Harlan Kipchak

Chris Offutt

In the eastern Kentucky hills, an elderly ginseng gatherer makes a discovery that quickly turns into a murder investigation—and a community’s carefully guarded secrets begin to surface. As the case draws in Mick Hardin, a solitary investigator shaped by personal loss and private disappointments, every clue forces him to navigate rivalries, loyalties, and the unspoken rules of a fiercely insular place. Offutt’s thriller is driven by the harsh landscape itself, where the hills “are killing us,” and where survival often depends on what people refuse to say. With Offutt’s gritty, character-first storytelling and deep Appalachian atmosphere, this is a propulsive crime novel that blends suspense with themes of isolation, moral compromise, and the cost of belonging.