Impeccable debut novel with a stellar narration

I first heard of Eli Cranor’s debut novel “Don’t Know Tough” many months ago. It received advance praise and was being touted for fans of Friday Night Lights. That was more than enough for me to take note and want to read it upon its release. Given I had another long-distance road trip, I decided to purchase the audiobook, even though I had serious reservations about it being narrated by the author. Those reservations quickly vanished as I was instantly transported by Eli Cranor’s excellent narration and impressive character range. No exaggeration, this is one of the best performances by an audiobook narrator, and I have had the pleasure of hearing some of the industry’s biggest voices and best impersonators. I hope he is at least nominated for an award for best narration in an audiobook.

Narration aside, Don’t Know Tough is an impeccable debut novel, one that transports the reader into the South’s football crazy world. But it does so much more than that, and covers so much more “crazy”. There is a lot to unpack from this story, too much to do it justice in a review. Plus, I would not want to spoil any potential readers’ sheer enjoyment of this gut-wrenching tale that will both touch your heart and tug at it to the point of breaking it.

The excellent character development is deeply woven into a very true-crime sounding story that is delivered at just the right pace, with just the right amount of timely revelation that keeps the reader fully invested in what happens next and how will this end. The storyline ebbs and flows, entertains us while misleading us, all on a richly developed backdrop packed with so much social and cultural commentary to make this not only a must-read book, but a book worth several readings.

I cannot sing Eli Cranor’s praises enough. Don’t Know Tough truly is an excellent book. The characters still resonate within me the day after finishing it, and I am still haunted by its ending.

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