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A Thriller (Jess Keeler Thrillers)
by Eryk Pruitt
To catch the killer who eluded her detective grandfather fifty years ago, a true-crime podcaster must contend with outdated evidence, ulterior motives, and the dark family secrets that got in the way.
True-crime podcaster Jess Keeler has returned to Deeton County, North Carolina, to pick up where her grandfather left off. Sheriff's Deputy Big Jim Ballard, her grandfather, was a respected detective―until it all came crashing down during a 1972 murder investigation.
For Jim, solving the murders of two teens should have been the highlight of his already storied career. Instead, he battled his own mind, unsure where his hunches ended and the truth began.
Working from her grandfather's disjointed notes, Jess is sure that she can finally put the cold case―and her family's shame―to rest. Enlisting the help of disgraced reporter Dan Decker, Jess soon discovers ugly truths about the first investigation, which was shaped by corruption, egos, and a family secret that may be the key to the crime.
Told in a dual timeline that covers both investigations, Something Bad Wrong explores human folly, hubris, and how sometimes, to solve a crime, you have to find out who's covering it up.
"Evocative….Pruitt skillfully weaves dual narratives that follow the original murders and the recent present." ―The New York Times
"There are storytellers who seem to come to us fully formed. Bards who create worlds and characters that captivate us instantaneously. Eryk Pruitt is such a storyteller, and Something Bad Wrong is such a book. A kaleidoscope of Southern Gothic traditions seamlessly combined with an incredible murder mystery, all told with Pruitt's unique, indomitable style. Something Bad Wrong is some very, very good writing." ―S. A. Cosby, bestselling author of Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland
"Something Bad Wrong hits on every cylinder―expertly plotted, deliberately paced, deeply human, incredibly relevant, and just utterly absorbing. This is a golden example of the genre." ―Rob Hart, author of The Paradox Hotel and The Warehouse
This information about Something Bad Wrong 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.
Eryk Pruitt is a filmmaker, novelist, and screenwriter living in Durham, North Carolina. His films have earned top prizes at film festivals around the world, and his novel What We Reckon was a nominee for the Anthony Award. He can be found either at his desk, hard at work on another story, or mixing drinks at his bar, Yonder, in Hillsborough, North Carolina.
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