How it Happened

'A remarkable achievement that rises high above the genre' Nelson DeMille

'And that is how it happened. Can we stop now?'

Kimberly Crepeaux is a notorious jailhouse snitch and opioid addict whose petty crimes are well known to the locals in her rural Maine community. So when she confesses to her role in the brutal murders of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly, the daughter of a prominent local family and her sweetheart, few believe her story.

Except FBI interrogation specialist Rob Barrett. He knows that Kimberly's story - a dope-fuelled hit and run followed by a violent stabbing - is how it happened. But one thing remains elusive: where are the bodies?

Barrett stakes his name and reputation on the truth of Kimberly's confession, only to have the bodies turn up two hundred miles from where she said they'd be, shot in the back and covered in a different suspect's DNA. The case is quickly closed and Barrett forcibly reassigned. But for Howard Pelletier, the tragedy of his daughter's murder cannot be so easily forgotten. And for Barrett, whose career may already be over, the chance to help a grieving father may be the only one he has left.

HOW IT HAPPENED is a frightening, tension-filled ride into the dark heart of rural America.

“PRAISE FOR RISE THE DARK”

Michael Koryta is one hell of a writer, and HOW IT HAPPENED is one hell of a murder mystery. It's a tribute to Koryta's craftsmanship and skill that the reader knows who done it in the first chapter, but can't put the book down until the last layer of the onion is peeled away to reveal the truth at the core of this gripping tale.... A remarkable achievement that rises high above the genre. -- Nelson DeMille, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE CUBAN AFFAIR
This gripping and absorbing story about a protagonist coming to terms with his conflicted past, a lost love, and a crime determined not to be solved, could only be penned by Michael Koryta, whose sense of place, and insight into the human spirit, are unsurpassed. -- Sandra Brown, #1 New York Times bestselling author of SEEING RED
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A superb thriller literally humming and buzzing with power and tension, given depth and resonance by Koryta's fascination with pitting lone human emotion against a vast and forbidding landscape -- Lee Child
Rise the Dark is -- excuse the pun -- electrifying. Koryta delivers nonstop action in an all-too-plausible scenario, with that hint of the uncanny that's become his trademark. The ending will have readers pounding his door for more -- Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of Guilty Minds and Suspicion
Who needs jihadis when we've got our own homegrown terrorists? With a wild premise and fascinating background, Rise the Dark is a fast, gripping, satisfying thriller. For those who don't know yet, Michael Koryta is building a hell of a shelf New York Times
How it Happened is precise and thrilling with an offbeat charm. Koryta in his finest moments is reminiscent of Stephen King . . . Terrific Metro

Michael Koryta's novels have won the LA Times Book Prize and the Great Lakes Book Award and been nominated for the Edgar, Shamus, Quill and Barry awards. A former private investigator and newspaper reporter, he published his first novel at the age of twenty-one. His work has been translated into twenty languages.

Visit Michael Koryta's website at and follow Michael on Twitter @mjkoryta

'A remarkable achievement that rises high above the genre' Nelson DeMille 'And that is how it happened. Can we stop now?' Kimberly Crepeaux is a notorious jailhouse snitch and opioid addict whose petty crimes are well known to the locals in her rural Maine community. So when she confesses to her role in the brutal murders of Jackie Pelletier and Ian Kelly, the daughter of a prominent local family and her sweetheart, few believe her story.Except FBI interrogation specialist Rob Barrett. He knows that Kimberly's story - a dope-fuelled hit and run followed by a violent stabbing - is how it happened. But one thing remains elusive: where are the bodies?Barrett stakes his name and reputation on the truth of Kimberly's confession, only to have the bodies turn up two hundred miles from where she said they'd be, shot in the back and covered in a different suspect's DNA. The case is quickly closed and Barrett forcibly reassigned. But for Howard Pelletier, the tragedy of his daughter's murder cannot be so easily forgotten. And for Barrett, whose career may already be over, the chance to help a grieving father may be the only one he has left. HOW IT HAPPENED is a frightening, tension-filled ride into the dark heart of rural America.

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