A novel about hope, redemption, and getting even, not necessarily in that order Just out of prison for attacking the man who assaulted his sister, Ray Dokes heads back to the small Canadian town where he was raised. Vowing to lie low, he moves in with Pete Culpepper, a Texas cowboy who has always been a grounding influence on Ray, but whose debts are growing faster than his corn. Between roofing houses and watching Pete's nine-year-old gelding at...
Brad Smith, All Hat (Henry Holt, 2003) I've always rather thought of Henry Holt as a textbook publisher, but somewhere along the line they started publishing fiction. Every once in a while they pop up with a truly notable book, such as Bruce Olds' Raising Holy Hell or Kathe Koja's Kink. Well, now you can add Brad Smith's All Hat to the list. All Hat is a story about progress, when it comes right down to it. On the surface,...
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Ray Dokes has just returned from two years in prison, and is trying to stay out of trouble. He finds some work as a roofer, bunks with his old friend and mentor, Pete Culpepper, tries to patch things up with his old flame, Etta. The scene is a rural community in decline, a community of failing farms and horse-racing, dominated by Stanton Stables. And the heir to Stanton Stables is Sonny, a man of greed and entitlement and...
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