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Tritt ein in eine Welt voller Geschichten

Hören und Lesen

Chris Offutt

Army cop-turned-small-town-investigator Mick Hardin returns to Appalachia in this propulsive thriller from the award-winning author of The Killing Hills.

 Mick Hardin is an Army CID officer home on leave, recovering from an IED attack and flirting with prescription painkillers, when a body is found in the center of town. It’s Barney Kissick, the local heroin dealer, and the city police see it as an occupational hazard. But when Barney’s mother, Shifty, asks Mick to take a look, it seems there’s more to the killing than it seems. Mick should be rehabbing his leg, signing his divorce papers, and getting out of town—and most of all, staying out of the way of his sister’s reelection as Sheriff—but he keeps on looking, and suddenly he’s getting shot at himself.

 A dark, pacy crime novel about grief and revenge, and the surprises hidden below the surface, Shifty’s Boys is a tour de force that confirms Mick Hardin as one of the most appealing new investigators in fiction.

Praise for The Killing Hills

 “[A] work of rural noir whose characters’ singular codes lead to constant surprises.” —The Wall Street Journal

 “Dark, but deeply humane. The love in this book is deep and powerful. And winsome twinkles shine through the blackness throughout, thanks in no small part to Offutt’s keen ear and eye.” —The New York Times

 “Sense of place also steams off the pages . . . Pitch-perfect in its tone and dialogue, if more interested in mood than in the business of plot, this is what Jack Reacher wants to be when it grows up.” —The Times [UK]

Grove Press

The Mick Hardin Novels

Shifty's Boys

A veteran on leave investigates a murder in his Kentucky backwoods hometown in this Appalachian noir by the acclaimed author of Country Dark.

Mick Hardin, a combat veteran and Army CID agent, is home on a leave to be with his pregnant wife—but they aren’t getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder investigation—but local politicians are pushing for someone else to take the case. Maybe they think she can’t handle it. Or maybe their concerns run deeper.

With his experience and knowledge of the area, Mick is well-suited to help his sister investigate while staying under the radar. Now he’s dodging calls from his commanding officer as he delves into the dangerous rivalries lurking beneath the surface of his fiercely private hometown. And he needs to talk to his wife.

The Killing Hills is a novel of betrayal within and between the clans that populate the hollers—and the way it so often shades into violence. Chris Offutt has delivered a dark, witty, and absolutely compelling novel of murder and honor, with an investigator-hero unlike any in fiction.

The Killing Hills

FROM AWARD-WINNING AUTHOR CHRIS OFFUTT.
'Excellent Kentucky noir — Offutt's third Mick Hardin novel is the best yet.' — Kirkus
An explosive return to the mayhem of the Kentucky hills, Code of the Hills is a harrowing novel of family — of what we're willing to do to protect and avenge the ones we love.
Mick Hardin is back in the hills of Kentucky. He'd planned to touch down briefly before heading to France, marking the end to his twenty-year Army career.
In Rocksalt, his sister Linda the sheriff is investigating the murder of Pete Lowe, a sought-after mechanic at the local racetrack. After another body is found, Linda and her deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver wonder if the two murders are related.
Linda steps into harm's way just as a third body turns up and Mick ends up being deputised again.
The dark, gripping, and propulsive thriller of murder and secrets in Rocksalt, Kentucky where little is as it seems.
'This is a marvellous series… These have become must-reads for me and I enjoy every minute of the reading experience' Deadly Pleasures
'Beautifully descriptive... Offutt's Mick Hardin novels are powerful books that feature characters with questionable ethics.' Library Journal
'Righteous Kentucky noir... I gulped it down, relishing the burn' — Ian Rankin on Shifty's Boys

No Exit Press

Code of the Hills: Discover the award-winning crime thriller series