This is just stunning ... Little short of perfection ... Think Daniel Woodrell, Bill Beverly and Lou Berney for starters and that will give you an idea of the style, the range and the humanity of the novel -- Graham Minett, author of The Hidden Legacy A harsh but beautiful thriller that has you cheering under your breath for its wounded, fallible protagonist throughout -- Maxim Jakubowski * LoveReading * Flickers with poetic splendour... Repetitions, the falling cadences of country music, phrases strung together in long passages of sustained beauty: it's rare for desperation to be rendered with such intensity -- Jeff Noon * Spectator * a wonderfully evoked and deeply touching work -- Doug Johnstone * The Big Issue * Michael Farris Smith's prose focuses on small details and has a rhythm that gives it a poetic quality; a comparison with Annie Proulx is not overly enthusiastic -- Chris Roberts * Crime Review *