First published 2002
A drifter rolls into the isolated desert community of Pomo Wells, California, carrying violence in his wake. The townspeople soon discover that this stranger knows their secrets and plans to use them. As tension builds through a single day, residents find themselves forced to confront buried truths about their neighbors and themselves. The local sheriff struggles to maintain order while longtime residents realize their quiet lives have been built on lies. Old grudges surface and alliances shift as the community faces a reckoning that will change everything. This is a story about how quickly civilization can crumble when fear takes hold and how ordinary people respond when their carefully constructed world falls apart.
Genres: american-fiction, suspense, mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Pomo Wells, California
Period: 20th-century
264 pages · Paperback · Canongate Books
Content warnings: violence