First published 2012
Jamalee Merridew burns with fury in Venus Holler, deep in the Ozarks where your birthplace determines your worth. Her hair blazes tomato red like her desperate ambition to break free from this dead end town. She pins her hopes on her brother Jason, whose stunning looks make every local woman weak in the knees. Jamalee believes Jason holds their ticket to somewhere better, anywhere but here. But Jason harbors a secret that could destroy him in these conservative hills. When drifter Sammy Barlach rolls into town, an ex-con with nothing to lose, Jamalee spots opportunity. She convinces herself that Sammy provides the muscle she and Jason need for their escape plan. Three misfits circle each other in a place that crushes dreams and punishes difference. Their scheme unfolds against the unforgiving landscape of rural poverty, where survival demands sacrifice and love becomes a luxury few can afford.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, crime, contemporary
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, emotional, suspenseful
Tropes: escape-plan, misfits, secrets
Setting: Ozarks, Venus Holler
Period: contemporary
176 pages · Kindle Edition · Little, Brown and Company
Content warnings: violence