Book Details
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The nineteenth century looms just a few years away, bringing with it the belief in progress and a new world. But for Josiah Fuller, William Corvin, and the Rider in the Appalachian backwoods and small towns of the late nineteenth century, there is nothing but a world where bloodshed is paid for in blood, and violence is the ultimate law of the land.
When seventeen-year-old Josiah Fuller comes home to find his parents hanged and mutilated and the family house burned to the ground, he sets off to find the man responsible for their murders and avenge their deaths. His journey takes him through new towns and wildernesses he has not seen before. He meets people who show him the realities of living in a violent world, forcing Josiah to decide what is most important to him: vengeance or grace.
Years after running away from home as a young boy, William Corvin returns with his new bride to take over the family's coal mining operation. Though he is haunted by the violence of his past, he sets out to live a peaceful life and start a family there. However, Corvin's hopes of peace are challenged when a horrible act of violence causes him to revert back to the man he once was.
After being visited by an angel in a dream years earlier, the Rider has become a man with violence in his blood, believing himself to be appointed by God to collect the souls of sinners. He travels around on his horse, killing whoever he feels is deserving of God's wrath and vengeance. These three men move along their own individual paths, their stories intersecting with one another, continually searching for an understanding of the violent world in which they live and their own actions within that world.
The novel examines the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans, showing how one small act often leads to consequences that reach far beyond anyone's imagining.
About the Author
Brandon Daily was born and raised in southern California. In 2012, he and his wife moved to Central Georgia, where he now teaches high school English and Literature. He holds an M.A. in American Literature and has worked as an adjunct professor and freelance editor.
Brandon's short fiction has been published in several online and print magazines, and his one act play "South of Salvation" was performed and won first prize in the CAST Players One Act Play Festival in 2012.
A Murder Country (Knox Robinson, 2014) is his first novel, and tells the story of three violent men living in the late nineteenth century; each man is seeking an understanding of his life and his place within the larger realm of the world. The novel is inspired by Brandon's fascination with the tension between nature and man as well as the power and fragility of belief and conviction within humans.
Brandon is currently working on his second novel and several more short stories.
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My Thoughts
How does one simple act affect those around you? It can have wonderful or devasting affects. That is what A Murder Country does. It takes place a in the latter part of the 1800's. The main characters Josiah Fuller is on a mission to find the person/s that killed his parents. A horrific act of violence has ruined the peaceful existence that William Corvin has worked so hard to maintain and lastly there is the Rider, a man who believes himself God and believes it is his duty to kill those he feels deserves it and collect their souls.
This is a novel that is very dark and brooding a western only in the sense of the time it takes place in, each man's paths crossing in different ways that leads each one of them to face consequences for their actions and change what they believe in. This is not a happily ever after story by any means but it does make the reader think a little. Will they get their revenge? This is a historical thriller that will have the reader eagerly turning the pages. A well written first novel for this author. I especially like the cover as I am a person who definitely judges a book by it's cover. It captures the bleakness and austerity of the time. Go give this book a try!
I received a copy for review and was not monetarily compensated for my review.
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