
Author: Holly Kennedy
Published by: Lake Union Publishing on Apr. 8, 2025
Genres: General Fiction, Mystery/Thriller
Pages: 330
Format: ARC, Paperback
Source: Firefly Distributed Lines
Book Rating: 10/10
On the surface, Denny Voss’s life in rural Minnesota is a quiet one. At thirty years old, he lives at home with his elderly mother and his beloved blind and deaf Saint Bernard, George. He cleans up roadkill to help pay the bills. Though his prospects are limited by a developmental delay—the result of an accident at birth—Denny has always felt that he has “a good life.”
So how did he wind up being charged with the murder of a mayoral candidate—after crashing a sled full of guns into a tree?
As Denny awaits trial, his court-appointed therapist walks him through the events of the past year. Denny’s had other scuffles with the law, the first for kidnapping a neighbor’s cantankerous goose. And then there was the time he accidentally assisted in a bank robbery. It seems like whenever Denny tries to do the right thing, chaos ensues.
Untangling the events around the murder reveals even more painful truths about his family’s past. He’s always been surrounded by people who love him, but now it’s up to Denny to set his life on a new course.
Review:
Memorable, sincere, and humorous!
The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is an intimate, thought-provoking novel that immerses you into the life of Denny Voss, a thirty-year-old man with intellectual difficulties who, through his genuine, innocent desire to always do the right thing, triggers an unravelling of family secrets when he ends up in jail after he’s found in possession of a murder weapon.
The prose is evocative and sincere. The characters are multi-layered, unique, and vulnerable. And the plot is a touching tale of life, love, friendship, desires, needs, dreams, goals, community, complex relationships, family drama, and secrets.
Overall, The Sideways Life of Denny Voss is a beautiful mix of hope, heart, and healing that is not only a lovely, funny, tender novel by Kennedy but one which I don’t think anyone could possibly read and not be completely absorbed and exceptionally moved.
This novel is available now.
Pick up a copy from your favourite retailer or from one of the following links.
Thank you to Firefly Distributed Lines for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.