River, Sing Out

by James Wade

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Pub Date Jun 08 2021 | Archive Date Aug 22 2022

Blackstone Publishing

General Fiction (Adult) | Literary Fiction | Mystery & Thrillers

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Description

Attempting to escape his abusive father and generations of cyclical poverty, young Jonah Hargrove joins the mysterious River— a teenage girl carrying thousands of dollars in stolen meth— and embarks on a southern gothic odyssey through the East Texas river bottoms.

They are pursued by local drug kingpin, John Curtis, and his murderous enforcer, Dakota Cade, with whom River was romantically involved. But Cade and Curtis have their own enemies, as their relationship with the cartel controlling their meth supply begins to sour.

Keeping tabs on everyone is The Thin Man, a silent assassin who values consequence over mercy.

Each person is keeping secrets from the others—deadly secrets that will be exposed in savage fashion as their final paths collide and all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.

With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into a sinister and sanguinary world, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.

A Note From the Publisher

James Wade lives and writes in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Jordan. He has had twenty short stories published in various literary magazines and journals. He is the winner of the Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest. He is the author of All Things Left Wild.

James Wade lives and writes in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Jordan. He has had twenty short stories published in various literary magazines and journals. He is the winner of the Writers' League...

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A Note From the Publisher

James Wade lives and writes in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Jordan. He has had twenty short stories published in various literary magazines and journals. He is the winner of the Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest. He is the author of All Things Left Wild.

Advance Praise

"With echoes of Jim Harrison, Cormac McCarty (and perhaps a smidge of Flannery O'Connor), River, Sing Out is a beautiful, brutal meditation on survival and love in the face of nearly unspeakable violence and depravity…Taut, lyrical, and precise, the prose soars in this important new novel by James Wade."

-Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling author of Valentine

"If you read one novel this year, make it this one. James Wade's River, Sing Out, is an instant classic filled with characters that will break your heart, lyrical prose as haunted as the river it evokes, and a Southern Noir undertow that wholly sucks you in and keeps you turning the pages until it's searing, masterful conclusion."

-May Cobb, author of The Hunting Wives

"Wade, whose striking debut, All Things Left Wild (2020), traveled back a century in Texas history, uses an unlikely friendship to explore an equally wild present-day landscape…A haunting fable of an impossible relationship fueled by elemental need and despair."

-Kirkus Reviews

"With echoes of Jim Harrison, Cormac McCarty (and perhaps a smidge of Flannery O'Connor), River, Sing Out is a beautiful, brutal meditation on survival and love in the face of nearly unspeakable...