wise to know his story and interpret this book in relation to his life.
233096
What makes this a truly dark novel for me is that it's based on a real life story. After all an author may be incapable of imagining some things that only twisted real world people can inflict on others