Kings of Broken Things is an expansive story which constructs 1910's Omaha with great care. It explodes with moments of action and probes readers with questions of justice. There's so much going on in this story, and that is probably its greatest flaw. There are a few too many characters and plotlines with no apparent purpose.

I enjoyed how Wheeler took the events of Will Brown's lynching in 1919 and crafted a story about the city. I appreciate stories where a place becomes a character. Wheeler definitely pulls that off with this story. This is a story about Jake and Karel and Evie... it's a story about a lynching and injustice and corruption... but more than anything else, it's a story about the environment that brewed such a terrible storm. ( )

This book is a remarkable telling of the race riots in 1918 Omaha, Nebraska, but reads more like an action-packed fiction novel. The characters are lively and flawed, descriptions of their lifestyles are raw and realistic, and the compelling facts of the politics and moralistic mood of Omaha makes the events—even the squalor—come alive on the page. Using the Great War and the influenza pandemic as a backdrop, the author, paints an authentic picture of life in 1918. At this time in our history, with Prohibition and the Great Depression on the horizon, jobs are scarce, women are not safe on the streets alone, and African-Americans are still the closest target for hatred and violence.

By following the trials of Karel Miihlstein—a teenager and immigrant from Germany, Jake Strauss—a young man on the run from Jackson County, Evie Chambers—a woman of questionable morals and ethnic background, and Tom Dennison—a ruthless crime boss that runs the town, a stunning portrayal of rural America is explored. I was fascinated to learn that school and health authorities removed children suffering from rickets and malnutrition from their homes and placed them in sanitariums where they were not only healed but educated—bravo. I was also dismayed to find that politics in the eighteen century were perhaps more corrupt than they are today. This one is very informative and a great read. ( )

This books reminds me of Rilla Askew's 'Fire in Beulah.' The historical events in both books are eerily similar and the fictional stories surrounding these events are heartbreaking. This is an excellent novel, and I look forward to reading more from Wheeler! ( )