Tom CooperThe Marauders: A Novel

I don't often take the time to review the novels that I read at 1-2 a day, unless, like this one, turning the last page leaves me wanting to take several moments to bask in the afterglow, it feeling way too soon to just open another title or even move from where I'm just sitting with the pictures still spooling through my mind's eye, while I find myself smiling and seriously hoping that the place and at least some of the characters are quite accurate portrayals of living and breathing genuine characters living under other names.Some make it to the last page and some won't. You may find yourself a bit sore over the author's choices for headcount, but you won't regret the ride to discover this place, it's people, the winners, the losers, and those who just continue to survive whatever government corruption, incompetence, weather, or British Petroleum can and will repeatedly continue to meet out upon them. It ain't Mayberry, but it feels ever so much more interesting and real... a place you'd like to visit to learn something about jaded cynicism, naivete, the power of dreams, the grace of forgiveness, and the bliss of discovering oneself and one's place in rapid succession.And really, how often do you read a book that can deliver all of that and make you bust out laughing and be sorely-embarrassed about the words or situation that just left the people around you looking at you as if there must be a pair of beefy guys looking to strap you into a straight-jacket real soon, hopefully!

I've read a few reviews that expressed disappointment in this book since it was not satirical enough, not edgy or funny enough. Evidently such expectations came about since the writer has been compared to Elmore Leonard and Carl Hiaasen. Here is a cure for your potential disappointment: do not go into this book with any expectations beyond a well told tale.Sure there is some weirdness - the one armed pill popper looking for Lafitte's treasure is certainly a "half bubble off of plumb" and the psychotic twins who grow pot on their "private" island are certifiable, but some folks are fairly normal with their thoughts affected by their circumstances. The young shrimper who has problems with his father since he blames him for his mother's death in Katrina or the shrimpers who see their livelihood threatened by the BP oil spill or the BP exec under corporate pressure to force folks affected by the spill to settle on the cheap, including his own mother who he has not seen for years. But combine these folks in intertwined stories, add some of the best descriptive, "sense of place" writing I have read in some time and you have a great yarn.

This is a book review, not a summary, so I won't simply regurgitate the story outline here.The Marauders was a great first novel. If James Lee Burke and Elmore Leonard were to get together and write a short story, this would be it. The reason I say short story is because it's apparent that Tom Cooper (the author) is a veteran short story writer. Vague endings are perfectly acceptable in short stories but I wish this novel had a more substantial resolution. However, the character development was very strong; I got a clear sense of each person and their motivations for acting the ways they acted. The dialogue was very good as well (hence the Elmore Leonard comparison), and really helped shape the characters. The setting of the novel was also well written; I really felt the warm, humid air of the Bayou. Great story with great characters.

Barataria, Louisiana, after the BP oil spill. The shrimpers and fishermen and everyone else in the backwater Louisiana swamps and bayous are struggling to make a living, many going bankrupt and leaving the area for greener pastures. A BP rep from the area is trying to head off lawsuits with $10,000 payments to the locals. A young shrimper and his father quarrel and bicker and can't let the past go. A crazy, one-armed man searches the swamp for pirate treasure. Two small-time crooks try to make a score. And the dangerous and deadly Toup brothers slip in and out of chapters like a cobra. A very good read. My only complaint is a somewhat unsatisfying ending. Very well written with strong interesting characters and an author who definitely knows the area.

This is a good book. The story is about as familiar as you can get about Louisiana: Dirt poor people, Cajun words peppered throughout, scuzzy people doing scuzzy things, feeling the sweat come off the page from the heat, humidity, and desperation. It'd be your standard LA book except most of the characters are great.Some characters seem a bit superfluous. But the ones that hit (Lindquest, The Toup's, the Trench's) keep the book as an engaging read.In all, you've read this book before, but the characterization of the main characters is different enough in their familiarity, you will want to keep reading.

A treat to read, The Marauders is a slow burn. It takes a few chapters to get introduced to the characters and get the plot rolling, but the writing is excellent and the twists are fun.

I vividly recall the BP oil disaster and this book gave me so much to think about, the locale, the people, what happened to them and their livelihood in the aftermath. So many characters were deeply flawed and not like able....at the end of their ropes and no way forward. I wanted everyone but the bad guys to be ok....I could not leave this book alone.

I enjoyed this book. It provides a unique glimpse into the post-Katrina, post-oil spill bayou country just outside of New Orleans. An interesting cast of misfits, all of the characters end up somehow linked together because of their occupations or mischief around the bayou. The story is interesting and suspenseful enough to keep you engaged, although I will say that the ending dropped off rather quickly. Regardless, I though it was an engaging, enjoyable read.

Set in Louisiana, I found this to be a very mixed bag. On the one hand, there are some wonderful characters and some pitch perfect lines. But the story never really properly kicks in and some chapters seem to offer precious little. The upshot is like leaving a restaurant and still feeling peckish.There is a fair bit said or insinuated about BP and the way they handled matters after a catastrophic environmental disaster. I don’t mind that as such but corporations are easy targets and after a spell, it feels like kicking a corpse. Long lost treasure also features but, as alluded to, any story that could have fed off this is lost amongst the swamp grass.All in all, some highs here and there but not a read that will stick with me.

Vielfältige Charaktere großartige Atmosphäre spannend und berührendUnbedingt lesen wobei ich das Tempo verlangsamt habe um nicht allzubald zu beenden

Bien écrit, impressionnante description de la vie dans les bayous après la tempête et les dégâts causés par les sociétés pétrolières. Personnages attachants, mais petite déception : la fin est un peu "bâclée" et on reste sur sa faim !

Un libro che scorre veloce.Mi è piaciuto conoscere la vita degli abitanti di quei luoghi a me così sconosciuti.

My purchase arrived today and in great condition, thank you.