"I DEVOURED THIS HYPNOTIC NOVEL IN ONE FEVERED SITTING. PICKARD COUNTY ATLAS IS FULL OF DARK STORIES, WEAVING TOGETHER THE FATES OF UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTERS STRIVING TO HOLD THEIR LIVES INTACT. THE TENSION IS ELECTRIC ON EVERY PAGE." - DEVIN MURPHY, AUTHOR OF THE BOAT RUNNER In a dusty town in Nebraska's rugged sandhills, sheriff's deputy Harley Jensen patrols the streets at night, on the lookout for something to take his mind off the past, which weighs him down like an anvil. And he's not the only one—Pickard County is full of restless souls looking for change. Pam bristles against her role as wife and mother, hemmed in by the tragic history of the Reddick fam-ily, which is still coping, decades later, with the murder of one of its own. Her husband, Rick, bows beneath the pressures of raising a family while struggling with the wreckage of his youth. And then there's Paul, the youngest Reddick, town miscreant and flint to Harley's steel—and in this stark, Shakespearean drama, it's just a matter of time until their conflict throws the spark that will burn Pickard County to the ground. Unfolding over six tense days, Pickard County Atlas sets Harley and the Reddicks on a collision course, propelling them toward an incendiary moment that will either redeem or end them. Engrossing, darkly funny, and real, Chris Harding Thornton's debut rings with authenticity and hums with menace, introducing an astonishing new voice in suspense.