I enjoy ready other series and coming back to this series. I grew up in this area. It’s always interesting to see it from another’s point of view. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Jim is not always an endearing character, but he is perhaps what is necessary for the present world he lives in. A soft civilization that has been conditioned to look to the government and technology for all its needs is what Appalachia had become. Jim, is perhaps what it needs to transition thru the darker times to be able to survive. I’m not making a political judgment, but if you have not lived in and around Appalachia with bad jobs bad drugs and no hope, then perhaps you don’t know what it once was and now is. This series gives a perspective on what could be and is imo generally honest in its representation. It’s dramatic of course but it’s a good story. That’s why we read.
The narration is excellent as usual and I recommend the book and the series as a whole.