Notes from The Great Nebraskan Wasteland: May 2009

Sunday, May 24, 2009

The Grove is up

For those of you who own a Kindle, I just put The Grove, up for $.99.

Here's the link and a description:

"Spare and evocative as a cornfield in autumn, The Grove marks the arrival of a haunting, powerful new voice in contemporary fiction. John Rector writes with deceptive grace, spinning out irresistible prose with a dark pulse between every line. This is psychological suspense at its most seductive. I loved it."

-Sean Doolittle, award-winning author of Dirt, Burn, Rain Dogs, The Cleanup, and Safer

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The last time farmer Dexter McCray went off his medication, someone wound up dead. So, after waking from an alcoholic blackout to discover his tractor stuck in a ditch and the body of a teenage girl in the cottonwood grove bordering his cornfield, things look worryingly familiar.

With no alibi and a creeping suspicion that he might indeed be guilty, Dexter decides to investigate the crime himself. He can't tell anybody. Not his friend, the sheriff, who keeps offering to help him winch his tractor out of the ditch. Nor his estranged wife, whose love he's desperate to win back. And certainly not the Tollivers, his redneck neighbors.

Fortunately, Dexter's not entirely alone. He has some help.

In the shape of the dead girl herself.

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Putting The Grove out there for the Kindle is a bit of an experiment in promotion, so please help me spread the word by encouraging your friends and family to pick up a copy.

BTW, if you like the cover of The Grove, you can find the guy who designed it here:

Bastardized Version

His name is John Hornor and he's one talented SOB.

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“Rector writes with all the colors of the dark: the dimly lit atmosphere, the ugly edge of violence, and the sadness of human betrayal. Equally bleak and exhilarating, Rector's rollercoaster is the ideal ride for hardcore fans of noir.”

The Life Sentence

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“Rector's gorgeous, streamlined prose goes down like a fine single malt. A breathless, ruthlessly-efficient thriller that is not to be missed.”

Blake Crouch, International bestselling author of the Wayward Pines series

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“Rector does an amazing job of building suspense. If Hitchcock were alive I would imagine he would want to make this movie. Another great book from a great author."

Crimespree Magazine

“Written in a spare, laconic style reminiscent of Elmore Leonard or Robert B. Parker, this fast-moving, bleak thriller driven by the economic realities of modern America will appeal to fans of suspense fiction from the grittier side of the mean streets.”

Library Journal

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“Rector’s spare, sly style propels the story.... Out of the Black is a crime tale very well told.”

Booklist

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“John Rector is quickly becoming a master of suspense and drama... Just when you think the story can't get any more complicated, it does. It has more twists than a pretzel, but is much more satisfying."

New York Journal of Books

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“This is a tightly plotted thriller and one that you will read to the last page."

Bookreviews

“Rector keeps his plot churning and his prose lean in a narrative that contains both riveting forward momentum and an unsettling view of marriage and friendship. The writing is ever so stylish, and the characters are deeply flawed—an irresistible combination.”

Booklist

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“The suspense and plot twists are gripping. This one is hard to put down.”

Library Journal

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“Swift and savage and smart, Rector's thriller delivers high tension with low-key ease, underscoring the way bad karma can disrupt a good life. Literary in the best, most unpretentious sense, ALREADY GONE is superior pulp in the grand James M. Cain tradition.”

Max Allan Collins, author of ROAD TO PERDITION

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“At a time when most suspense is more filler than thriller, John Rector's third novel drags the genre kicking and screaming back to its roots. ALREADY GONE is a thriller in its purest and most cinematic incarnation - not a word or emotion wasted, it's a taut, nerve-jangling ride that barrels towards an electrifying conclusion, which will leave you shaken, stirred, and above all else eagerly awaiting the next Rector novel."

Ray Banks, author of Saturday's Child and Gun

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"Already Gone is a terse, moody thriller by a novelist who I consider to be one of the very best new writers to enter the scene in a long time... John Rector is a game changer."

Spinetingler Magazine

“Tense, taut, throat-grabbing. John Rector is far more accomplished than his years. Reads like a cross between No Country for Old Men and Deliverance. Terrific to the last drop—of blood.”

Eric Van Lustbader, New York Times Bestselling Author of First Daughter

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“Terrific narrative and real compelling style… a cross between Jim Crumley and A Simple Plan.”

Ken Bruen, Shamus Award-Winning Author of The Guards

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“The Cold Kiss is a slice of tragicomic noir Americana, a spiraling tale of bad luck and viciousness leavened only by author John Rector’s savage glee at the ever-worsening state of his protagonists’ circumstances. One of the best debuts I’ve read in a very long time.”

Scott Phillips, Award-Winning Author of The Ice Harvest

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“A well crafted, tightly plotted thriller which steadily cranks up the sense of menace page by page. You know something bad is going to happen and you just have to keep reading…"

Simon Kernick, Bestselling Author of Relentless

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"A sly and very accomplished first novel."

Booklist

"Spare and evocative as a cornfield in autumn, The Grove marks the arrival of a haunting, powerful new voice in contemporary fiction. John Rector writes with deceptive grace, spinning out irresistible prose with a dark pulse between every line. This is psychological suspense at its most seductive. I loved it."

Sean Doolittle, Award-Winning Author of Dirt, Burn, Rain Dogs, The Cleanup, and Safer

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"Tough, dark, and beautifully told. Great storytelling."

David Peoples, Academy Award Nominated Screenwriter of Unforgiven, Twelve Monkeys, and Blade Runner.