Nothing But the Bones
Minotaur
April 16, 2024
With lyrical prose and hard-hitting depictions of the hardscrabble life in the rural south, Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, and Hard Cash Valley, delivers a gripping new chapter in his tales of McFalls County in Nothing But the Bones.
Local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart's not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’s reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body left behind and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners.
But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom—or pay with both of their lives.
Foreign Sales:
NN Editore / Italy
Praise for Nothing But the Bones:
Brian Panowich goes all-in with Nothing But the Bones, a novel of all that is human: love and friendship, lust and sin, sacrifice and murder. There is profound evil in this story but also enduring goodness, and while not everything is as it appears on the surface, befitting a very satisfying crime story, what is clear from the beginning is that this is a terrific, mesmerizing read that satisfies from beginning to end.
—Viet Thanh Nguyen, Pulitzer Prize-Winning Author
Praise for Brian Panowich:
Praise for Bull Mountain:
“[Brian Panowich] pulls off [a] daunting undertaking with astounding success…
The storytelling is mesmerizing, with virtually every chapter set in a different
timeline and focused on a single character, but the sense of immediacy carries
over into each era….it’s as aesthetically choreographed as any ballet.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Panowich has crafted a satisfying and smartly constructed book whose
time-shifting sequences build suspense even as they parcel out telling
revelations. Once events are in full play, there’s no turning back.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Dazzling…Panowich tells his story in lengthy, nicely worked chapters reminiscent
of John Steinbeck, who did his own brother-versus-brother story in East of Eden.
Both write in a flowing, textured, understated style that is such a pleasure to read
we don’t realize we’re being set up for a series of uppercuts. They come in
revelations accompanied by gunfire. Read and recommend to anyone who
follows country noir or savors delicious prose.”
—Booklist (Starred Review)
Praise for Like Lions:
“Excellent . . . It's the emotional complexity of Burroughs . . .
as well as the brass knuckle punch of an ending that will have
readers applauding. This is hillbilly noir at its finest.”
—Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review
“Brian Panowich makes a triumphant return to Bull Mountain, Georgia,
in his second novel, “Like Lions,” as he continues to mix crime fiction
with a violent family drama, perfectly melding characters with a sense of
place . . . moves at a brisk clip, leading to a stunning, yet believable, finale.”
— Associated Press
“Action and reflection are skillfully balanced in a vigorously written, trenchant tale.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Hard Cash Valley:
"The plotting is skilled, as is the sleuthing, and the landscape is stunning.
But it’s the hard-jawed characters, with their tough talk and scarred souls,
who really get under your skin.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“Make room for this splendid genre-bender, a crime novel with emotional
resonance and a steady flow of fine writing. Plus staggering plot twists,
jaw-dropping revelations, and enough suspense to fill two books...A first-rate
thriller, lavishly decked out in high style.”
—Booklist Magazine