No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

No Country For Old Men follows the story of Llewelyn Moss, a welder turned outlaw when he finds a briefcase lined with 2.3 million dollars. With this great fortune, however, comes a great trial for Moss, who needs to constantly run from those searching for the briefcase and for him. The novel takes on the perspective of these men too, the sheriff of the country from which Moss is running, and a homicidal stone-faced madman on the hunt not only for money but also for Moss's life. Moss barely manages to stay ahead of his pursuers, as Sheriff Bell and the homicidal Anton Chigurh slowly close the gap between themselves and the cunning and daring Llewelyn. This leads to intense shootouts, clever traps, and dramatic conclusions in this thrilling and touching series of events.

 The most interesting part of this novel was the character development, and how although the characters in the novel rarely met or never met, they seemed to play off each other perfectly through the small pieces of evidence left behind by one another and by the brief, and often tense, meetings between them. The character development also interested me in how each character had such a complex reason for their actions, and a complex back story of love and loss and insanity, but once face to face with each other, acted with little words or with little time for character interaction. Another interesting thing about the novel appeared in McCarthy's fast-paced writing style, often using a series of run-on sentences and rapid conversation (never using quotation marks). The plot had an enormous amount of action and suspense, along with a chance to feel for each character, developing into a very heart-pounding, yet tear-jerking experience. I would recommend this novel to anyone interested in action or thriller books. - Henry H., Class of 2012