An unputdownable read packed with realism and high-stakes intrigue.
Happy Sun Farm: Behind the Facade by Deven Greene is a gripping rural thriller grounded in corporate intrigue, grief, and personal reckoning. Readers are invited into the world of college student Berry, who returns to her Southern California farm following her father’s unexpected death, hoping to mourn, support her mother, and prepare to take over the family land. But her hopes are quickly dashed when she begins to uncover disturbing truths: her father had resisted selling the farm to a massive agribusiness, Happy Sun Farm, which now seems intent on consuming the region one property at a time. Berry investigates further, only to uncover inconsistencies in the official story of her father’s death. And then there are the strange, possibly unethical farming practices that are going on behind closed doors. Stonewalled by authorities and facing a tightening net of danger, Berry is ready to risk everything to expose a conspiracy that’s much bigger and darker than she could ever have expected.
Deven Greene has crafted a deeply engaging story that readers are sure to feel immediately connected to, and a huge part of that is down to Berry, a protagonist who is refreshingly capable, intelligent, and emotionally grounded. As the journey unfolds, the emotional weight of Berry’s grief is handled with nuance and credibility. There is a confident but gentle sense of empathy that pervades the narrative with relatable moments that never overwhelm the reader in a way that might derail the story. The pacing is also as tightly controlled as the plot, with suspense mounting organically in quiet moments, while Greene creates atmosphere as even sunlit fields hide creeping dread, keeping you on edge at every turn. Her depiction of farming life and agribusiness feels authentic and thoroughly researched, with appropriate levels of detail and context to make the industry interesting and relevant to the story. The author taps into broader themes of corporate exploitation without losing narrative focus, allowing the mystery to unfold in compelling layers, each one more disturbing than the last as we learn more about this world and how ruthless the people in it can truly be. I was also impressed by the dialogue work in the novel, which is naturally penned and reveals character depth with efficiency, while the novel presents a strong feminist perspective without preachiness. Happy Sun Farm is an unputdownable read packed with realism and high-stakes intrigue.
