← Back to discovery

The Bottoms

Joe R. Lansdale

2000320 pagesabout 5–7 hours
2000
first published
  • 2000Mysterious Press · 328 pages · ENGISBN 9780892967049
  • 2000Wheeler Pub. · 401 pages · ENGISBN 9781587240935
  • 2001Grand Central Publishing · ENGISBN 9780446960885
  • 2010Vintage Crime · 328 pages · ENGISBN 9780307475268
  • 2001Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) · 320 pagesISBN 9780753814369
  • 2000Subterranean Press · 350 pages · ENGISBN 9781892284617
  • 2001Sound Library · ENGISBN 9780792724599
  • 2000Mysterious Press Mysterious Press · ENGISBN 9780446922647

Its 1933 in East Texas and the Depression lingers in the air like a slow moving storm. When a young Harry Collins and his little sister stumble across the body of a black woman who has been savagely mutilated and left to die in the bottoms of the Sabine River, their small town is instantly charged with tension. When a second body turns up, this time of a white woman, there is little Harry can do from stopping his Klan neighbors from lynching an innocent black man. Together with his younger sister, Harry sets out to discover who the real killer is, and to do so they will search for a truth that resides far deeper than any river or skin color.

How it feels

AtmosphereNoir

How it reads

Plot intensityEventful
Character focusSingle lead

When and where

ThemesJustice

Content notes

  • Racismmoderateunreviewed
How do you feel?