Billy Dead: 1

When mean, violent and generally despised Billy Johnson turns up gruesomely murdered in this heartwrenching debut, his blue-collar Michigan town is full of suspects, including members of his own family. While relatives gather for the funeral and the police investigation intensifies, Billy's troubled younger brother, Ray, tries to make sense of it all by reluctantly dredging up his family's shameful past. He, Billy and their sister, Jean, were horribly abused by their father when they were children. They also abused one another. As adults, they continue to inflict pain on themselves and those around them. After having struggled to lead a normal life, Ray has yet to master his complex feelings for the estranged, withdrawn Jean, feelings that have come between Ray and his girlfriend. Meanwhile his father remains unrepentant and his long-suffering mother, having escaped and remarried, still can't acknowledge that the abuses ever occurred. The real brilliance in this grim tale lies in the author's choice of narrator, for it is only Ray's sweet, bruised voice that makes any of it tolerable. Reardon falters in straining for a redemptive conclusion, but that doesn't diminish her overall accomplishment: this is a compelling work, reminiscent of both Dorothy Allison and Caroline Chute, that evokes empathy for those who lead bleak, savage lives and even finds a measure of dignity and love in people raised in a world where all the rules and taboos are broken on a daily basis. Agent, Virginia Barber; author tour. (Oct.)