November Road: A Novel - Softcover

Berney, Lou

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062874756 ISBN 13: 9780062874757

Publisher: William Morrow, 2018

Synopsis

Winner of the Left Coast Crime “Lefty” Award for Best Mystery Novel!

Winner of the Oklahoma Book Award for Best Fiction Novel!

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY Entertainment Weekly · Washington Post · AARP · Newsweek · Dallas Morning News · South Florida Sun-Sentinel · Chicago Public Library · Real Book Spy · CrimeReads · Litreactor · Library Journal · LitHub · Booklist

An Amazon Editor’s Pick of the Month · An Apple Best of the Month · An Indie Next Pick · An Okra Pick by SIBA Booksellers · A Book of the Month Pick

Set against the assassination of JFK, a poignant and evocative crime novel that centers on a desperate cat-and-mouse chase across 1960s America—a story of unexpected connections, daring possibilities, and the hope of second chances from the Edgar Award-winning author of The Long and Faraway Gone.

Frank Guidry’s luck has finally run out.

A loyal street lieutenant to New Orleans’ mob boss Carlos Marcello, Guidry has learned that everybody is expendable. But now it’s his turn—he knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.

Within hours of JFK’s murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is turning up dead, and Guidry suspects he’s next: he was in Dallas on an errand for the boss less than two weeks before the president was shot. With few good options, Guidry hits the road to Las Vegas, to see an old associate—a dangerous man who hates Marcello enough to help Guidry vanish.

Guidry knows that the first rule of running is "don’t stop," but when he sees a beautiful housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car, two little daughters and a dog in the back seat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks from the hit men on his tail. Posing as an insurance man, Guidry offers to help Charlotte reach her destination, California. If she accompanies him to Vegas, he can help her get a new car.

For her, it’s more than a car— it’s an escape. She’s on the run too, from a stifling existence in small-town Oklahoma and a kindly husband who’s a hopeless drunk.

It’s an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope—and find each other on the way.

Charlotte sees that he’s strong and kind; Guidry discovers that she’s smart and funny. He learns that’s she determined to give herself and her kids a new life; she can’t know that he’s desperate to leave his old one behind.

Another rule—fugitives shouldn’t fall in love, especially with each other. A road isn’t just a road, it’s a trail, and Guidry’s ruthless and relentless hunters are closing in on him. But now Guidry doesn’t want to just survive, he wants to really live, maybe for the first time.

Everyone’s expendable, or they should be, but now Guidry just can’t throw away the woman he’s come to love.

And it might get them both killed.

About this title

From the Back Cover

JFK is dead, and Frank Guidry is running for his life. A long-time lieutenant to notorious New Orleans mob boss Carlos Marcello, Frank knows too much about the crime of the century: the assassination of the president. Within hours of the murder, everyone with ties to Marcello is disappearing, and Guidry knows he’s next. With no good options, he hits the road.

The first rule of running is “don’t stop,” but when Guidry catches sight of a housewife on the side of the road with a broken-down car and two young daughters in the backseat, he sees the perfect disguise to cover his tracks. Charlotte is on the run, too, from a stifling small-town life and a hopeless marriage. Posing as an insurance man, Guidry offers to help Charlotte reach her destination, and, desperate, she accepts. 

It’s an American story: two strangers meet to share the open road west, a dream, a hope—and find each other on the way. But Guidry’s ruthless hunters are closing in on him. And if he can’t bring himself to leave the woman he’s come to love, it might get them all killed.

About the Author

Lou Berney is the author of three previous novels, Gutshot Straight, Whiplash River, and multiple prize-winning The Long and Faraway Gone. His short fiction has appeared in publications such as The New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. He lives in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0062874756
• ISBN 13: 9780062874757
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320