by Ace Atkins
First published 2011
Quinn Colson comes back from Afghanistan to the hill country of northeast Mississippi, where violence runs as deep as family roots. The Army Ranger expects to find the rugged landscape he grew up in, but corruption has taken hold of his hometown. His uncle, the county sheriff, lies dead. Officials call it suicide. Local voices suggest murder. Colson faces a choice. He can accept the official story and move on, or he can dig into what really happened. The investigation pulls him deeper into secrets about his uncle, his family, and the people he thought he knew. Each answer leads to harder questions about the place he called home and the man he has become. The truth waits somewhere in the Mississippi hills, but finding it will change everything. Colson must decide how much he is willing to sacrifice to uncover what his uncle died for.
Genres: adventure, mystery, crime, thriller, action
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water
Setting: Afghanistan, Mississippi
Period: 21st-century
334 pages · Hardcover · G.P. Putnam's Sons