Cold in July - Softcover

Joe R. Lansdale

  • 3.94 out of 5 stars
    2,954 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780753814376: Cold in July

Synopsis

To kill a man, even in self-defence, is no easy thing for a man with a conscience. He has to answer to himself, put the episode behind him, get on with his life. This is very difficult when the dead man's father, a murderous ex-con, is determined to avenge the shooting, no matter what the rights and wrongs. Richard Dane is a small businessman, a family man with a son of his own. Ben Russell, the ex-con, has a very simple proposition: an eye for an eye, a son for a son. But the truth is anything but simple, and before long Dane and Russell, misled and manipulated, are awkward allies in a living nightmare of paranoia and psychopathic sex, violence and corruption.

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Review

Despite the trappings -- guns, stakeouts, an ex-con, a private eye, a porn ring, a shootout -- this isn't an ordinary suspense novel. It's a lean, effective character study about a man who risks his comfortable life to pursue something half-glimpsed within his psyche. He feels guilty about his father's suicide, he doubts his ability to raise his own son, and now he's mixed up with another father, whose son has gone into a place of great darkness. A stirring tale in which actions have consequences, and no one is left unchanged by the things that they see and do.

About the Author

Joe R. Lansdale is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and six Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas.

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