This type of sub-genre is not usually my first choice of crime novel - the gritty, American, drugs related crime fiction - but I liked the synopsis and decided to give it a try. What I found when reading was that the substance abuse and trauma was actually a secondary element of the story. The main focal point in this book is dysfunctional family relationships, with Mickey desperately searching for her missing sister Kacey who has had long-term issues with addiction. The whole book has a very authentic atmosphere, it's not exactly the happiest book to read but it was certainly an eye-opener.

I love a story that focuses on sister relationships and this one did a great job with that. This was a well written, realistic, engaging story with strong characters and interesting themes.

Long Bright River is a crime thriller combined with a tragic family story. Mickey and Kacey are sisters, and while Mickey became a cop, Kacey is a substance abuse and sex worker. Their childhood was full of traumatic events and poverty after the death of their mother, followed by an upbringing devoid of love from their grandma. .
Mickey is now a single parent looking for her estranged sister who hasn’t been seen for weeks. While at the same time a serial killer appears to be operating in the area.
The novel highlights many social problems and inequalities not just in Philadelphia, but in the world in general. It is full of harsh and brutal realities that stay with you long after the book has been closed.

My expectation of this novel was that it was a chunky thriller. In reality this is much grittier. Set in Philadelphia, Michaela a female street cop who works the rough streets and slums of Philadelphia is working a murder investigation alongside, trying to find out what has happened to her sister who seems to have disappeared. Her sister Kacey is a heroin and opioid user and Michaela hasn’t seen her on the streets in a while. They have a somewhat estranged relationship but when there are signs that female drug users are being targeted in the area and it looks like there is a murderer on the loose, Michaela is terrified her sister might become the next victim.

This is a very drawn out slow paced novel. It had its own gritty harsh tone to it that I don’t think will appeal to everyone but I found very intriguing. These characters felt more flawed and therefore more endearing than usual stock caricatures used in police procedural style novels. But this book certainly isn’t plot heavy so don’t go into this book expecting plot twists or high drama. I really enjoyed the nuances of this novel and it’s commentary on abuses of the police, America’s opioid crisis and the treatment of sex workers.

Thanks to Liz Moore, Random House UK and Netgalley for a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Long Bright River tells the story of Mickey, a cop who has been trying to keep her life together while looking out for her sister Kacey, until the day her sister disappears. What ensues is nearly 500 pages of a slow-paced mystery whose ending left me unfulfilled. It took me so long to even get interested in the story that I had to make an actual effort to appreciate the themes which the author treated with lots of nuance and sensitivity, like drug abuse, recovery, relapse, abuse, corruption among the police force and so on. I am not sure why I did not like this book a lot more, except that I expected it to be a literary thriller and instead it was a mystery which took its time exploring the sisters' backstories, allowing the reader to come to their own conclusions and giving a realistic look on their relationship. Still, it was an interesting book and I will be reading more from this author in the future!

It's disturbing, gripping and very interesting. I loved this story and was hooked till the last page.
A realistic novel, fast paced, an excellent novel.
It's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is the story of Michaela Fitzpatrick, a cop in Kensington, Philadelphia, and her sister Kacey, and a series of murders. It is a book rich in secrets, and fascinating characters. From the very beginning I was utterly immersed in the lives of these people.
The dramatic impetus is so much more than in any other crime novel I've read. It is a book about love and family, poverty and addiction, about loyalty and betrayal and the moral dilemmas life throws at us all.
The pain of the characters will linger long in my heart but their courage will continue to inspire me.

Fantastic read. I have been completely unable to put this one down. I cannot wait to read more by this author.
Full review to follow

Long Bright River is the latest in a long line of books to be published garlanded with reviews such as "redefines the [crime] genre!" and "brings a literary voice to genre fiction!". As a prolific reader of both crime fiction and literary fiction, the implicit judgement of 'genre fiction' and 'crime fiction' inherent in these reviews raises my hackles and, more pertinently, those books often aren't that good at either the crime bit or the literary bit. All of which is to say, I embarked on reading Moore's novel tentatively. And, to be honest, I finished it feeling still somewhat tentative. There were elements I really enjoyed: the increasing sense of tension, leaving neither the reader nor Mickie are sure what is danger and what is paranoia; the commentary on generational trauma and how family - sometimes the same family - can both harm and protect. But, in common with my previous experience of books heralded as bringing [the superior, it is implied] literary fiction style to crime and mystery novels, I couldn't shake the feeling that it didn't quite work as either crime nor literary fiction. I imagine that readers of Moore's previous novels, and fans of literary novels dealing with dysfunctional family drama, will enjoy it, but for readers who know just how rich and inventive crime writing can be, it may disappoint.

This is such a good book, and a much needed story to be told. The opioid crisis in the US is just rife and more story needs to be told.

Set against the opioid crisis in Philadelphia Liz Moore's thought-provoking novel portrays the long-lasting and devastating effects that addiction have on an individual, on a family, and on an entire neighbourhood.

“These girls, he says. He looks at me and puts one finger to his right temple, taps it twice. Stupid, is what he means. No sense.”


In Long Bright River Moore focuses her narrative on the fraught relationship between two sisters, showing the circumstances that can lead to or result in addiction, parental negligence, and crime. Sadly, what had the potential of being a captivating tale is somewhat let down by an uneven structure and an undeveloped murder storyline.

The Good
The setting of this novel is strikingly rendered. Moore has done an amazing job in depicting both Philadelphia. The neighbourhood of Kensington, the area in which much of the story's action takes place, comes alive on Moore's pages. Kensington is reputed has having the highest rates of heroin use in the United States. On its streets there is crime, addiction, and prostitution. While Moore does capture its desperation, she also introduces us to some of its compassionate inhabitants. Readers get a nuanced yet unflinching look at this neighbourhood. There are entire families that fall into drugs. One's parents, one's uncles and aunts, and one's cousin. We understand how difficult it is to break this cycle. Nature and nurture are both to blame for the way in which many children follow the same pattern as their parents and lead a life of crime and addiction. Rather than just presenting us with a Hollywood version of an addict or a prostitute, Moore digs deeper. The people who Mickey encounters on her patrol come across as real people. So much so that readers are bound to feel a mixture of heartbreak and horror over them. Unsurprisingly Dennis Lehane has praised this novel. In many ways Moore's strong sense of place reminded me of his novels.
Another refreshing thing about Long Bright River is that it subverts the 'good sister/bad sister0 trope that has been oh-so-popular in recent years. The dynamic between Mickey and Kacey was complex and painfully believable. I certainly felt invested in their relationship and its outcome. The choices they make aren't always easy to understand but we are fully aware of the circumstances that have shaped them in such a way. Through flashbacks we see the way in which they slowly yet irrevocably drift apart and their past closeness becomes a thing of the past. Yet, in spite of their painful history, the two are bound to each other.
Having a family in Long Bright River is not an easy thing. Mickey's career path in the police department has made her into a persona non grata to most of her blood relatives. But, as readers soon will realise, this familial uneasiness runs both ways. Connections can be formed with unexpected people, such as Mickey does with her elderly neighbour (who was perhaps my favourite character in the entire novel).
I liked the ambivalence of Moore's story. There are no easy answers or solutions. People capable of violence or malice can also be capable of kindness.

The Could-Have-Been-Better Things
Mickey's staccato narration takes some getting used to. While I do understand that if her internal monologue or descriptions occasionally sounded robotic it was because she is a somewhat aloof and logical individual, I wish her narrative hadn't been so wooden. The 'then' sections—aka the flashbacks—would have had a much more emotional impact if they'd been narrated by Kacey. Mickey's perspective has its limitation. The story would benefitted from having her as the narrator as it would have allowed a more balanced portrayal of their relationship. Kacey was a much more interesting and compelling character, and I do think that having her as a narrator would have made me care more for her.
The pacing isn't great. There are many instances in which the plot loose itself and doesn't really advance Mickey's investigation. Mickey herself makes a lot of dumb decisions, and some of them do seem a bit outlandish. For me, the murder investigation was the novel's weakest point. While it does show the way in which vulnerable people are used or disregarded by the system that is supposed to help them, it also resorts to cheap, and occasionally predictable, 'twists'. At times this murder-storyline seems forgotten, only to be later picked up at a too convenient moment.

Overall thoughts
Long Bright River is a mournful novel as Mickey's search for her sister is not an easy one. The story shows the in interplay between addiction, poverty, and crime in a stark manner without resorting to pulpy stereotypes. It presents with the devastating reality of the opioid crisis, the way in which can destroy entire families and neighbourhoods, by focusing on the individual rather than the statistics.
Although it has its flaws (the pacing, structure, and protagonist had their weaknesses) I would still recommend it as I could see how much work Moore has put into it.

Set in an area of Philadelphia that is suffering from crime, mostly drug related, we follow Micky who juggles being a single parent with her job in the Police. On her beat, she keeps an eye out for sister Kacey as she plies her trade having fallen onto the wrong side of the law. They fell out a while back and don't talk anymore but they are still sisters and she still cares. But then Kacey disappears and Mickey becomes worried. Worried enough to compromise her job and her life to find her missing sister. As the story in the present progresses, we see glimpses from the past to colour and explain what is going on now. Glimpses that both shock and warm, definitely add a whole other emotional level to what is now becoming a very dangerous game for Micky.
This is a wonderful and harrowing book that grabbed me from the first page, held me captive throughout, spitting me out at the end, exhausted but wholly satisfied. There is so much going on throughout the story but it never got confusing or busy. During the present day narrative, we follow the sisters as they grow up and see what happened to each of them, the events which led to the choices they made which, in turn, shaped the people they turned into. Some of what is described, the effects that drugs and crime have on people and the area in which they live are harrowing but sensitively tackled by the author who manages to bring all that happens in the book to a personal level, played out by characters that are so well drawn that I couldn't help but connect to all of them on an emotional level. But, all this would be nothing if the story didn't stand up alongside. And it does. Very much so. Micky's search for her missing sister leads her to some of the worst places, to talk to some rather nefarious characters. And then we see her at home with her child, juggling shifts with childcare. We learn about her previous relationship and how that started. We meet her neighbour and hear about a stranger who is visiting her. There are many parts to this book but the whole eclipses their sum many-fold. And the ending, don't worry, I'm not going to spoil anything, just going to say that the ending is perfect.
This is the first book I have read by this author but, on the back of what I just read, I will definitely be checking out her back catalogue. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Long Bright River is a difficult book to categorise. It's a thriller of sorts, following cop Mickey as she investigates the serial killings of working girls in her district of Philadelphia. Mickey has a personal connection to the case - her sister Kacey is a drug addict who often solicits the same streets that Mickey patrols and has been missing for over a month. The two haven't spoken for nearly 5 years, and as we follow Mickey's narrative through the past and present we unravel the reasons behind this rift in the sisters as well as Mickey's obsession with finding the person responsible for killing these women who no one else seems to care about.

This delves deeper than the typical thriller to really examine the devastating effects of opiod addiction and the generational spiral it causes in poverty and repeat offending. We see the paths and decisions each sister takes to become the woman they are now. How one simple deviation of a path leads one to addiction and the other to life as a cop. The men that Mickey engages with, from her boss to her new partner, all seem to have little to no respect for these women - but she understands why they do what they do. The streets she patrols are also incredibly well thought out and realistic, echoing the despair and poverty that permeates the awful waste of life Mickey sees every day while wondering constantly if her next call out will be to her sister. If each new victim will be Kacey.

Mickey herself is often a difficult person to like. She's well fleshed out and developed but the writing style itself is a little stand offish and overly logical, bordering on stream of conscious at times with no speech marks. This means that at times it's difficult to engage with the characters on an emotional level and the writing often threw me out of the world. She's very closed off due to her difficult past, and when combined with this complicated relationship with her sister, she can come across as a little cold. Kacey, the one we see in Mickey's memories, is full of life - the clear light to Mickey's shadow, who brings out the best of Mickey's personality - including a deep maternal instinct.

This was also a quick read that pulled out a number of twists I didn't expect along the way. I felt engaged and interested throughout, desperate to find out how the story would end. The close sister bond and hard hitting, currently relevant setting drives this above other thrillers and helped it stay fresh and interesting.