Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Read-Alikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Book Reviewed by:
Peggy Kurkowski
Buy This Book
Adam Plantinga's brilliant debut novel, The Ascent, introduces readers to former Detroit police officer Kurt Argento, whose grief-fueled drive to the Pacific Ocean runs head-on into trouble in rural Missouri…with shockingly bloody consequences.
Unmoored by the death of his wife, Argento loses control on the job and disobeys a superior in a situation that puts them both at risk. He is offered early retirement from the Detroit Police Department after twenty-one years of service. Knowing he is "a sinking ship…and when the ship is going down, you seal off the damaged compartment so the craft can stay afloat," he heads west in his truck with his Chow Shepherd, Hudson, turning his back on Detroit and all the places that remind him of Emily. In Rocker, Missouri, Argento stops at a local festival for an apple cider—but instead witnesses a man about to assault...
BookBrowse's reviews and "beyond the book" articles are part of the many benefits of membership and, thus, are generally only available to subscribers, including individual members and patrons of libraries that subscribe.
Join Today
If you liked The Ascent, try these:
by Shane Bauer
Published 2019
A ground-breaking and brave inside reckoning with the nexus of prison and profit in America: in one Louisiana prison and over the course of our country's history.
by Curtis Dawkins
Published 2018
In this stunning debut collection, Curtis Dawkins, an MFA graduate and convicted murderer serving life without parole, takes us inside the worlds of prison and prisoners with stories that dazzle with their humor and insight, even as they describe a harsh and barren existence.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
