'Recalls only the finest examples of the form' Dennis Lehane

'The elegance Pizzolatto brings to his heart-wrenching story makes it unforgettable' Daily Mail

From the creator of the hit HBO series True Detective comes a powerful, gleaming-dark thriller rich with Southern atmosphere.

Roy Cady is by his own admission 'a bad man'. With a snow flurry of cancer in his lungs and no one to live for, he's a walking time-bomb of violence. Following a fling with his boss's lover, he's sent on a routine assignment he knows is a death trap. Yet after a smoking spasm of violence, Roy's would-be killers are mostly dead and he is mostly alive.

Before Roy makes his getaway, he finds a beaten-up woman in the apartment, and sees something in her frightened, defiant eyes that causes a crucial decision. He takes her with him on the run from New Orleans to Galveston, Texas, permanently entwining their fate along a highway of seedy bars and fleabag hotels, a world of treacherous drifters, pick-up trucks, and ashed-out hopes, with death just a car-length behind.

Nic Pizzolatto's highly acclaimed, Edgar Award-nominated thriller announces the arrival of a major new talent for fans of Dennis Lehane, James Lee Burke and Breaking Bad.

'A good old Southern gothic treat of a road trip through Texas and Louisiana. Think James Lee Burke meets Midnight In The Garden of Good And Evil with shades of Paris, Texas'
Sam Baker, The Pool
'Terrific dialogue'
Kirkus
'Pizzolatto's insightful portrayal is rough and tumble real. He vividly captures Galveston in all its desperate vulnerability'
Publishers Weekly
'A truly original and gifted writer'
Litro