Great writing can’t save this novel that feels incomplete, wandering and ultimately goes nowhere. I really wanted this to be great –– and small stretches contained fantastic dialogue. It wasn’t enough. Lack of attribution on the dialogue became tedious. The introductory plot was abandoned and never picked up. I didn’t mind that because I believe it was a metaphor about the main characters, but it was a reminder that McCarthy can write a story, too. The Road was a page-turner, but this one was a page-burner. As in trying to burn through reading them in hopes that an intriguing storyline would emerge. It didn’t.