A 2022 William C. Morris Award finalist
A 2022 YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
"Beautifully written and superbly constructed, Anderson pulls you onto a chilling footpath of love and loss—and keeps you there until you've read every last word." —Ruta Sepetys, #1 New York Times bestselling author and Carnegie Medal winner of Salt to the Sea
"A gorgeous, intense, and shocking look at chaos, survival, fate, and betrayal... A first purchase and a must-read. Prepare to be haunted and chilled to the bone by this exceptional story." —School Library Journal starred review
"Intense, brutal, and searingly honest, Anderson’s debut features intricate plotting and action that hold up against the best thriller novels, yet it is all the more remarkable for its tender, multidimensional characterization and sharp, crystalline prose. Riveting and unforgettable." —Kirkus starred review
"Debut author [Cory] Anderson captures the setting and souls of her characters through her sparse yet lyrical text, creating a suspenseful, throbbing tale of love and survival, choices and consequences. Told in alternating voices, this powerful story will mesmerize." —Booklist starred review
"Readers who like their novels pitch dark and bone chilling will revel in the horrifying villain and the trio of kids locked into a dilemma they cannot possibly resolve." —The Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books
"Anderson’s starkly atmospheric thriller illuminates ways in which cycles of poverty and incarceration can disenfranchise children." —Publishers Weekly
"[A] taut psychological thriller. Anderson’s spare, lyrical writing yields great insight into her characters, and the unforgiving Idaho winter landscape is almost a character in its own right." - Horn Book
02/15/2021
In the mountains of Idaho, quiet Jack Dahl, 17, and his little brother, Matty, live alone. With their mother dead and their situation precarious, Jack makes a tough decision: to avoid losing Matty to Child Services, he sets out to find the stolen drug money that landed his father in prison. The cash is well hidden, though, and he’s not the only one looking for it: when a vicious, unnamed drug dealer and Jack’s father’s merciless former associate, Bardem, catch wind of Jack’s hunt, they set their sights on him. Bardem’s daughter, Ava, finds herself drawn to the brothers—but to save them, she must break away from her controlling and abusive father. Alternating between the third person and Ava’s first-person reflections in a fully realized rural setting, Anderson’s starkly atmospheric thriller illuminates ways in which cycles of poverty and incarceration can disenfranchise children. Supporting characters, however, especially the two primary villains, suffer from indiscrete renderings, and a character “disfigured” after an attempted scalping is unfortunately named “Red.” Ages 14–up. Agent: Lindsay Davis Auld, Writers House. (Apr.)
★ 02/01/2021
Gr 9 Up—A desperate boy risks everything to keep his brother out of foster care in this heart-pounding and heartbreaking story of survival and sacrifice. Seventeen-year-old Jack and his second-grade brother, Matty, only have each other. With their father incarcerated and their mother recently deceased, their only hope of sticking together is finding the money their father went to prison for stealing. Deeply impoverished and terrified of child protective services getting involved, Jack sets out to track down that cash, pursued at every turn by drug dealers and Bardem, his father's partner in crime. His only hope comes in the form of Ava, who decides to help them and gets wrapped up in their mission. But Ava's secret—that she's Bardem's daughter—guarantees there is no way things can end happily. Unremittingly bleak and gritty, this suspenseful story centers around the ravages of poverty and drug addiction that have left Jack and Matty with nothing. Breathtakingly beautiful writing and tender characters collide with a brutal plot filled with bloodshed and anguish. The body count piles up as Jack, Matty, and Ava try to hide in the quiet, frigid emptiness of rural Idaho, never more than half a step ahead of their hunters. The lengths Jack goes to keep his family together and the obstacles he faces will leave readers gutted. A gorgeous, intense, and shocking look at chaos, survival, fate, and betrayal. Characters' ethnicities aren't named and Jack and Matty are described as pale. VERDICT A first purchase and a must-read. Prepare to be haunted and chilled to the bone by this exceptional story.—Amanda MacGregor, Parkview Elem. Sch., Rosemount, MN
Two narrators enhance the darkness that pervades this novel as its characters experience Idaho’s everlasting winter. Dan Bittner gives expression to the somber attitude of 17-year-old Jack Dahl. Bittner conveys the responsibility Jack feels for his brother, a second grader named Matty. When their drug-addicted mother hangs herself, the threat of eviction and foster care looms. Upon contacting his estranged father, who is in prison, Jack is thrust into a chase for dirty money. Bittner excels at contrasting Jack’s tenderness with the heartlessness of brutal villains. Interspersed are Emma Galvin’s poignant readings of the cryptic thoughts of Jack’s schoolmate, the compassionate Ava Bardem. These provide moments for pauses and foreshadow the chilling coldness of Ava’s controlling father, who drives the fast-moving climax. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
Two narrators enhance the darkness that pervades this novel as its characters experience Idaho’s everlasting winter. Dan Bittner gives expression to the somber attitude of 17-year-old Jack Dahl. Bittner conveys the responsibility Jack feels for his brother, a second grader named Matty. When their drug-addicted mother hangs herself, the threat of eviction and foster care looms. Upon contacting his estranged father, who is in prison, Jack is thrust into a chase for dirty money. Bittner excels at contrasting Jack’s tenderness with the heartlessness of brutal villains. Interspersed are Emma Galvin’s poignant readings of the cryptic thoughts of Jack’s schoolmate, the compassionate Ava Bardem. These provide moments for pauses and foreshadow the chilling coldness of Ava’s controlling father, who drives the fast-moving climax. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
★ 2021-02-05
“If you had one chance to save everything that mattered to you, would you grab hold of it?”
When Jack, 17, comes home from school to find his mother hanging from a ceiling fan, his first concern, once he realizes he cannot save her, is to protect his brother, second grader Matty. Jack’s been holding the family’s increasingly untenable situation together for 7 years, since his meth-dealing daddy went to prison and his mama spiraled into addiction. Now Mama’s dead, Child Protective Services is calling, and their house is about to be auctioned. The only way out Jack can see is to find the briefcase of drug money his father supposedly hid before his arrest. Meanwhile, a second narrative voice, opening each chapter, is revealed to be that of Ava, daughter of Jack’s father’s partner in crime. Ava knows her father is a murderer and a psychopath whom she’ll never escape; Jack remembers, but can no longer connect with, a father who loved him. Ava understands their connection though Jack does not—she aligns herself with Jack and his search in an effort to break free of her fate despite believing his efforts are doomed. Intense, brutal, and searingly honest, Anderson’s debut features intricate plotting and action that hold up against the best thriller novels, yet it is all the more remarkable for its tender, multidimensional characterization and sharp, crystalline prose. Main characters read as White.
Riveting and unforgettable. (Fiction. 14-adult)
