A Best Book of 2020 from Library Journal, CrimeReads, and BookPage “Marks the debut of an already accomplished novelist.” –John Banville The town of Bentley holds two things dear: its football, and its secrets. But when star quarterback Dylan Whitley goes missing, an unremitting fear grips this remote corner of Texas. Joel Whitley was shamed out of conservative Bentley ten years ago, … shamed out of conservative Bentley ten years ago, and while he’s finally made a life for himself as a gay man in New York, his younger brother’s disappearance soon brings him back to a place he thought he’d escaped for good. Meanwhile, Sheriff’s Deputy Starsha Clark stayed in Bentley; Joel’s return brings back painful memories–not to mention questions–about her own missing brother. And in the high school hallways, Dylan’s friends begin to suspect that their classmates know far more than they’re telling the police. Together, these unlikely allies will stir up secrets their town has long tried to ignore, drawing the attention of dangerous men who will stop at nothing to see that their crimes stay buried.
But no one is quite prepared to face the darkness that’s begun to haunt their nightmares, whispering about a place long thought to be nothing but an urban legend: an empty night, a flicker of light on the horizon–The Bright Lands.
Shocking, twisty and relentlessly suspenseful, John Fram’s debut is a heart-pounding story about old secrets, modern anxieties and the price young men pay for glory.
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Absolutely enthralling. Written with the rhythm of the game Fram writes of. A mystery to get the skin crawling even as you unbury the secrets of those trying to solve it. Despite its nature, there is a warmth to this thriller, and you’ll feel like you’ve come home… a home that still haunts you.
This book is a mix of “Friday Night Lights” and Stephen King horror. It kept me turning pages until the very end.
Weird and kinda stupid
Haunting and visceral- a look at toxic masculinity and how small towns can harbor more than one kind of horror. Recommended.
What a debut! This small town mystery with supernatural undercurrents is intriguing from the start and slowly winds its way to a climax that could be characterized as thrilling, bombastic, frenzied, and/or balls-to-the-wall. I couldn’t decide!
Ultimately, my feelings about this book are mixed. I was deep in it while I was reading, so I give it lots of credit as an engaging and exciting reading experience (hence the 4 stars). The mystery is set up elegantly with a few odd occurrences, some natural and some supernatural, and several important characters in the town of Bentley. The opening section gives us a sense of the town, its reverence for God and football (a la Friday Night Lights), and the problems that lie just below the surface. From there, it proceeds rather like a police procedural. Joel is a sympathetic hero as the city boy who returns to his tiny hometown, and Fram does a masterful job at holding our attention by revealing bits of the mystery through the ever changing points of view.
That brings me to some of the book’s weaker aspects. When the smoke cleared, I realized I hadn’t really connected to any of the characters. The point of view changes so often, we don’t get to spend a lot of time with any particular characters. And aside from the point of view characters, the story contains so very many supporting characters, I had a hard time keeping track.
As for the ending, many folks have said it’s polarizing. It wasn’t for me. I also feel like one could tell nearly the same story without a supernatural element, and the themes would be more subtle. I’ll credit the supernatural for providing some of the better creeps and thrills throughout the story, though.
Don’t let my critiques turn you away! In the end, I do recommend the book! It’s an engaging, creepy read and a unique blend of genres with elements of mystery, thriller, and horror. Plus, I always love a queer book, and this one has lots of gay stuff!
When I was describing THE BRIGHT LANDS to my husband, I excitedly called it “gay paranormal Friday Night Lights plus murder”—and that pretty much sums it up. The story begins when Joel, who was driven away from his football-obsessed Texas hometown because of rampant homophobia, receives an unsettling text from his younger brother, Dylan, the town’s star quarterback. But as soon as Joel returns home to help his brother, Dylan goes missing and is then found dead. As Joel and others dig in to the mystery surrounding Dylan’s murder, they uncover the town’s dark, deadly, and truly terrifying secrets. This is a book that powerfully explores toxic masculinity and homophobia, and it’s a book with characters who read, at first, like one-dimensional stereotypes but then reveal themselves to be much more complex. Unexpected heroes and villains arise, the mystery is consistently compelling, and the supernatural element is an eerie backdrop to it all until it erupts into full-blown horror. The prose is often startling in its beauty and poignancy, particularly toward the end, though I do think the book itself could have been shorter. It comes in at around 460 pages, but there is a LOT going on in this book, so I understand the desire to give all those strands the space to come together (if it were me, I might have just eliminated some of the strands). I do highly recommend this book if you like genre mash-ups. The story is, at different times, a family drama, bold social commentary, a police procedural, a horror novel, a thriller, and…a football game. Personally, I love when books take risks like that so I really enjoyed it.
After all the hype, I found this book a bit difficult to get through. I admit it could just be me, but I found the numerous characters a bit overwhelming. Part of this is due, imho, to them all having the same “voice”, there wasn’t much characterization to distinguish them from each other. Plus the supernatural element seemed a bit silly and superfluous. That said, the last third of the book was a page turner.
Joel Whitley reluctantly returns home after receiving a despairing text from his younger brother, although they have grown distant after his flight from the small-minded Texas town of his childhood. Having achieved professional and personal success, Joel feels guilty about abandoning his brother and wants to make amends by offering to pay for his college education. The Bright Lands, by John Fram begins with an introduction to a novel that seemingly will center around the obligations of family and the return of a prodigal son. What follows diverges from that common narrative, however, when the story tumbles down a path that includes a secret cabal and an evil presence. When Joel arrives in Bentley, he sees a town that is besieged by an economic downturn, still obsessed with the local football team on which all its hopes seem to rest. Dylan, Joel’s brother, is the golden boy QB who is revered by all and who bears the burden of the whole town’s expectations. Dylan desperately wants to quit the team, and hints that he is haunted by a deep secret. Before he gets the opportunity to reveal his thoughts to Joel, Dylan is found murdered. Joel pairs up with his ex-girlfriend, now a sheriff’s deputy, to discover why his brother was killed and what he was hiding. They discover that there may be a link between past disappearances of young men in Bentley and Dylan’s death. Clandestine meetings of the town’s elite may also be tied to superstitions of a dark and sinister entity that is rumored to inhabit the wastelands on its borders. The Bright Lands becomes overly ambitious with this inclusion of supernatural elements, and the monstrous presence is superfluous and distracting in a book that already has a surplus of characters and plotlines. The novel also contains awkward moments with some clunky dialog incorporating canned and crass expressions that seem designed only for shock value. Fram should be lauded, however, for his creativity and a refreshing portrayal of openly gay characters. He frames the discrimination Joel experiences with that also faced by other marginalized characters that are mistreated due to their race, class and gender. These topics would have been sufficiently absorbing to capture readers’ interest without a needless foray into a more obvious, literal form of horror.
Thanks to the author, Hanover Square Press and Edelweiss for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
John Fram’s The Bright Lands is darker than you think. Fram begins with a Friday Night Lights supernatural mystery, then lures the reader into an insidious labyrinth of human cruelty, voracious supernatural evil, and startling malice. Unsettling, and compelling as hell.
Joel Whitley returns to his hometown after ten years away when his younger brother Dylan reaches out, needing Joel’s help. Football is king in the small town of Bentley and Dylan is the quarterback of their dreams. When Dylan goes missing Joel uncovers all kinds of secrets, including the fact that Dylan is not the first young man to disappear.
This is an amazing debut novel! The first half of the book read like a mystery thriller but the last stretch was something else. I thought I knew what was coming but I most definitely did not. I binge read this, not being able to read fast enough. Now that I’ve finished I want to reread it again, slower this time. The characters were so well written, not a flat one in the bunch. I was totally invested and this was an epic ride! Highly recommended!
The Bright Lands is Gothic and Faulknerian: smooth, original, haunting. And very sexy.
“Dreams are just our souls going for a swim at night…”
Joel Whitley is a man with an alternative lifestyle who grew up in the small football-crazy town of Bentley, Texas. Ten years ago, after being publicly shamed, he left the town behind and headed to New York City. There he was able to live his life openly and he became a successful financial analyst.
After receiving some disturbing texts from his younger brother who is the star quarterback for the Bentley high school football team, Joel heads back to a town he vowed never to return to. By the time he arrives, his brother Dylan has disappeared.
Working with his old “girlfriend” Sheriff’s Deputy Starsha Clark he tries to figure out what is so WRONG about this small town – with its many disappearances, the terrifying nightmares everyone in town is having, and the secrets held by so many.
This was a different book than I expected. For some reason I missed that it was a horror novel and thought it was a murder thriller. And it was horrific, to be sure.
The ending chapters in this book literally made my stomach churn. If you have a weak stomach, I would not recommend it.
I received this book from Hanover Square through Net Galley in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
John Fram breaks onto the scene with a thriller/horror novel that builds suspense exquisitely and will have your heart pounding in no time! Centered around the small town of Bentley in Texas where high school football is EVERYTHING, it doesn’t take long to realize that bad things happen around here and more bad things are a coming. Secrets have lived here for years and terror lurks.
Fans of Stephen King and Dean Koontz will enjoy this read even as they ask are-you-sure-this-is-a-debut-novel?
My thanks to NetGalley and Hanover Square Press for allowing me to read a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an unbiased review. All opinions are my own.
4 stars
High School football is king in small town Texas.
Joel Whitley returns to Bentley following an absence of ten years when he was more or less driven out of town. Now living very successfully in New York, his brother Dylan asks for his help. Joel is still haunted by memories of Bentley, but returns to help his brother. Dylan is the star quarterback of his high school football team. They appear to be headed to state, but Dylan no longer wants to play.
When tragedy strikes the Whitley family, Joel teams up with ex-girlfriend and adversary Sheriff’s Deputy Starsha Clark to ferret out the hidden secrets and the truth of what happened.
This is a very well written and plotted novel. It is a very good effort for a first novel. I see good things in Mr. Fram’s future. The book has a Friday Night Lights feeling to it, especially in the beginning. But there the comparison ends. This is a mystery – and more. It examines small town America, the attitudes and close knit communities – for good or ill. Well done!
I want to thank NetGalley and Harlequin – Trade Publishing US & Canada/Hanover Square Press for forwarding to me a copy of this very good book for me to read, enjoy and review.