Blood and Guile - Hardcover

Hoffman, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060197943 ISBN 13: 9780060197940

Publisher: Harper, 2000

Synopsis

From the award-winning author
of Tidewater Blood comes a story of
lifelong friendships, valor, and betrayal
that unfolds with deadly calm.

It begins on a hunting trip in the mountains of West Virginia. Walter, Drake, and Cliff have known one another for a lifetime. Blood brothers who have gone their separate ways over the years, they have gathered together again for a weekend of conviviality and the chance to shoot ruffed grouse.

During the first morning in the woods, they are confronted with a tragedy. The fourth member of the hunting group--an invited newcomer--is shot and killed by Cliff.

This seemingly accidental death is a problem for the local sheriff, and Cliff is called back to the mountains. His story doesn't fit the facts. Determined to help him, and standing in as Cliff's lawyer, Walter finds himself drawn into the investigation, even as he struggles to comprehend the changes in his friends.

As the authorities build their case, Walter can no longer deny that all is not what it seems, and his trust in his friends slowly erodes. They have secrets they will not share-secrets that will ultimately tear their friendships apart and set them on a course to disaster. Evocative and suspenseful, Blood and Guile builds with a subtle force to expose the deepest desires buried in the hearts of men.

About this title

About the Author

William Hoffman is the author of twelve novels as well as four short-story collections. His writing has won numerous awards, including the Andrew Lytle Prize, the Goodheart Prize, the John Dos Passos Prize, and the Hillsdale Foundation Fiction Prize from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His short stories have been featured in Best American Short Stories and Prize Stories 1996. The 0. Henry Awards. Tidewater Blood won the 1999 Hammett Award.

Reviews

Following the rousing Tidewater Blood (1998), Hoffman delivers another outstanding novel, which begins with a seemingly simple, albeit unfortunate, hunting accident. Walter B. Frampton II, the bemused, slightly effete yet dogged lawyer from the earlier novel, returns in this beautifully written, character-driven story of secrets and deceptions. An attorney in the Tidewater town of Jessup's Wharf, Va., Walter joins his two oldest friends, Drake Wingo and Cliff Dickens, on a grouse-hunting trip to Drake's rented land in the West Virginia mountains. Also along is Wendell Ripley, an unassuming member of a peaceful religious cult and the owner of the rented property, which Drake hopes to purchase. Cliff inadvertently kills Ripley while shooting at a bird, but a wily county sheriff, Bruce B. Sawyers, comes up with a different scenario and arrests Cliff, Walter's client, for murder. Despite Cliff's protestations of innocence, Walter doubts that he's telling the truth. As Walter investigates the case on his own, he discovers a side of the dilettante Cliff he never suspected. He also learns that the ties between Drake and Cliff are sinister and powerful, leading to a dramatic, sad and very human climax. A fine writer, Hoffman will appeal to readers who appreciate literary fiction. He imbues his mystery with lyrical evocations of the haunting, overgrown West Virginia mountains and shows the beauty of the placid Tidewater farming and horse country, as well as threats to it by greedy outsiders. He also creates believable characters, courtly, articulate and wise. Yet beneath that patina of respectability lie hidden torments. A favorite of critics and, increasingly, of readers, Hoffman's new novel should attract particular attention from savvy booksellers. (Nov.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Harper
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0060197943
• ISBN 13: 9780060197940
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256