Ozark Dogs

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FINANCIAL TIMES BEST NEW THRILLERS

'A gritty, authentic triumph, one howling to be turned into a film or TV series' FINANCIAL TIMES

'Atmospheric and tense thriller that has TV series written all over it.' THE SUN

'Eli Cranor is that rare writer who can make you gasp, cry and cheer often in the same paragraph' S. A. COSBY

After his son is convicted of murder, Vietnam War veteran Jeremiah Fitzjurls takes over the care of his granddaughter, Joanna, raising her with as much warmth as can be found in an Ozark junkyard outfitted to be an armory.

He teaches her how to shoot and fight, but there is not enough training in the world to protect her when the dreaded Ledfords, notorious meth dealers and fanatical white supremacists, come to collect on Joanna as payment for a long-overdue blood debt.

Headed by rancorous patriarch Bunn and smooth-talking, erudite Evail, the Ledfords have never forgotten what the Fitzjurls family did to them, and they will not be satisfied until they have taken an eye for an eye. As they seek revenge, and as Jeremiah desperately searches for his granddaughter, their narratives collide in this immersive story about family and how far some will go to honor, defend-or in some cases, destroy it.

'Ozark Dogs tunnels into your brain with feverish power... thrillingly told, deeply wrenching, not to be missed.' MEGAN ABBOTT

Praise for Eli Cranor:

'Southern noir at its finest, a cauldron of terrible choices and even more terrible outcomes . . . one of the best debuts of 2022' New York Times

'A gripping novel about rage and trauma, redemption and damnation,. . . Cranor's characters bristle with desperation and frustrated masculinity, a volatile cauldron of emotion that brings tension to every page' Steph Cha

'A major work from a bright, young talent' USA Today

Eli Cranor's superb new novel Ozark Dogs tunnels into your brain with feverish power. A story of family burdens and dark legacies, it's thrillingly told, deeply wrenching, not to be missed. -- Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of The Turnout
Raw, gritty, and darkly beautiful noir at its finest. Cranor digs deep into the hard places, the hard choices that crush and grind. And he does so with great tenderness for his flawed and broken characters as they seek revenge, cling to honor, and sacrifice everything for family. This is a writer to watch. -- Lisa Unger, New York Times bestselling author of Secluded Cabin Sleeps Six
Whatever darkness lives in the space between a finger and a trigger also lives in the pages of Ozark Dogs. A tale of blood, guilt, family, and murder, this one will move from the junkyard straight into your heart. Cranor is one of the South's best contemporary chroniclers, and his keen eye is on full display here. -- Gabino Iglesias, author of The Devil Takes You Home
Eli Cranor writes about his people and his place with a bloodred certainty and a careful eye toward the things that both bind us together and tear us apart. Ozark Dogs does not compromise one single beat. -- Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick and The Fighter
The author has a superior gift for capturing the cadences and feel of Southern small towns. Greg Iles fans will be eager for Cranor's next. Publishers Weekly

Eli Cranor lives and writes from the banks of Lake Dardanelle, a reservoir of the Arkansas River nestled in the heart of True Grit country. His work has won The Greensboro Review's Robert Watson Literary Prize and been featured in Missouri Review, Oxford American, Ellery Queen, The Strand and others. Eli also pens a weekly column, "Where I'm Writing From" for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, and his craft column, "Shop Talk," appears monthly at CrimeReads. His critically acclaimed debut novel, Don't Know Tough, won the Peter Lovesey First Crime Novel Contest.

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