In his phenomenal debut novel—a mesmerizing literary thriller about the bond between two brothers and the evil they face in a small North Carolina town—author Wiley Cash displays a remarkable talent for lyrical, powerfully emotional storytelling. A Land More Kind than Home is a modern masterwork of Southern fiction, reminiscent of the writings of John Hart ( Down River ), Tom Franklin ( Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter ), Ron Rash ( Serena ), and Pete Dexter ( Paris Trout )—one that is likely to be held in the same enduring esteem as such American classics as To Kill a Mockingbird , Of Mice and Men , and A Separate Peace . A brilliant evocation of a place, a heart-rending family story, a gripping and suspenseful mystery—with A Land More Kind than Home , a major American novelist enthusiastically announces his arrival. “This book will knock your socks off. It’s so good to read a first novel that sings with talent. Wiley Cash has a beautifully written hit on his hands.” - Clyde Edgerton, author of The Night Train “A riveting story! The writing is bold, daring, graceful, and engrossing.” - Bobbie Ann Mason, author of In Country “I try to state the truth and dislike flinging superlatives about with mad abandon, but I have been so deeply impressed by this novel that only superlatives can convey the tenor of my thought: this is one of the most powerful novels I have ever read.” - Fred Chappell, author of Brighten the Corner Where You Are “Whew! Wiley Cash is the real deal and his first novel is an atmospheric crossroads filled with characters who long for better, but know that their best will never be good enough, is dense with stories intersecting like the branches in a laurel hell.” - Nancy Peacock, author of Life Without Water “As lyrical, beautiful, and uncomplicated as the classic ballads of Appalachia, Cash’s first novel is a tragic story of misplaced faith and love gone wrong . . . In a style reminiscent of Tom Franklin and John Hart, Cash captures the reader’s imagination.” - Library Journal (starred review) “This novel has great cumulative power. Before I knew it I was grabbed by the ankle and pulled down into a full-blown Greek tragedy.” - Gail Godwin, author of Evensong “Cash is a graceful and promising writer, and his story and characters will linger in readers’ memories.” - Booklist “The first thing that struck me about Wiley’s novel is the beautiful prose: the narrative is strong, clean, direct and economical. . . . I think this could be the beginning of a long, fruitful career.” - Ernest J. Gaines, author of A Lesson Before Dying “So beautifully written that you’ll be torn about how fast to read it. This is great, gothic Southern fiction.” - NPR “A lyrical, poignant debut . . . In the mode of John Hart, Tom Franklin, and early Pat Conroy, A Land More Kind Than Home explores the power of forgiveness [and] the strength of family bonds . . . a new talent at the beginning of what should be a promising career.” - Florida Sun-Sentinel “Cash’s debut about a town gripped by a menacing preacher has the timeless qualities of the Old Testament. . . . Revenge, the most Old Testament of themes, closes this very good book, as Sheriff Clem Barefield investigates the death of a mute boy, and his own childhood past recalls Jesse’s voice and brings the timeless―not nostalgic―tale full circle.” - The Daily Beast “Absorbing . . . Cash uses well-placed flashbacks to flesh out his characters . . . and to illuminate a familiar truth of Southern lit: Many are the ways that fathers fail their sons.” - Entertainment Weekly “A lyrical, poignant debut . . . In the mode of John Hart, Tom Franklin, and early Pat Conroy, A Land More Kind Than Home explores the power of forgiveness [and] the strength of family bonds.” - Florida Sun-Sentinel “You might have to go back to Robert Mitchum’s performance as a murderous preacher in the 1955 film The Night of the Hunter to find a preacher as flat-out evil as Carson Chambliss. . . . [A] riveting debut novel . . . A Land More Kind Than Home is a powerfully moving debut that reads as if Cormac McCarthy decided to rewrite Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird .” - Richmond Times-Dispatch “ A Land More Kind Than Home is a powerfully moving debut that reads as if Cormac McCarthy decided to rewrite Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird .” - Richmond Times-Dispatch “Good old-fashioned storytelling. Cash has a solid talent for the oft-neglected arts of tragedy and suspense, mixed with just enough modern pathos to make his writing literary without being pretentious. An auspicious start for a first novelist. . . . With murder, religion, infidelity, domestic abuse, guns, whiskey and snake handling, Land is rich in unstable relationships and beautiful tragedy.” - Ploughshares “Cash’s debut novel explores Faulkner-O’Connor country, a place where folks endure a hard life by clinging to God’s truths . . . with Southern idioms as clear as crystal mountain air, Cash weaves the n