Review: The Thin Gray Line by Anthony R. Fanning

The Thin Gray Line, Anthony R. Fanning’s emotionally-charged work of women’s fiction, underscores the difference between desire and action, and doing what it takes to survive.

Twenty-six-year-old June Garrett and her younger sister, November “Novie” Ketchum, are as different as two sisters can possibly be. June has spent the last eight years at the construction company founded by her father, working her way through the ranks. June can drink and party with the best of them, doesn’t hesitate to start or jump into a fight and is fiercely devoted to her younger sister and widower father who is slowly dying of cancer.

The beautiful Novie, on the other hand, has become a mere shell of her former self after suffering through years of domestic violence at the hands of Jake Ketchum, her sadistic, womanizing husband. Just as June’s efforts at work begin paying off, her beloved father dies, throwing both her and Novie into a tailspin.

As the dust settles and Sam Garrett’s will becomes public knowledge, everyone is shocked to learn that June has inherited the family farm while all Novie has inherited is her father’s truck and money held in a trust – money which June controls. Jake had been counting on Novie’s inheritance as their way out of the trailer park. He’s furious with the way things have turned out and is determined to make some changes in his favor…

A great setting sets the stage for a great story and this is certainly the case with The Thin Gray Line. Fanning introduces his readers to the majesty of Wyoming with its forests, farms, and rivers – depicting both the beauty of the great outdoors and its danger, where guns and rifles are never far from hand. There’s a sense of close-knit community where everyone knows everyone’s business, which isn’t always necessarily a good thing, showing how these small-town traits are hardly a feature of the past. Fanning’s colorful cast of supporting characters leap off the pages, adding depth and controversy to the story as they go about their daily lives, living within the law, or breaking it.

The issue of domestic violence is an ugly one, and while certain passages aren’t for the faint of heart, Fanning doesn’t exploit the issue, but simply lets the reader experience the violence, inspiring a sense of vigilance and anger about how little existing laws protect victims of this heinous crime. The violence also serves to emphasize the unspoken divide between the two sisters – June, fueling her conviction to never allow a man to control her and Novie, hating herself for being too weak to stand up to her abusive husband and too weak to leave him. Fanning gives this issue a true sense of depth, never shying from realism or portraying characters in black and white terms.

There’s some humor and a subtle romantic undertone to the novel, but this isn’t a romance by any means, as much as a story about survival, desperation, love, and about taking a step over that fine line from which there’s no turning back. The Thin Gray Line reaches deep into the soul, unapologetically rattling every emotion until it culminates in a deeply satisfying ending.