Official Review: Until the Dawn by Alec Clayton

Post by **kayla1080** » 03 Aug 2015, 14:34

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Until the Dawn" by Alec Clayton.]

2 out of 4 stars

Share This Review

If you are into history, art, and a mystery buff with a special interest in the South, then Until the Dawn may be worth checking out.

Red Warner, a crazy beatnik artist with varying luck in fame and fortune, disappeared one night after a party in his New York loft. There was something about wielding a knife and a lot of blood before an unknown woman showed up and he went into hiding.

Our narrator Johnny (who bought some of Red’s paintings), investigates his disappearance while sharing the backstory of growing up in Tupelo. He was the next door neighbor to the Warner family, and told about his friendship with Travis and Cassie and the history of what life was like in the South from the 1960s-80s. It was pretty rough- with main themes evolving around prejudice, discrimination, sexism, abuse, injustice, racism, homophobia, religion, bootlegging, and general deep seeded values in the South. Women and colored people were treated horribly, and it didn’t help that Johnny was gay in a period where that was really not accepted. Tragedies and the dark underbelly of Tupelo surrounds how the present is related to the past.

Johnny focuses on Travis and their life growing up. He talks about the condemned kids from high school- Wendy, Raymond Carver, Sam, Josh Culpepper, and Cassie, and how Travis seems to be the only one with a moral compass. As time goes on, the sensitive and talented Travis gets into beatnik poetry and disappears after high school. There’s some confusion about that part, but it’s assumed that he ends up in New York somewhere.

This is a dark mystery of a missing artist with a backstory that spans over 3 generations. It would have been helpful to see a family tree to keep track of everyone. I thought that Until the Dawn was well-written and engaging, with lots of action, but it was easy to get confused on the characters and there were some uncomfortable scenes.

It kind of gave me the feeling of that coming-of-age movie, Stand By Me, but a lot rougher and written in a Southern drawl, with art and culture references Dean Moriarty and Jackson Pollock. I liked it, and rate this book 2 out of 4 stars. I would recommend Until the Dawn to anyone interested in mystery.

******
Until the Dawn
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

Like kayla1080's review? Post a comment saying so!