Bookrate

Jud Caryit is a self-proclaimed prophet fueled by the desire to save souls through murder. Dove Prisca is a suicide survivor who hates her mother's god, and only keeps living because her mother is dying of cancer. The two of them meet, and find they are more similar than they first think.The novel is set in the bleak stage of an impoverished Appalachian town called Lackspew. The land is peppered with absurd, dark, and hilarious characters that feel all too real. The black humor lightens the darkness with wit and charm, while the graveness and grotesque nature of the tale make any sane reader pause and reflect on their own life.And then there is the intriguing concept of Good Evil that plays a strange part in this already bizarre story. It's a theodicy fitting for the suffering characters of Lackspew. "In the beginning was God and the abyss."Neither Moth nor Rust is a Southern Gothic in the vein of Faulkner and O'Connor, with a splash of Dostoevsky inspired spiritual musings, and a Mishima-like description of beauty and the importance of it and action. The language is beautiful and precise, and no words are wasted in a compact story that stays with you long after it's done.