From the author of Real Bad Things and Cottonmouths, a Los Angeles Review Best Book of 2017, comes the darkly suspenseful tale of a small-town Easter tradition and its murderous secrets.For seventeen years, a serial murderer has used the Presley, Arkansas, Annual Hunt for the Golden Egg to find prey. Or at least that’s what some people believe. Others, like the town’s devoted “Eggheads,” relish the tradition and think the deaths are just unfortunate accidents. But for Nell Holcomb, the town’s annual Hunt dredges up a particularly painful memory: her brother’s death, long believed to be “the Hunter’s” first kill.Nell has been caring for her nephew since then, trying to keep him safe and trying to conceal the role she played in his father’s death. Most importantly, she’s been trying to avoid the Hunt — despite the clashes that erupt in town over the event and her best friend’s obsession with winning the big prize.As Easter draws near and the town’s frenzy escalates, Nell must face her past and the Hunt as the danger once again veers close to home. Praise for Real Bad Things:'Acclaimed author Kelly J. Ford spins a propulsive, sophisticated, and fearlessly queer tour de force in Real Bad Things. Ford’s richly drawn characters and breathtaking storytelling create an inescapable undertow of menace that will not let go until the final, shocking page. This is gothic suspense at its most haunting.' — P. J. Vernon, author of Bath Haus'Ford’s follow-up to her devastating debut novel, Cottonmouths, is a moving meditation on misplaced loyalties, love, and the legacy of violence and abuse, all wrapped in a mystery filled with guy-wire tension.' — John Vercher, author of Three-Fifths'At the start of this gripping suspense novel from Ford, Jane Mooney, who’s been living in Boston, returns home to Maud Bottoms, Arkansas…The truth slowly unfolds as the plot builds toward a surprising conclusion foreshadowed by a trail of skillfully disguised clues. Ford delivers the goods.' — Publishers Weekly'A confessed killer’s return home brings long-buried secrets to life with a series of seismic jolts.' — Kirkus Reviews'Beautifully written and socially astute, Real Bad Things delivers on the promise of Ford’s debut, Cottonmouths.' — CrimeReads
