Like No Country for Old Men and Snow Falling on Cedars, a haunting,
suspenseful, and dazzlingly written novel of secrets, corruption,
tragedy, and vengeance from the author of Crazy Heart--the basis of
the 2009 Academy Award-winning film--an electrifying crime drama and
psychological thriller in which a young cop becomes the focal point for
a community's grief and rage in the aftermath of a tragic accident.
Out on a rural highway on a cold, icy night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert
sits in his cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his
shift ends. Then a familiar beater Jeep Cherokee comes speeding over a
hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase after it. The driver is his old
friend turned nemesis, Matt Laferiere, the rogue son of a man as beaten
down as the town itself.
Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving
spirals out of control into a heated argument between two young men with
a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of
blacktop.
As the news spreads around town, Police Chief Gordy Hawkins remains
certain that Ronny Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them,
and he's willing to stand by the young cop. But a few manipulative
people in town see opportunity in the tragedy. As uneasy relationships,
dark secrets, and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this
small, tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been
committed, and someone--Officer Ronny Forbert--must pay a price, a
choice that will hold devastating consequences for them all.
