by Davis Grubb
First published 2023
Harry Powell arrives in a small West Virginia town with LOVE and HATE tattooed across his knuckles. This self-proclaimed preacher targets widows, marrying them before murdering them for their money. Powell sets his sights on Willa Harper, whose executed husband hid stolen cash before his death. Her young children, John and Pearl, know the secret location but refuse to tell their dangerous new stepfather. When Powell kills their mother, the children flee down the Ohio River. They must stay ahead of the relentless killer who will stop at nothing to claim the hidden fortune. The story follows their desperate flight through the countryside as Powell closes in, his twisted religious rhetoric masking a cold capacity for violence that has already claimed multiple victims across the state.
Genres: fiction, 20th-century, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: dark, fast-paced, suspenseful
Tropes: cat-and-mouse, unreliable-narrator
Setting: Ohio River, West Virginia
Period: 20th-century
256 pages · Paperback · Penguin Classics
Content warnings: violence