"The Ploughmen" by Kim Zupan ****

• Early Reviewer edition for LibraryThing.com
• US author
• Scheduled for publication October 2014
• Debut novel
• Setting:  Great Falls, Montana, current date
• Characters:  
• Valentine Millikaki (Policeman, orphan, Gload's guard)
• John Gload (Serial killer, orphan, prisoner)
• Epigraph:  "For we are strangers before thee, and sojourners, as were all our fathers; our days on the earth are as a shadow, and there is none abiding."  --  1 Chronicles 29:13
• Vocabulary:
• shelterbelt:  hedge or fence of trees designed to lessen the force of the wind and reduce erosion 
• umbles: "edible inner parts of a deer or other animal, 
• Quotes:
• p.12...."Presently he saw John Gload appear in the first circle of light and fade and reappear in the next, progressing this way along the concrete catwalk, incorporeal as a phantom.".....like Dante's circles of hell
• p.124...."But he was at home with them, she was right.  And whether they sought the open country for their death, or death sought them there, it little mattered.  In either case kindred souls, Millimaki and the dead, met under a companionable sky and the encounter was good for all.
• p.205...."The world for these men was reduced to floor, ceiling, walls, and bars, and his own differed little--an unfixed cubicle of solitude that, like a carapace, went with him everywhere and was impervious to the warming sun or the wind in the trees or even the unconditional affections of a sister who seemed not to care he did now write in return and send his love, which she deserved."
• p.217..."Because it's hard to be alone, Millimaki thought.  That's what I've figured out, Red.  In this country, it's just hard to be along."
• Notes:
• Parallels between Val and John:
• both have the dead in their head all the time, one from search and rescue with his dog, Tom...the other his victims
• both imprisoned, John in jail, Val by his past
• Review:  I want to start by saying how much I enjoy reading when the author's command of language is clearly demonstrated.  I really like Zupan's use of expansive vocabulary!  This is the tale of two men whose history is not far different, and for whom there are numerous parallels.  However, one becomes a serial killer and the other is a policeman.  In the course of the killer's incarceration they are thrown together.  The rest is for you to discover.  I read the whole novel during one cloudy day on vacation and thoroughly enjoyed it.  It is a bit grisly, but that aspect is minimal. The author beautifully conveyed the sense of isolation experienced when living in the beautiful, yet stark, Montana landscape.  I think this author is going places!