Consumed with grief, driven by vengeance, a man undertakes an unrelenting odyssey across the lawless post–Civil War frontier seeking redemption in this fearless novel from the award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of News of the World.
Union soldier John Chenneville suffered a traumatic head wound in battle. His recovery took the better part of a year as he struggled to regain his senses and mobility. By the time he returned home, the Civil War was over, but tragedy awaited. John’s beloved sister and her family had been brutally murdered.
Their killer goes by many names. He fought for the North in the late unpleasantness, and wore a badge in the name of the law. But the man John knows as A. J. Dodd is little more than a rabid animal, slaughtering without reason or remorse, needing to be put down.
Traveling through the unforgiving landscape of a shattered nation in the midst of Reconstruction, John braves winter storms and confronts desperate people in pursuit of his quarry. Untethered, single-minded in purpose, he will not be deterred. Not by the U.S. Marshal who threatens to arrest him for murder should he succeed. And not by Victoria Reavis, the telegraphist aiding him in his death-driven quest, yet hoping he’ll choose to embrace a life with her instead.
And as he trails Dodd deep into Texas, John accepts that this final reckoning between them may cost him more than all he’s already lost…
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“Grover Gardner brings the Old West to life in this slow-burn tale of vengeance…Gardner gives Chenneville a light drawl and a steady, even tone…Gardner’s Missouri French accents are impressive, particularly with Fermin, the family’s anxious manservant. A must-listen for mystery and history fans alike. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“Jiles uses John’s lawless quest to interrogate the inequalities in the justice system—inequalities that still echo loudly today.”
— Booklist (starred review)“A beautifully written novel illuminating society across a wide swath of the lower United States…The writing is poetic and descriptive, leavened with a hint of romance.”
— Library Journal (starred review)“[A] reliably rugged western odyssey…Jiles impresses with vital characterizations, well-honed dialogue, and a granular depiction of the Old West…This tale has true grit.”
— Publishers WeeklyBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Paulette Jiles is an author whose books have been an Oprah Pick, a Washington Post Best Book of the Year, and nominated for the National Book Award.
Grover Gardner (a.k.a. Tom Parker) is an award-winning narrator with over a thousand titles to his credit. Named one of the “Best Voices of the Century” and a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine, he has won three prestigious Audie Awards, was chosen Narrator of the Year for 2005 by Publishers Weekly, and has earned more than thirty Earphones Awards.