Description
Book SynopsisWinner of the 2015
Los Angeles Times Book Prize
When an elderly recluse discovers a corpse on his land, Officer Henry Farrell follows the investigation to strange places in the countryside, and into the depths of his own frayed soul.
Trade Review"A tough, edgy thriller that asks hard questions about the destruction of our environment, our local communities, and our families. Readers of smart literary thrillers are going to love this novel. I wish like hell that my name were on the cover." -- Wiley Cash, New York Times best-selling author of A Land More Kind Than Home
"Raymond Chandler said that Hammett took murder away from the manor houses and gave it back to the people who actually commit it. Tom Bouman continues that tradition. Bouman's story is deceptively simple, layered with history, bearing the promise of lightness, of redemption." -- James Sallis, author of Drive
"Tom Bouman is a remarkable new voice in contemporary fiction.
Dry Bones in the Valley is a tightly crafted piece of rural noir that seems pulled from the earth itself, a profound look at the dark corners of rural America. Readers of Daniel Woodrell and Donald Ray Pollock will find much to love." -- Steve Weddle, author of Country Hardball
"It's a mystery, yes, but it's also a love story between a man and the land and people he knows like the back of his hand.
Dry Bones in the Valley is a gorgeous, lived-in novel, and Bouman's turns of phrase are chest-clutching in their beauty." -- Hannah Pittard, author of The Fates Will Find Their Way
"So smooth it's as if it was written on spring water. Shadowy, swift, impossible to put down. I was enraptured. Any justice and this writer will soon be a major star." -- Joe R. Lansdale, author of Deadman’s Road
"Officer Henry Farrell is a shy man, but in his own ways just as ornery and tough as the cast of rugged characters who inhabit his Pennsylvania woods, where the mysteries are as old as love and grief. A rural cop with a keen intelligence and a wounded heart, Henry’s the right man to unearth the secrets of D
ry Bones in the Valley. Tom Bouman’s debut novel is one you won’t want to miss." -- Ed Falco, author of The Family Corleone
"[An] outstanding debut… Henry’s growth from a grief-stricken widower to a lawman with an inner resolve fuels the brisk plot, as does an evocative look at a changing landscape." -- Publishers Weekly, Starred review
"Bouman’s debut shows rural noir at its finest: a poetically written mystery about a man struggling with his inner demons and an area of great natural beauty few had heard of before the natural gas boom." -- Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
"Grit-lit meets wry suspense, along with a keen rendering of place and politics." -- New York Magazine (Six Books to Read this Summer)
"Some stories are so sad, you want them to have the comfort of a gentle storytelling voice. Tom Bouman extends this kindness in… his beautifully written first novel." -- Marilyn Stasio - New York Times Book Review
"[Incorporates] literary elements—thick atmosphere, regional rootedness, social scope—into an actual fast-paced mystery series." -- Boris Kachka - New York Magazine
"An exciting and disturbing debut… Bouman brings his world to life with texture that gives every room and vehicle and person a history and character, keeping us immersed in this mesmerizing and often terrifying story." -- Michael Sims - Washington Post
"Debut author Tom Bouman is a gem… Recommended for your end of summer pleasure." -- Joe Hartlaub - Book Reporter
