A slice of life novella that was a quick read that I thoroughly devoured. I highly enjoyed the interactions between Buffalo and the main character. While the transition between the past and present was written very well and smoothly.

For fans of Stoner by John Williams, you will enjoy this book

This was a quick read and I enjoyed it. The balance between the past and the present was nice to get a sense of the main characters thoughts. I really enjoyed Buffalo and their relationship. The stability she gave him. My only wish was that we saw some more interaction with others.

Not my usual kind of read but I enjoyed it, if that's even the right word. The first 20% were a bit confusing, I had to get used to the voice and story, but after that this was a pretty smooth, quick read. The relationship between Buffalo and Frank was my favorite part (I'm biased; I love cats).

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

I always enjoy a good meandering tale of inner turmoil from a MC who has to rediscover their way. fans of silas house’s “Lark Ascending” will enjoy this story, though Pineville Trace’s is more of a metaphorical rather than literal apocalypse. an apocalypse of the soul, if you will.
this is a tale that is wholeheartedly more about the journey than any destination, or long term plot device for that matter.
but any literary character on a journey of self discovery — particularly later in life and after a significant series of life altering changes — will always call to me.
it’s poetic in nature, features a lot of actual nature, and if you love cats as a familiar (or buick lesabres, for that matter) then you will find something to endear you to this book.

This was a great read, I felt the story was perfect as a novella and I loved getting to flip between the past and present. Buffalo was definitely one of my favourite characters. The travelling aspect of the story helped it from feeling stale and gave a sense of relatability to the character as he travelled. I fell in-love with the self discovery and poetic nature this book provided.

This is a book of inner architecture and I really like the literary approach that Wes Blake takes. I also appreciate how much he accomplishes in the novella space — an intriguing travel through geography and through mind, and a recommended literary read.

"Dusk settles down on the river like an old friend he hadn't seen in years - that he longed to rehash the old story with"

This is a beautiful little novella that rests upon 140 pages as our main character Frank, an escaped criminal from a minimum security prison, travels across lands with his cat called "Buffalo". The key to this tory lays in its captivating and conjuring imagery, the architecture of the land and also his mind. It provides the scenery with the unique opportunity to grow into itself as its own character.

Undeniable, the charm is born through Frank's relationship with his cat Buffalo, who is remarked as his little hunting cat.

I really enjoyed reading this, its was sweet and beautiful and incredibly visual (which is always a win for me) and I would highly recommend anyone seeking a more personal and simple slice of life/coming of age esque novella.

i really enjoyed this! i am a big fan of this type of stream-of-consciousness prose. the writing style reminded me a little bit of death in her hands by ottessa moshfegh, but i liked pineville trace much more.

pineville trace is definitely driven much more by frank's consciousness and mental state more so than any external plot, but there is still a very strong sense of a journey, this very long search with an unknown ending. i liked the sense of unreality that the author plays with and there were a lot of sentence fragments or paragraphs that struck me as very beautiful. i think my favorite thing about this piece was the atmosphere; the mood was palpable in an almost suffocating way, which is something i really enjoy.

Pineville Trace follows Frank who at the beginning of the novella is escaping from a minimum security prison for fraud. Frank begins his journey north with his savvy cat Buffalo in search of a cabin from his dreams.

This novella is written in vignettes from Frank’s life and there are several time skips throughout. It felt more like a slice of life and reflective memoir than an adventure story which is exactly what I was hoping this would be. I loved following Frank, particularly in relation to his bond with Buffalo. I could have followed the two of them for 100+ more pages! Frank is an interesting character with an engaging back story which kept me entertained throughout. The writing style was beautiful and lyrical.

I’d recommend this to anyone who is interested in a slow paced reflective novella. I’ll be looking out for more works by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Etchings Press for access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was a different type of read than I was expecting. It felt more like poetry than anything else-- thought the points made were more plainly laid out.
There was something comforting about the writing, and I felt a draw to follow Frank on his journey to self-redemption.
While Frank was purportedly a priest, his notions on faith and confidence and revivals and healing, felt less god-like and more like a kid who found a way to make a future for himself.
The end of part 2, while I knew what was coming, still brought tears to my eyes.
Overall, I enjoyed this read and its calm demeanor.

Given the rich storytelling heritage of Kentucky, it’s a real treat to stumble upon an author finding his way through the literary landscape that’s been shaped by so many stories before. With his upcoming novella, Pineville Trace (releasing September 2024), Wes Blake has taken his rightful place on the paths worn down by dozens of Kentucky authors before him and in doing so has created a memorable and moving story about one man’s journey towards freedom.

I quite enjoyed the stream of conscious prose and the more atmospheric-led storyline. It's a super reflective read, and I absolutely adored Frank's relationship with Buffalo.

There's a few things I feel were left unfinished, but more of a contemporary mystery that add to the story so I feel the interpretation will suffice just fine. It was perfect as a novella, the pace was amazing, just a meandering retelling that thaws autumn vibes as it progresses.

For fans of young Clint Eastwood, the main character has a similar feel of Jed Cooper from Hand 'Em High. Just go with the flow minimal verbiage, but a foreign world thoughts and lives deep inside.

3.75 ⭐
Pineville Trace by Wes Blake follows Frank Russet, a former preacher and conman, on his journey of redemption. His sole companion on this journey is an adorable cat 'Buffalo'. The unique narrative style; similar to 'stream of consciousness' mode, tells the story in short fragments. The narration at times reminded me of The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker. Blake's prose has this intensity and the imagery is set to leave one in a trance. With an almost philosophical theme, this novella is a compelling exploration of identity and redemption.

Pineville Trace is a book you "feel" more than read. It seeps into you like a dream. That's about the best way I can describe it. I didn't connect with the narrator so I downloaded the book as well and read a bit of it before going back to the narrator - I was anxious to finish it and found that even though I didn't connect, the story was so enthralling that, in the end, I didn't care. I'll say this, though - I'll re-read it again myself.

The writing itself is beautiful - sparse and poetic. It's also not for everybody. Like I said, you feel the book more than anything else. It almost seems irrelevant to say that the main character, Frank, escapes from prison by following Buffalo, his cat. They are quite the duo. And off they go, wandering in the world, reflecting, finding solace in each other's company. Truth is, the solid action in this book isn't really the point. It's the unwinding of a life, looking back on what worked, what was honest, and what felt like a lie, all in a kind of ultra-focused, reflective, dream state. You're floating in this read.

I've read other reviews of this book and can honestly say I didn't get much of the back-and-forth between reality and dream, which is another reason I need to re-read it rather than listen to it. It requires a certain amount of concentration—or not—depending on what you take with you at the end. For me, the fact that I won't forget this book in a month is a big deal.

Beautifully written and quietly poignant. Following Frank as he reflects on his past, both fondly and with regret, evoked a strange sense of nostalgia. He was so human, so distant but relatable. I felt for him and disliked him and resonated with him all at once. There isn’t really a plot to summarize here, Pineville Trace progresses much like Frank does- always moving, always forward, but distinctly caught in the past. As Frank himself muses, he is a pillar of salt, always looking back.

While Frank was very enjoyable to read, nothing compares to my love of his cat companion, Buffalo. Their relationship truly shined and set the tone for the entire story.

I would absolutely recommend this to readers looking for a thoughtful, speculative book about accepting your past, and to anyone who daydreams about escaping into the woods and leaving their life behind (with the exception of their cat, of course).

“At the end everyone was left alone with their own soul. Even Frank. Even you.”

I'm so glad I downloaded this title! Although I didn't expect to cry several kinds of tears at my desk...

I recommend reading Pineville Trace in one sitting for a moving, melancholy, and mindful experience. I was reminded a bit of "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" but don't take that too closely to heart, because the general mood of this story is starkly different than the mood of APFTWB ("Psalm" didn't make me cry *any* kind of tears). But both were a short, contemplative reading experience that left me unable to read anything else for the rest of the day, and wanting to read more by their authors. And both featured a pair of buddies, traveling.

Thank you to Etchings Press and NetGalley for this title! I will be looking into more Etchings Press publications in the future.

A good story that kept me interested from the beginning. You wont be disappointed with the book or audiobook.

Pineville Trace quietly welcomes the reader on the protagonist's journey, it's with the calm voices of secular trees mooving in the breeze that Blake tells this story.
Allthough reaching a slump in pace towards the end of the second part of the book, where I thought the ideas and motives were not strong enough to carry my interest, I still felt a sort of peace, a calmness similar to being a child looking out of the parents' car, out in the night and the nature dressed in mistery by it.
Blake's prose flows easily and the author was able to integrate many cultural and natural details that rendered the story easy to be immersed in and the characters easy to relate to. To me, it felt like reading Walden by Thoreau with a modern american twist, an atmospheric tale of escaping civilisation, the past and somehow, the future.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Pineville Trace is an award winning novella-in-flash by debut author, Wes Blake. It is a contemplative account of one Frank Russet, a dishonored charismatic revival preacher, who has just escaped from a minimum-security prison. We are invited along on his journey to a town he has only dreamt of, and never seen - Pineville. Accompanied by a wise cat named Buffalo, who also happens to be an uncanny guide, Frank makes his pilgrimage. All the while, we are privy to his innermost thoughts, reflections, regrets, longings and revelations. Frank may have escaped prison, but he can’t seem to escape his past.

I was completely drawn into this flash introspective purgatory and meditation on how the worldly and the spiritual collide. I found that nearly all of the solo pieces contributed to the entirety of the longer story. Nevertheless, I was here for all of Frank’s meditations. I highly recommend Pineville Trace to readers of flash or short literary fiction, or for those who relish quiet contemplative novellas. I look forward to seeing more from Wes Blake.

⚠️ a pet doesn’t make it to the end of the story

My thanks to the author Wes Blake, University of Indianapolis, Etchings Press and @NetGalley for the pleasure of reading this digital arc in exchange for an honest review.

Blake's prose in Pineville Trace is immediately gripping. This story is unpredictable, though realistic and has much to say about life. While this is a short read, Blake anchors deep, emotional moments and profoundly beautiful imagery with two unlikely characters as friends and confidants. What Blake has written here is a masterful work of fiction with equal amounts of beauty, despair, love, and tragedy. The book's cover is as eye-catching as its content is heart-wrenching.