-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
A Novel
by Jake Hinkson
A dark vision of American religion and politics, Dry County is a portrait of a man willing to do anything to hold on to his power - including murder.
Richard Weatherford is a successful small-town preacher in the Arkansas Ozarks. He's a proud husband and father of five, and has worked hard to grow his loyal flock with strong sermons and smart community outreach. But while Weatherford is a man of influence and power―including a big force in local politics―he's also a man with secrets.
In the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, Weatherford's world is threatened when he's blackmailed by a former lover. Collecting the money the blackmailer demands will be a nearly impossible feat, especially over Easter weekend, when all eyes are on him. So Weatherford will have to turn to the darkest corners of their small town in a desperate attempt to keep his world from falling apart.
Exploring a divided country and a cracked façade through the alternating perspectives of Weatherford, his wife, his lover, and other town residents, Dry County is a powerful story about how far some will go to keep hold of all they know―and all that others think them to be.
"Set in rural Arkansas, this unapologetically bleak noir explores the effects of existential and spiritual despair in an economically depressed town where the influence of religious fundamentalism is stifling. Powered by raw emotional intensity and a disturbingly realistic portrayal of small-town America, this story is unforgettable." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Set against the backdrop of the 2016 election, Hinkson's darkly satirical take on power and hypocrisy closes with a shocking but fitting twist." - Booklist
"Desire, desperation, and despair collide in Jake Hinkson's bleakly imagined and perfectly rendered vision of small-town Arkansas. Religion, respectability, hope for the future―virtue is the flip side of vice and Hinkson drives that truth sharply home." - S. J. Rozan, bestselling author of Ghost Hero
"Dry County is a hillbilly noir jewel. Jake Hinkson reveals the underbelly of small town life in this gritty thriller as he depicts the fall of a Southern preacher. An absorbing tale." - Nancy Allen, New York Times bestselling author
"Dry County is the kind of book you sit down with and finish in one big gulp; it's a masterpiece of economy and tension. Set against the backdrop of an Arkansas county's wet/dry vote and the 2016 presidential election, this story's got it all: blackmail, brutality, and desperate people doing desperate things. An instant noir classic." - William Boyle, author of Gravesend, The Lonely Witness, and A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself
This information about Dry County 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.
Jake Hinkson received an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC-Wilmington. His novel Hell on Church Street was awarded the French Prix Mystère de la Critique in 2016, and No Tomorrow was awarded the Grand Prix des Littératures Policières in 2018. He now lives in Chicago, where he teaches creative writing at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.
If you liked Dry County, try these:
by Henry Wise
Published 2025
Holy City is the captivating debut from Henry Wise about a deputy sheriff who must work alongside an unpredictable private detective after he finds himself on the outs from his sheriff's department over his unwillingness to look the other way when an innocent man is arrested for murder.
The Secret Wisdom of the Earth
by Christopher Scotton
Published 2016
Timely and timeless, this is a dramatic and deeply moving novel about an act of violence in a small, Southern town and the repercussions that will forever change a young man's view of human cruelty and compassion.
The Scent of Rain and Lightning
by Nancy Pickard
Published 2011
Engrossing, lyrical, and suspenseful, The Scent of Rain and Lightning captures the essence of small-town America—its heartfelt intimacy and its darkest secrets—where through struggle and hardship people still dare to hope for a better future. For Jody Linder, maybe even love.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
