Deep Winter

by Samuel W. Gailey

Genres: Thrillers; Crime Fiction

Synopsis

“A beautiful and brutal debut. Put Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men in a blender with Scott Smith’s classic crime novel A Simple Plan, then watch as Gailey hits the switch and everything in this world spins dangerously out of hand. A wonderful fast-paced read.” –Urban Waite, author of The Terror of Living
 
As a powerful winter blizzard converges on a small Pennsylvania town, a local woman is found brutally murdered.  All evidence points to Danny Bedford, the town outcast, when he is discovered cradling the bloody body.  Danny manages to escape into the darkened woods, but he is pursued by the vindictive deputy sheriff, the victim's brothers, and distraught townspeople demanding justice.  During the freezing night that follows, an intricate web of lies is uncovered, revealing that not everything in the town is quite what it seems, which sets off an unstoppable chain of events that changes the townspeople forever.

Release date: February 20, 2014

Publisher: Plume

Print pages: 304

Sample

Danny clutched a small wooden, hand-carved robin figurine in his large left hand. His hands were bigger than most—football player sized. But Danny didn’t play football or any other games that involved a ball because he wasn’t any good at stuff like that.

You’re too goddamn slow and too goddamn clumsy, Uncle Brett always said.

Danny’s long fingers wrapped tightly around the wood bird, cutting into his soft, sweaty palm hard enough to leave little crescent moon dimples. He gazed down at the figurine, turned it over a few times, touching the beak, the wings, the tail feathers, then placed it beside Mindy’s head, careful not to get any of her blood on the bird.

“Made this special for your birthday. Hope you like it.”

Mindy didn’t reply. She didn’t thank him for the special gift. She didn’t do anything but lay there in a growing puddle of her own blood.