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Published Mar 2012
304 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King - a bold new direction for widely acclaimed Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale.
May Lynn was once a pretty girl who dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. Now she's dead, her body dredged up from the Sabine River.
Sue Ellen, May Lynn's strong-willed teenage friend, sets out to dig up May Lynn's body, burn it to ash, and take those ashes to Hollywood to spread around. If May Lynn can't become a star, then at least her ashes will end up in the land of her dreams.
Along with her friends Terry and Jinx and her alcoholic mother, Sue Ellen steals a raft and heads downriver to carry May Lynn's remains to Hollywood.
Only problem is, Sue Ellen has some stolen money that her enemies will do anything to get back. And what looks like a prime opportunity to escape from a worthless life will instead lead to disastrous consequences. In the end, Sue Ellen will learn a harsh lesson on just how hard growing up can really be.
"Starred Review. The river, the raft, a stash of money coveted by bad guys, nonstop adventures that edify, terrify and deepen the bond between
Sue Ellen and Jinx. A highly entertaining tour de force." - Kirkus
"Starred Review. Edgar-winner Lansdale channels Mark Twain in this chillingly atmospheric stand-alone. Lansdale's perfect ear for regional dialogue and ability to create palpable suspense lift this above the pack." - Publishers Weekly
"Still reading, but I'm decidedly impressed with the evocation of time, place, and character; this puts me in mind of Daniel Woodrell with a touch of To Kill a Mockingbird. A departure for Edgar and Bram Stoker award winner Lansdale that all readers can enjoy." - Library Journal
"A storyteller in the great American tradition of Ambrose Bierce and Mark Twain." - Boston Globe
"Joe R. Lansdale has a folklorist's eye for telling detail and a front-porch raconteur's sense of pace." - The New York Times Book Review
"The strongest, truest, and most pitch-perfect narration since Huck Finn's. Marvelous and terrifying, Edge of Dark Water is the result of real genius at work. A masterpiece." - Dan Simmons, author of The Terror and Drood
"Edge of Dark Water describes a trip downriver that is one-half Huck Finn, one-half Deliverance, and entirely Joe Lansdale. If you aren't familiar with the work of this true American original, and master of hillbilly noir, climb in the boat and hang on for dear life: the water is rough." - Joe Hill, author of the New York Times bestsellers Horns and Heart-Shaped Box
"Joe Lansdale has long been one of our finest and most difficult to classify writers. You can call his writing supernatural, horror, crime, or plain Southern, as long as you remember to call it great. Always a generous storyteller, in Edge of Dark Water he offers a beautifully spun tale of life in the sticks, friendship and mortality, and tells it with the wit, humor and pure-dee power we've come to expect of him." - Daniel Woodrell, author of Winter's Bone
"Joe Lansdale always transports me. In Edge of Dark Water, he takes me to the mysterious brooding landscape of Twain and Faulkner, with a compelling twist that is all Lansdale." - David Morrell, New York Times bestselling author of First Blood and Creepers
"A coming of age story peopled with original and fascinating blood-and-bones characters. A chillingly atmospheric tale of good and evil and adolescent angst. Edge of Dark Water has all the potential of becoming a classic, read by generations to come." - New York Journal of Books
"Joe R. Lansdale's fellow Texans would call Joe a 'straight shooter.' That's what makes his writing so good - no BS involved. Joe's work is alternately scary, funny as hell, disturbing, but always (and most importantly) memorable." - Bruce Campbell
This information about Edge of Dark Water was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Joe R. Lansdale is the author of numerous novels and short stories. His work has received the Edgar Award, seven Bram Stoker Awards, a British Fantasy Award, and has twice been named a New York Times Notable Book, among other honors. The film adaptation of his novella Bubba Ho-tep was directed by Don Coscarelli and starred Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas with his wife, dog, and two cats. Visit him online at www.joerlansdale.com.
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