Darkness the Color of Snow: A Novel - Couverture souple

Like No Country for Old Men and Snow Falling on Cedars, a haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly written novel of secrets, corruption, tragedy, and vengeance from the author of Crazy Heart—the basis of the 2009 Academy Award-winning film—an electrifying crime drama and psychological thriller in which a young cop becomes the focal point for a community’s grief and rage in the aftermath of a tragic accident.

Out on a rural highway on a cold, icy night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert sits in his cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his shift ends. Then a familiar beater Jeep Cherokee comes speeding over a hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase after it. The driver is his old friend turned nemesis, Matt Laferiere, the rogue son of a man as beaten down as the town itself.

Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals out of control into a heated argument between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop.

As the news spreads around town, Police Chief Gordy Hawkins remains certain that Ronny Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them, and he’s willing to stand by the young cop. But a few manipulative people in town see opportunity in the tragedy. As uneasy relationships, dark secrets, and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this small, tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been committed, and someone—Officer Ronny Forbert—must pay a price, a choice that will hold devastating consequences for them all.

"What happened is what happened, and the effects of it rippled out continuously. How could you stop the rippling of water?"

Out on a rural highway on a freezing night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert sits in his cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his shift ends. Then a car comes speeding over a hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase it. Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals into a heated struggle between two young men with troubled pasts and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop.

As the news spreads around the small town of Lydell, the police chief believes Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them, and is willing to stand by the young cop. But over the course of six days, as dark secrets and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been ­committed, that someone must pay a price.

Evocative, atmospheric, and powerful, Darkness the Color of Snow is a portrait of decency and desperation, ambition and pragmatism, heated passion and cool calculation—of ordinary American lives.