Shifty's Boys

PRAISE FOR CHRIS OFFUT

'In elegant, economical prose, Shifty's Boys is an accomplished addition to the ranks of country noir' - Val McDermid

'Pitch-perfect in its tone and dialogue, this is what Jack Reacher wants to be when it grows up' - James Owen, Times (Best New Thrillers for November)

'With wonderful descriptives of the wildlife and the people, this is fantastically stripped back, pared down storytelling with such superbly written depth and sense of place, I'm going to call it; this is Kentucky Noir, it gleams dark, is as hard as anthracite and Offutt is its undisputed Pappy' - LoveReading 

'It's genuinely thrilling to read and written with a propulsive momentum, a poet's eye for the small detail and an expert plotter's feel for twists and turns that come naturally, rather than bolted on out of the blue. Fantastic stuff' - Big Issue

'Offutt writes gently and movingly about the people and the land, the history and the present, and the interior landscapes of his carefully and convincingly wrought characters' - Quietus

'More than just a murder case, it's a voyage into rural backwoods Kentucky that doesn't shirk from the darkness to be found there, and unfolds with drive, noir style and wry humour' - Herald 

'One of the best noirs of the year, beautifully written' - NB Magazine

'A delicious slice of hillbilly noir' - Irish Times (Crime Book of the Year)

'If Lee Child and Daniel Woodrell collaborated on a hillbilly noir, the result would probably read a lot like this: tough, laconic, emotionally engaging and blackly funny, The Killing Hills makes for a very satisfying read' - Irish Times 

'Wonderfully atmospheric thriller' - Mail on Sunday

'A riveting example of Rural Noir' - Times & Sunday Times Crime Club (Pick of the Week)

'Quite aside from being one of our finest storytellers, in his first crime novel Chris Offutt reminds us as always of how much we've pushed away from us - the natural world, kindness, community - and that the time will come when we reach again and it's no longer there for the asking' - James Sallis

'Chris Offutt takes the bare bones of the traditional hard-boiled American crime story and fleshes them with a layered account of life, death and what passes for family 'honour' in the backwoods Kentucky town of Rocksalt... This short, powerful novel evokes, above all else, a terrible sadness about life in the Kentucky hills and the awful inevitability of it all' - Shots Mag

'One hopes Offutt will bring Hardin back; he is a hell of character!' - Maxim Jakubowski, Crime Time (Book of the Month) 

'Loyalty and betrayal slide back and forth in this tightly plotted, immaculately paced novel... The Killing Hills probes the darkness in both land and families, along with the limits of forgiveness. It's not just a fine and unforgettable crime novel. It's a heartbreak and a bond' - New York Journal of Books 

'Deftly plotted chapters, fast-moving story line... It's difficult to write about marginalized regions of America without sounding inadvertently condescending, or, worse, contemptuous; Offutt... navigates this sensitive terrain with skill and a measure of respect' - Joyce Carol Oates, New York Times

'The Killing Hills is as poignant and powerful as they come' - Crime Reads

'The Killing Hills is a potent mix of magnificent prose and uncompromising honesty. It has the resonance of a murder ballad and the deeply existential themes of an epic poem. Its voice will linger in your mind long after the final page is turned' - S.A. Cosby