River, Sing Out by James Wade

River, Sing Out by James Wade

Attempting to escape his abusive father and generations of cyclical poverty, young Jonah Hargrove joins the mysterious River--a teenage girl carrying thousands of dollars in stolen meth--and embarks on a southern gothic odyssey through the East Texas river bottoms.

They are pursued by local drug kingpin John Curtis and his murderous enforcer, Dakota Cade, with whom River was romantically involved. But Cade and Curtis have their own enemies, as their relationship with the cartel controlling their meth supply begins to sour.

Keeping tabs on everyone is the Thin Man, a silent assassin who values consequence over mercy.

Each person is keeping secrets from the others--deadly secrets that will be exposed in savage fashion as their final paths collide and all are forced to come to terms with their choices, their circumstances, and their own definition of God.

With a colorful cast of supporting characters and an unflinching violence juxtaposed against lyrical prose, River, Sing Out dives deep into a sinister and sanguinary world, where oppressive poverty is pitted against the need to believe in something greater than the self.

With his wife and children, James Wade lives and writes in the Texas Hill Country. All Things Left Wild, his debut novel, earned the Spur Award Best Historical Novel in 2021. James is also a finalist in the Tethered by Letters Short Story Contest and a winner of the Writers' League of Texas Manuscript Contest. His work has been published in a number of literary journals, including the Bitter Oleander.