"Lovers of gritty noir will devour this... a pulse-pounding account of a writer's descent into despair and violence." - Publishers Weekly(starred review)

With his book sales-never strong to begin with-ebbing and the economy crashing, a writer is on the brink. When his wife leaves him and the bank takes his house, he goes over the edge. Living out of his car with his beloved bulldog, Churchill, he's set upon by street punks just as he's about to pawn the only things of value he has left.

He's lost nearly everything. But he's gained a gun.

His well-off brother lives in New York-far from Denver, but the only place he might find a reliable roof over his head and any hope of starting over. Along the road he will stop off to see ex-girlfriends, relatives, friends, and business associates. At this point, his primary goal is survival. But with each passing mile, the survival of others grows more uncertain-in this taut, psychologically gripping novel from a two-time International Thriller Award winner and Edgar Award finalist.

Acclaim for Tom Piccirilli

"Boldly original." - New York Times Book Reviewon The Last Kind Words

"Noir that mates Flannery O'Connor with Stephen King." - San Francisco Chronicleon A Choir of Ill Children

"Should make fans of Jim Thompson and Charlie Huston feel right at home." - Kirkus Reviewson The Fever Kill