Synopses & Reviews
“Rector writes with deceptive grace, spinning out irresistible prose with a dark pulse between every line. This is psychological suspense at its most seductive. I loved it.” —Sean Doolittle, author of
Safer Dexter McCray is a farmer with a dark past that continues to haunt him. As a struggling alcoholic, hes used to being looked at with pity and suspicion in his community. After waking from a blackout to discover the body of a teenage girl in the nearby cottonwood grove, he can't be entirely sure he's innocent. With no memory of the previous night, he sees no choice but to investigate the crime himself. Fortunately hes not alone. He has some help . . . in the shape of the dead girl herself.
Is Dexter motivated by guilt or insanity, reason or folly? And how will the young victim provide the help he desperately needs? With plot twists on every page, Rector breathes life into a story that pits reality against hallucination, truth against improbability. The Grove is a sinister tale of one man haunted by the reality of his failed life.
“Tough, dark, and beautifully told.” —David Peoples, screenwriter of Unforgiven, Twelve Monkeys, and Blade Runner
Review
"Doolittle's style is clipped, his dialogue terse, but the story is lifelike and nuanced. Rain Dogs will satisfy fans of hard-boiled fiction and classic noir, as well as any crime fans who don't like their plots tied up too tidily." Booklist
Review
"A heart-stopping, gut-clenching, eye-opening, brain-tingling effort." Chicago Tribune
Review
"Superb, suspenseful....A beautifully written work with idiosyncratic humor and a lot of heart." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Lean and mean." Chicago Sun-Times
Review
"As long as there are writers like Sean Doolittle out there, American crime fiction has got a sterling future ahead of it. Rain Dogs is tense, evocative, and anchored by a main character, Tom Coleman, who I'd love to see more of. A terrific novel." Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author of Mystic River and Shutter Island
Synopsis
It was one hell of an inheritance for former Chicago reporter Tom Coleman: a broken-down pickup truck, ramshackle campground, a canoe livery and one pot-smoking, barely working employee he doesn't need, doesn't want, and can't afford.
But the truth is, after losing a child and a marriage, Tom doesn't really care. And life is nice and quiet in the middle of nowhere. Until a drug lab blows up near his property putting Tom in contact with the woman he once loved, a small-town cop with a chip on his shoulder, and a powerful local who doesn't want him poking his nose where it doesn't belong.
Tom doesn't want to get involved in the first place. But in the hardscrabble Nebraska Sandhills, storms gather suddenly and bad blood runs deep. Now a quiet summer on the river is turning into a dangerous season of grudges, betrayal, and violent reckoning and it's already too late to find shelter...
About the Author
Sean Doolittle is the author of Burn, winner of the gold medal in the mystery category of ForeWord Magazine's 2003 Book of the Year Award, and Dirt, an Amazon.com Top 100 Editor's Pick for 2001. The author lives with his family in Omaha, Nebraska. Visit him on the web at www.seandoolittle.com.