Daily Books - The Life We Bury--by Allen Eskens | Conversation Starters

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Allen Eskenss

The Life We Bury

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Copyright 2015 by dailyBooks. All Rights Reserved.

First Published in the United States of America 2015

We hope you enjoy this complementary guide from dailyBooks . We aim to provide quality, thought provoking material to assist in your discovery and discussions on some of todays favorite books.

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Tips for Using dailyBooks Conversation Starters:

EVERY GOOD BOOK CONTAINS A WORLD FAR DEEPER THAN the surface of its pages. The characters and their world come alive through the words on the pages, yet the characters and its world still live on. Questions herein are designed to bring us beneath the surface of the page and invite us into the world that lives on. These questions can be used to:

• Foster a deeper understanding of the book
• Promote an atmosphere of discussion for groups
• Assist in the study of the book, either individually or corporately
• Explore unseen realms of the book as never seen before

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THROUGH YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AND FIELD EXPERTISE, from newspaper featured book clubs to local library chapters, dailyBooks can bring your book discussion to life. Host your book party as we discuss some of todays most widely read books.

J OE TALBERT IS SLOGGING THROUGH LIFE, TRYING TO complete his assignments and earn enough money to put himself through college. He also has to deal with a bipolar and selfish mother who refuses to go to the doctor, and an autistic brother, Jeremy, for whom he feels responsible. What Joe does not need is a convicted murderer in his life, but this is exactly what happens when he signs up for a biography class. Unable to find anyone suitable, he accepts the suggestion of the nurse at the old age home to interview Carl Iverson, who had been convicted of the murder of a young girl thirty years ago. Now he has been released because of ill health, and the only person willing to talk to Joe for his assignment.

Once Joe talks to Carl, he gets involved in the story. Though reluctant at first, he realizes that this is a good way to spend time with Lisa, his neighbor, so he involves her in the project. Together, they unearth bits and pieces of Carls history and realize that he was not the only suspect in the murder of Crystal Mary Hagen. Lisa and Joe gather together all the documents of the case and zero in on three suspects: Andy Fisher, Crystals boyfriend at the time; Douglas Lockwood, Crystals stepfather; and Danny Lockwood, Crystals stepbrother.

Crystal Mary Hagen was a teenager who kept a diary, and most of the information unearthed about her came from this document. She lived in fear of her ultra-religious stepfather. She was an outgoing, cheerful girl but had to follow strict and unreasonable rules set by her stepfather, who held the threat of taking her out of her cheerleading team if she stepped out of line. She and her boyfriend were caught one day by her neighbor, Carl Iverson. This freaked Crystal out, and she was terrified of him telling her stepfather. She was also scared of Carl, whom she caught looking at her often and referred to him as a pervert in her diary. On the day of her murder, Crystals mother was working, while Douglas and Danny were working in their garage. But what really stumps them is the code that Crystal used in some of her entries.

As the two dig deeper into the case, they begin to find proof of Carls innocence. But this also means that the real murderer is walking scot-free. Though the authorities have agreed to help by reopening the case, Joe feels the need to solve the case and exonerate Carl before he dies, which leaves him very little time. As they close in on the real murderer, their lives are in danger because he is desperate enough to strike again. Ultimately, Lisa and Joe catch the murderer, exonerate Carl, and win an award of thousands of dollars, which they agree to share three ways between Joe, Lisa, and Jeremy. This enabled Joe to look after Jeremy, whom he had decided to rescue from their mothers neglect. After many years of putting up with his mother, he no longer has to, in a happy ending.

A LLEN ESKENS IS AN AMERICAN AUTHOR WHOSE FIRST book, The Life We Bury , was a hit. Compared to the stalwarts of the thriller genre such as John Grisham, Allen Eskens has firmly established himself with his debut book. He won the Rosebud Award for the Best First Mystery for his debut novel and was also a finalist for five more awards.

A lawyer by profession, Eskens was able to put in an extra dimension of his knowledge into his book. He had received his degree in journalism from the University of Minnesota and then graduated from Hamline University after completing his legal degree. He set up a practice in Minnesota and had been practicing law for more than twenty years before the writing bug bit him.

Eskens talks about his time in first grade when his teachers complained that he daydreamed too much. This was a common theme throughout his school years, but it was only when he was in college that he realized that he was actually telling stories in his mind. When he had to write a story for an assignment, he immediately took one of his daydreams and put it on paper, which impressed his teacher.

Eskens had been writing legal articles ever since he left law school, but he needed more knowledge and experience to write fiction. So he read books on fiction and attended creative writing classes and workshops at the Loft Literary Center and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival. Finally, he got his Masters in Fine Arts from Minnesota State University. After studying creative writing for a long time, he felt prepared to start writing his own book.

Currently, Eskens is still writing part time and has released his second novel. However, he feels he has now transitioned from a lawyer writing novels to a writer practicing law.