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WORK TITLE: The River Snakes
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1985
WEBSITE:
CITY: Martinez
STATE: CA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES: All books are self-published; cannot locate multiple reviews for any given book.
PERSONAL
Born 1985, in Albany, MO.
EDUCATION:Missouri Western State University, graduated, 2009.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer. Previously, served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador.
AWARDS:Best Short Story Award, Canvas, 2009.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Originally from Albany, Missouri, Adam Darby is a writer and former Peace Corps volunteer. In 2009, he earned a bachelor’s degree from Missouri Western State University. Darby served with the Peace Corps in El Salvador. He has received the Canvas Best Short Story award. Darby is based in Martinez, California.
Duct-Tape Bandage and The Beacon Brothers
Duct-Tape Bandage is a collection of short stories by Darby. In one story, he draws on his own experience in Central America and tells of an American traveling in the region. The traveler encounters another foreigner, and a bond between them develops. Another story finds a young volunteer for a political campaign becoming more and more disgruntled. He is assigned to knock on doors and promote his candidate to the people he meets. The protagonist of another story holds deep resentments against his coworkers and superiors. He devises a plan to get back at them. His plan involves living at his place of work. In a different work in this collection, a woman becomes frustrated when she repeatedly discovers that her packages have gone missing. She determines that a single person has been stealing them and decides to trap them committing their illegal activity. When the woman discovers who the package thief is, she is taken aback.
In his 2017 novel, The Beacon Brothers, Darby tells the story of the two titular characters. The elder of the Beacon Brothers is Cody. The younger is a six-year-old boy, who has the ability to predict the future. The brothers and the rest of the citizens in their community are growing more fearful, as a series of crimes devastates their town. Over time, Cody discovers that his little brother is able to predict the crimes. The two approach the authorities with the predictions, but they are brushed off. When the little brother’s prognostications are proved correct, the police begin suspecting that he and Cody may be involved in the crimes. They must find the real perpetrator before more deaths occur.
The River Snakes
A young farmer named witnesses a murder in the corn field in The River Snakes. The killer forces him to be his chauffeur, driving him to Kansas City and then Montana. Over time, Seth begins working for the killer and his gang of drug traffickers.
A Kirkus Reviews critic offered a favorable assessment of The River Snakes. The critic commented: “The characterization throughout is strong and the pacing is good, with scenes of violence offset by those of the gang having a few beers.” The same critic also called the volume “a dark, unsettling character study.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2018, review of The River Snakes.
Adam Darby GOODREADS AUTHOR
Born in Albany, MO, The United States
GenreThriller, Suspense, Humor and Comedy
Member SinceJune 2014
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Adam Darby (b. 1985) grew up in rural Missouri. The son of a local artist mother and farmer father, Adam graduated from Missouri Western State University in 2009. That same year, he was recognized with the award for Best Short Story - Canvas 2009. For over two years after college, Adam served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador and traveled around Central America. He now lives in Martinez, California.
Adam Darby (b. 1985) grew up in rural Missouri. The son of a local artist mother and farmer father, Adam graduated from Missouri Western State University in 2009. That same year, he was recognized with the award for Best Short Story - Canvas 2009. For over two years after college, Adam served in the Peace Corps in El Salvador and traveled around Central America. He now lives in Martinez, California.
QUOTED: "The characterization throughout is strong and the pacing is good, with scenes of violence offset by those of the gang having a few beers."
"a dark, unsettling character study."
Darby, Adam: THE RIVER SNAKES
Kirkus Reviews. (Jan. 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Darby, Adam THE RIVER SNAKES Self (Indie Fiction) $7.99 5, 19 ISBN: 978-1-5212-5281-9
A young man proves to be a quick learner when it comes to killing and drug trafficking in Darby's (The Beacon Brothers, 2017, etc.) rural crime novel.
Seth, a Midwestern farmworker, crouches in waist-high corn as he witnesses a stranger kill another man. The fearful young man stays hunkered down for hours, then runs to his truck only to find the killer sitting in it. He demands that Seth drive him first to Kansas City to connect with his cohort Vienna ("Like the sausages") and then, eventually, to Montana. But first, he wants him to help load not one, but two bodies into the truck. Although initially Seth tries to escape from the unnamed murderer, he soon demonstrates a knack for doing his bidding, and he finds that he likes the money that the man pays him. Eventually, the man convinces Seth to permanently lock an associate in a shipping container and, later still, to kill someone. Once in Montana, Seth and the man's other underlings (including Isabel, who's "Indian, maybe a little bit Mexican" and very interesting to Seth) are tasked with traveling the Missouri River for two months in canoes packed with ketamine for a drug deal. For good reason, Seth is wary of his fellow drug traffickers; he also knows the man will kill him, like he killed others, if he disappoints him. Darby excels at describing details, identifying farm weeds as "mare's tail" and "volunteer wheat," noting the "plastic-on-plastic clicking sound" of playing video games, and remarking on the "fuzzy yellow cover on the toilet seat" in a low-rent house. The characterization throughout is strong and the pacing is good, with scenes of violence offset by those of the gang having a few beers, cooking spaghetti sauce, and sharing pizza. The yin and yang of loyalty and betrayal run through the novel until its disturbing end.
A dark, unsettling character study.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Darby, Adam: THE RIVER SNAKES." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A520735667/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=95caa4c6. Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A520735667