And Wind Will Wash Away

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a more literary, erudite, and metaphysical noir novel than the one now in your hands. Detective Jonathan Wind’s search for the killer of his beloved mistress, Flora Ross, leads him through history, literature, art, and an Atlanta that swirls with ghosts, tricksters, demons, saints and a phantasmagorical array of urban characters you haven’t seen since Fellini filmed his dreams and nightmares of Rome.”
— Reginald McKnight, author of
White Boys and He Sleeps

“Part detective novel, part love letter to a city’s kaleidoscopic underbelly, And Wind Will Wash Away is unlike anything you’ve ever read before.”
— Steph Post, author of A Tree Born Crooked
and Lightwood

“And Wind Will Wash Away is a dense, winding symphony drawing sacred notes from the past and weaving them, entwined, with the hum of a modern metropolis. At its core it is an intimate mystery, an obsession; at its expanse it is a reminder of long-lost and purposely forgotten histories. As Joyce venerated Dublin and its multitude of nefarious and virtuous characters, Rothacker serenades a turbulent Atlanta, enveloping the reader in the swollen heat of a late August dusk while delivering a modern oral tradition forthe hub of the southeast.”
— William M. Brandon III, author of Silence

“Rothacker’s beguiling debut And Wind Will Wash Away effortlessly braids together ritual and religion, violence and philosophy, whimsy and insight. It cannily rewires the detective novel to explore mysteries that run deeper than any murder plot.”
— Jeff Jackson, author of Mira Corpora

“Rothacker wields a staggering knowledge of philosophy, myth, and police procedure, which he binds into an existential detective story that snakes through the occult shadows of New South Atlanta and into the very nature of faith.”
— Taylor Brown, author of Fallen Land and the forthcoming The River of Kings

“Part farce, part gumshoe noir, part deep inquiry into the nature of belief—And Wind Will Wash Away is all of these things and more. Under Rothacker’s pen, the American South is rendered an absurd and mystical topography that brings to mind such writers as Thomas Pynchon, James Purdy, David Foster Wallace, William S. Burroughs, and David Lynch. Be prepared for a crazy, inspired, breathtaking ride.”
— Christian Kiefer, author of
One Day Soon Time Will Have No Place Left to Hide

“Rothacker’s Atlanta operates in a nebulous place, shifting between this world and one in which the object of one’s faith is almost close enough to touch. Detective Jonathan Wind explores this place as an observer, not a participant, head and heart kept at bay in all things—in faith, in love. Rothacker’s scholarly and lyrical prose is something for the reader to grab ahold of as we follow Jonathan Wind. With Wind, we learn. Perhaps, too, we believe.”
— Pam Jones, author of The Biggest Little Bird

“Rothacker has seamlessly sewn together detective fiction, gritty Beat literature, and serious theological speculation in his debut novel. And Wind Will Wash Away is at once erudite and entertaining, and Rothacker depicts the city of Atlanta with a knowing intimacy that reminds me of Jean-Paul Sartre describing Paris or John O’Hara describing New York City. The characters, the ideas, and the setting are all alive and utterly themselves in this impressive work of philosophical fiction. Get a copy for yourself and one for a friend, because you’re going to want to talk about this book for a long time to come.”
— Okla Elliott, author of From the Crooked Timber and The Doors You Mark Are Your Own

“Any book blurb serves two functions: (1) Contextualizing of a work. (2) The lending of authorial imprimatur. And Wind Will Wash Away is too huge, too sprawling, too complex, too interesting and too weird for pithy contextualization. So here’s what I’ll say: I really, really, like this book.”
— Jarett Kobek, author of I Hate the Internet
and ATTA