Book Review: ‘Everyone Dies Famous: A Novel’ By Len Joy

A small Missouri town is about to experience a killer tornado that no one sees coming. The story picks up 14 hours before the event and we follow a handful of the towns residents. There’s Dancer Stonemason, who lost one of his sons in a tragic accident and Dancer still hasn’t gotten over it. His other son is a successful businessman in town, who hasn’t gotten over his brother’s death yet. His oldest daughter is getting married, is pregnant and planning to move away with her new husband (her dad doesn’t know all this yet).

Wayne is a Iraq war veteran who has problems of his own. His wife has kicked him out and he doesn’t get to see his two kids that much. He’s living with his father, who has issues of his own. Dancer hires him to help move some stuff and the two of them bond a bit.

The story goes in real time leading up to the tornado and the immediate after effects of the storm. Lives will be lost and forever changed by the time you get to the end of the novel.

Author Len Joy has painted a solid picture of a small town with people that have issues and plays it out in real time so we can follow along. A solid story that looks at things from different sides and keeps the reader engaged throughout.