The Ruin Season

By: Kristopher Triana

Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg

Jake Leonard has more than his share of trouble. He’s close to 40 now and still suffers from bipolar disorder and the painful memories of the psychotic episodes that derailed his life and sent him behind bars.

He lives in the rural South, where he spends his days breaking horses and his nights training dogs in solitude. His 19-year-old girlfriend Nikki is the daughter of the sheriff, and she’s just getting worse with drugs, alcohol, and satanic metal.

He does his best to persuade her to ease up on them, but he’s buying weed from her for a friend who’s grown fatally ill. Things go from bad to worse when Nikki has a breakdown and gets involved in heroin and low-budget porn.

She no longer wants to see Jake, after a tragedy makes them drift apart. Jake reconnects with his ex-wife Michelle, who he’s never stopped loving, but she’s remarried with a young daughter, so their relationship can’t be more than private flings.

Soon, chaos unfolds like a pocketknife. The sheriff takes Jake for an ominous ride into the woods; Michelle’s new husband finds out about their affair; Jake turns violent in an effort to save Nikki from ruthless captors; the whole town erupts in a sea of flames; dogs sink their teeth into flesh; Jake’s murderous history is revealed, and before long, he finds himself spinning toward the inner demons that he’s worked so hard to escape.

The novel is similar to the works of Cormac McCarthy, Stewart O' Nan, Daniel Woodrell, or Larry Brown.

©2016 Kristopher Triana (P)2020 Kristopher Triana

Such a good story, some of it pissed me off though

This was a great story, but I hated Nicki. Maybe it’s because I know a few girls like her and I was friends with a girl like her for years. I hated that Jake felt like he was responsible for her unraveling, when really her unraveling would have happened regardless of what did or did not happen to her. But that’s what makes Jake’s character so likable. At his core he is good, he cares. He’s the perfect anti hero.

I knew that tragedy was going to befall the story, I just didn’t know when and how. I just remember hoping that Jake wouldn’t die and that Nicki wouldn’t die either, even though I didn’t like her character. When the fire happened I wasn’t surprised. It’s what happened after the fire with Shelly that really threw me for a loop. I thought for sure Steve wouldn’t die confront Jake and one of them would die that way, but I didn’t see what happened coming. Damn. I knew eventually Jake would forget his meds, and that his story would unravel that way, but I figured it would unravel in a violent rampage.

Anyway, this story is Grim, sad and real. By the end of it, the title of the story is just so fitting. The Ruin Season. ❄️

Great story, very visceral.

The author’s depiction of mental illness and drug addiction feels authentic. The narrator really brings the brooding cowboy character to life and is a fantastic listen.

Good story, but sad

Loved the story but very sad too. Wasn’t crazy about the narrator. He was great for some characters but hard to get around the gruff voice for some of the female characters.

Awesome! Moody story that oozes emotions & turmoil

Before I get started on this one, a couple shout-outs to Charles Kahlenberg. I listened to THE RUIN SEASON as an Audiobook narrated by Charles Kahlenberg. His voice fit the story perfectly. I am so pleased that I heard it this way because the style, the mood, the emotions all rolled from his voice perfectly! Now, onto the story itself. As I was listening to it, the story reminded me a lot of Joe R. Lansdale's stories. Or maybe a Lansdale world. I could very easily picture the events from this book as occurring in the same world as Hap & Leonard or countless other of his books. Something where I start reading for the story but realize quickly that the characters are so much more engrossing that the already good story. In this case, despite the protagonist's desire for a simple life, he has a lot happening.

Jake Leonard is close to forty. He's divorced due to his bipolar disorder. He's dating the sheriff's 19-year-old daughter. And drugs, alcohol, and death (all happening to others) are going to make Jake's life hard.

The story description will tell you more but I'm not. That was enough to get me engaged and as I mentioned, it took me nothing to become engrossed with the events happening. Unfortunately I could tell about halfway through that the ending was not going to be happy. The impending doom kept stalking forward and I hoped that somehow it wasn't going to be as bad as I thought. Suspense was only part of it; I knew that the emotional impact of this good guy hitting some sort of bottom was going to hurt. And that is when you know that you are reading a really good book!

wow

wow.....just wow, I'll never forget this story...so absolutely, real, sad, and humbling. this was something special.