Review: A Thousand Steps by T. Jefferson Parker

Release Date: January 11th, 2021

Genre(s): Adult Fiction, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Historical Fiction

Publisher: Forge

Pages: 368

Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️.75

Thank you to Tor/Forge and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis

A Thousand Steps is a gripping thriller, an incisive coming-of-age story, and a vivid portrait of turbulent time and place by three-time Edgar Award winner and New York Times bestselling author T. Jefferson Parker.

Laguna Beach, California, 1968. The Age of Aquarius is in full swing. Timothy Leary is a rock star. LSD is God. Folks from all over are flocking to Laguna, seeking peace, love, and enlightenment.

Matt Antony is just trying get by.

Matt is sixteen, broke, and never sure where his next meal is coming from. Mom’s a stoner, his deadbeat dad is a no-show, his brother’s fighting in Nam . . . and his big sister Jazz has just gone missing. The cops figure she’s just another runaway hippie chick, enjoying a summer of love, but Matt doesn’t believe it. Not after another missing girl turns up dead on the beach.

All Matt really wants to do is get his driver’s license and ask out the girl he’s been crushing on since fourth grade, yet it’s up to him to find his sister. But in a town where the cops don’t trust the hippies and the hippies don’t trust the cops, uncovering what’s really happened to Jazz is going to force him to grow up fast.

If it’s not already too late.

Review

I feel that I don’t pick up mystery/thrillers as often as I used to, but the late 1960’S setting of A Thousand Steps caught my attention. This is not only a mystery about the disappearance of the main character Matt Anthony’s sister but also a coming-of-age novel and commentary on the social divides at the time all in one. While I haven’t experienced this era firsthand, I’ve consumed a lot of content regarding it, and this has to be one of the best pieces by far to bring this time to life.

In fact, I would say that the execution of the setting makes this story so interesting. It not only adds much-needed depth to the plot but also adds to Matt’s growth as he encounters and reflects on experiences new to him in the search for his sister. Reading about the cultural divisions and now they tie into the plot as well (especially in terms of important decisions Matt has to make) gave me quite a bit to think about while reading, even in terms of the current political climate. Seeing this era from this perspective now, it’s interesting to think about how this pivotal time in history impacted us to this day. 

That being said, this book will take on a slower pace to really set the stage for the story. There were also parts of this in the middle where even I personally thought the pacing and story progression was going a bit too slow. But if you enjoy mysteries intertwined with other genres and themes, then I’d highly recommend A Thousand Steps. Especially if you love books and movies set in the sixties.

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