First published 2008
The biggest man in his family wakes up in complete darkness with a crushing hangover from his father's moonshine. His bib overalls reek of sour mash and his mouth tastes like death. When he tries to stand and walk, something yanks him back down. A leather dog collar circles his neck, connected to a trace chain that wraps around a tree and locks tight. In the pitch black night, he feels around the bark and makes a shocking discovery. Someone has chained him to his own family tree like a wild dog. As he struggles against the restraint, vomiting and raging through the darkness, only one person could have the nerve to treat him this way. His own mother has collared him and left him to wrestle with his demons alone. This war-hardened giant who once killed bears with his bare hands now finds himself trapped by the very family that raised him. Through the long night he wallows in his own filth, screaming questions into the silent darkness about how he ended up bound to the tree that represents everything he thought he knew about home.
Genres: mystery, horror, family-drama
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, suspenseful
Tropes: dysfunctional-family, man-vs-nature, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Family Tree
Period: Pitch Black Night
436 pages · Paperback · Xlibris US
Content warnings: abuse, alcohol-abuse, violence