Briefly Noted

“16 stories of Appalachia today by some of our top writers. This collection brings us into the present with its struggles and beauty. Human character remains strong in these stories of life in Appalachia. Writers include: Rusty Barnes, Sheldon Lee Compton, Jarrid Deaton, Richard Hague, Silas House, Chris Holbrook, Denton Loving, Mindy Beth Miller, John McManus, Jim Nichols, Valerie Nieman, Chris Offutt, Mark Powell, Ron Rash, Alex Taylor, Crystal Wilkinson.”

“In the lineage of writers such as Flanner O’Connor and Eudora Welty… Knight is without a doubt a new writer of considerable talent and promise.”

“Those who like plots about a desperate effort to catch multiple serial killers before they can add to their body count will welcome Ellison’s sixth Taylor Jackson thriller (after The Immortals). A Nashville homicide lieutenant, Jackson has no time to breathe between psychopaths. Having foiled the savage killer known as Snow White, she must now contend with Snow White’s protégé, the Pretender, who’s arranged for several murderers to commit crimes around the country patterned on those of the Boston Strangler, Son of Sam, and the Zodiac Killer. As so often happens in such books, Jackson and her team get a handle on the Pretender’s likely true identity early on, then try to figure out what mask he’s been hiding behind to escape detection.”