First published 2011
Lester Ballard, a social pariah, is released from jail after a false rape accusation. Unmoored from society, Lester retreats into a lonely, violent existence, committing grotesque acts as he wanders his rural Tennessee hometown. Haunted by his past and shunned by the townsfolk, Lester's mundane errands devolve into horrific displays, a reflection of his fractured psyche and thwarted humanity.
Genres: fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, crime, gothic-horror, dark
Vibes: dark, emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fractured-psyche, social-outsider, thwarted-humanity
Setting: Tennessee
Period: 20th-century
130 pages · Hardcover · Self Publisher
Content warnings: abuse, gore, graphic-violence, mental-illness, murder, violence