Nothing More Dangerous
- ISBN-10
- 0316509744
- ISBN-13
- 9780316509749
- Category
- Fiction
- Pages
- 304
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2019-11-12
- Publisher
- Mulholland Books
- Author
- Allen Eskens
Description
Missouri native Allen Eskens' "stunning small-town mystery" (New York Times Book Review) is a necessary exploration of family, loyalty, and racial tension in America and "a coming-of-age book to rival some of the best, such as Ordinary Grace" (Library Journal, starred review). In a small Southern town where loyalty to family and to "your people" carries the weight of a sacred oath, defying those unspoken rules can be a deadly proposition. After fifteen years of growing up in the Ozark hills with his widowed mother, high-school freshman Boady Sanden is beyond ready to move on. He dreams of glass towers and cityscapes, driven by his desire to be anywhere other than Jessup, Missouri. The new kid at St. Ignatius High School, if he isn't being pushed around, he is being completely ignored. Even his beloved woods, his playground as a child and his sanctuary as he grew older, seem to be closing in on him, suffocating him. Then Thomas Elgin moves in across the road, and Boady's life begins to twist and turn. Coming to know the Elgins -- a black family settling into a community where notions of "us" and "them" carry the weight of history -- forces Boady to rethink his understanding of the world he's taken for granted. Secrets hidden in plain sight begin to unfold: the mother who wraps herself in the loss of her husband, the neighbor who carries the wounds of a mysterious past that he holds close, the quiet boss who is fighting his own hidden battle. But the biggest secret of all is the disappearance of Lida Poe, the African-American woman who keeps the books at the local plastics factory. Word has it that Ms. Poe left town, along with a hundred thousand dollars of company money. Although Boady has never met the missing woman, he discovers that the threads of her life are woven into the deepest fabric of his world. As the mystery of her fate plays out, Boady begins to see the stark lines of race and class that both bind and divide this small town -- and he will be forced to choose sides. Best Book of the Year: Florida Sun-Sentinel and Library Journal Finalist for the Minnesota Book Award
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses
By Kevin BirminghamThe Most Dangerous Book tells the remarkable story surrounding Ulysses, from the first stirrings of Joyce’s inspiration in 1904 to the book’s landmark federal obscenity trial in 1933.
-
The Life We Bury
By Allen EskensA USA Today bestseller and book club favorite!
-
The Most Dangerous Place on Earth: A Novel
By Lindsey Lee JohnsonIn an idyllic community of wealthy California families, new teacher Molly Nicoll becomes intrigued by the hidden lives of her privileged students.
-
The Dangerous Book for Boys
By Conn Iggulden, Hal IgguldenIn this digital age there is still a place for knots, skimming stones and stories of incredible courage. This book recaptures Sunday afternoons, stimulates curiosity, and makes for great father-son activities.
-
The Shadows We Hide
By Allen EskensJournalist Joe Talbert investigates the murder of the father he never knew, and must reckon with his own family's past, in this "brilliant sequel" to the national bestseller The Life...
-
The Guise of Another
By Allen EskensAs his life spins out of control, Alexander’s last hope may be his older brother, Max, a fellow police detective who steps in to try to save his brother from the carnage his investigation has let loose. From the Trade Paperback edition.
-
The Heavens May Fall
By Allen EskensFEATURING THREE CHARACTERS FROM THE BESTSELLING BOOK-CLUB FAVORITE THE LIFE WE BURY, THIS NOVEL EXPLORES A RIVETING MURDER CASE TOLD FROM TWO OPPOSING PERSPECTIVES.
-
Dangerous Women
By Hope AdamsOne of them is a murderer. From debut author Hope Adams comes a thrilling novel based on the 1841 voyage of the convict ship Rajah, about confinement, hope, and the terrible things we do to survive. London, 1841.
-
Nothing More to Tell
By Karen M. McManusBrynn Gallagher uses her internship at a new true crime show to investigate the unsolved murder of her favorite teacher, uncovering secrets about her school, her teacher, and her ex-best friend in the process.
-
Slightly Dangerous
By Mary BaloghRomance enters the life of Wulfric Bedwyn, Duke of Bewcastle, the eldest brother and head of the Bedwyn family. By the author of Slightly Scandalous and Slightly Sinful. Reprint.