Savannah Cody truly loves Eddie “Nickel” Terhune, but there are days when she could easily kill him—like when she hears that a reward is out for Eddie and the other members of Al Brady’s gang after their most recent bank robbery. Considering all the grief she has endured as Eddie’s romantic partner (if not his legal wife) and the mother of their young son Alford, Savannah figures it’s only fair that she be the one to track Eddie down and claim the reward for his capture, dead or alive. With Alford and her father Wendell, an Indiana farmer who once worked as a detective, Savannah sets off on a road trip to get her man back, one way or another. Writing with a delectably desiccated sense of wit, Edgar winner Koryta (An Honest Man) chronicles a United States still shaking off the Great Depression. His flair for nuanced characterization shines as he deftly pivots between multiple viewpoints in this perfectly tuned, noir-tinged plot that thoughtfully explores fame, family, faith, and love.
VERDICT Readers who fell for the complicated charms of Dennis Lehane’s Live by Night or Joseph Kanon’s Los Alamos will be equally dazzled by Koryta’s superbly written and stunning novel.
