Staff Pick
Tom Franklin uses his own humorous life events — but gives them a dark spin — in order to plot this suspenseful novel. Two teen boys, best friends as children, become estranged after a girl goes missing. Decades later, when another girl disappears, they confront each other as men: one a police officer, and the other under a lifelong cloud of suspicion. Franklin knows how to ratchet up the tension and dread, and this book is humming with both. He absolutely deserves his reputation as one of the best Southern Gothic writers today. Recommended By Dianah H., Powells.com