One of the fascinating aspects of “The Risen” is that the narrator is such a doofus - and that’s a kind word.Įugene is foolishly susceptible to Ligeia’s opportunistic charms, succumbs to brother-envy and unsuccessfully nurses the soul of a Thomas Wolfe wannabe. (His mother had named him Eugene because she had loved “Look Homeward, Angel.”) “The thing that struck me, almost immediately, when it became clear that no one was going to be arrested, was what if those two men did do it and got away with it? What would it be like to live knowing you got away with this, if you had some kind of conscience? Not only to live with it but also to know that there was another person who knew and might at any time, for whatever reason, decide to confess.” “There’d been a murder about 20 years ago, near where I was living, where two men were accused of killing a young woman,” he said. “How did you get the idea for this novel?” I asked Rash in a recent interview.

It’s the seventh novel and 19th book for the author, who grew up around here and now teaches creative writing at Western Carolina University. Ron Rash’s new novel features some seriously troubled people who question whether redemption is achievable. The book's title, “The Risen,” may refer to a corpse, a repressed memory or an uplifted person, so the issue of the outcome is always in doubt.

The Risen by Ron Rash