20th July, 2025 in Recommended Reads

Land Shadows by R.J. Striegel

“He felt numb, emotionless, and detached. He had no capacity for empathy, and those around him suffered for it.” The novel, Land Shadows, by R.J. Striegel, leads us through the lives of the McNeil family, focusing on the childhood and rise of its leading protagonist, Murdoch McNeil, who survives an unfathomable family trauma when forced to leave his home in Scotland to only find himself as the solitary survivor on the docks of New York City. Through a family saga of betrayal and tragedy, Murdoch uses his intellect and determination to claim ‘new’ land in New Mexico in efforts to reclaim some of what his family had stolen from him in Scotland, seemingly unaware that his actions continue a similar misfortune that targeted his family. Striegel deftly portrays the struggle we have against our worst impulses in the guise of success with characters difficult to loathe, notably in the contrast of the adoption and encouragement that Murdoch shows Kewanee, a Potowatomi girl, tackling the many shades of honor.