Desperation Road: A compelling literary crime novel

In the vein of Daniel Woodrell’s Winter’s Bone and the works of Ron Rash, a novel set in a rough- and-tumble Mississippi town where drugs, whiskey, guns, and the desire for revenge violently intersect

For eleven years the clock has been ticking for Russell Gaines as he sat in Parchman penitentiary in the Mississippi Delta. His time now up, and believing his debt paid, he returns home only to discover that revenge lives and breathes all around.

On the day of his release, a woman named Maben and her young daughter trudge along the side of the interstate under the punishing summer sun. Desperate and exhausted, the pair spend their last dollar on a motel room for the night, a night that ends with Maben running through the darkness holding a pistol, and a dead deputy sprawled across the road in the glow of his own headlights.

With dawn, destinies collide, and Russell is forced to decide whose life he will save – his own or that of the woman and child?

‘Every once in a while an author comes along who’s in love with art and written language and imagery... writers like William Faulkner and Cormac McCarthy and Annie Proulx. You can add Michael Farris Smith’s name to the list’ - James Lee Burke

'A brilliantly compelling novel' - Robert Olen Butler

'Smith writes shapely prose and sharp dialogue and everywhere displays an acute sense of the moments and pain that can define lives in a small town' - Kirkus Reviews

'One of the best writers of his generation, Desperation Road may very well be his best work' - Tom Franklin, NYT bestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter

'an excellent piece of Southern crime fiction for Daniel Woodrell and Tom Franklin afficionados' - Library Journal