**Now a major motion picture directed by Lee Daniels starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo, and Macy Gray, with John Cusack and Nicole Kidman
** *** ***
***NEW YORK TIMES* BESTSELLER**
** **
**“An eerie and beautiful novel . . . Its secrets continue to reveal themselves long after the book has been finished.”—*The New York Times Book Review***
The sun is rising over Moat County, Florida, when Sheriff Thurmond Call is found on the highway, gutted like an alligator. A local redneck is tried, sentenced, and set to fry. Then Ward James, hotshot investigative reporter for the *Miami Times, *returns to his rural hometown with a death row femme fatale who promises him the story of the decade. She’s armed with explosive evidence, aiming to free—and meet—her convicted “fiancé.” With Ward’s disillusioned younger brother Jack as their driver, they barrel down Florida’s back roads and seamy places in search of The Story, racing flat out into a shocking head-on collision between character and fate as truth takes a back seat to headline news.
**“Dexter is a writer who cuts to the bone. There is not a spare word in this searing tale. . . . A bravura performance by one of America’s most original and elegiac voices.”—*People***
*** ***
**“Hip, hard-boiled and filled with memorable eccentrics . . . *The Paperboy *burns with the phosphorescent atmosphere of betrayal.”—*Time***
* *
**“A wise and fascinating tale well told.”*—Entertainment Weekly***
**
### From Publishers Weekly
Moat County, Fla., is located where the St. John's River flows north-a geographical rarity and, in literature, a signal that we've entered the strange and violent world of National Book Award-winner Dexter (Paris Trout). Narrator Jack James is the son of the Moat County Tribune's editor and publisher. While Jack's older brother, Ward, reports for the Miami Times, Jack has settled for a job delivering papers for the Tribune. But when Ward and his partner, evil dandy Yardley Acheman, come to Moat County to investigate the four-year-old murder of the local sheriff, Jack assists them in the inquiry. After a vicious beating by two sailors lands Ward in the intensive care unit, Yardley finishes the story without Ward and Jack, fabricating evidence to do so. Accompanying his traumatized brother Ward back to Miami, Jack takes a job as a copyboy at the Times. It isn't long, however, before Yardley's wrongdoing comes to light, generating more trouble for the Jameses. Dexter's writing is rock-solid, he offers acute observations about the nature of reporting and his grip on the Southern male psyche is unquestionable. The powerful thematic drive of Paris Trout is missing here, however, and the story line is so complicated that it loses focus and then almost peters out. But if this isn't Dexter's best, it's still a provocative offering from one of the most exciting novelists around. Major ad/promo.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
### From Library Journal
W.W. ("World War") James is editor of the Moat County (Florida) Tribune and the father of two boys. Ward, the elder, is a reporter for the Miami Times. Jack is a college dropout who delivers papers for his father. With his reporting partner Yardley Acheman, Ward returns to Moat County to investigate the murder of the sheriff and the subsequent trial of Hillary Van Wetter, who was imprisoned for the murder. The investigation calls Van Wetter's guilt into question, and he is freed from death row. But at what price? Dexter (Brotherly Love, LJ 10/1/91) is a taut storyteller who keeps the pages turning. Though he offers a cast of characters recalling the best of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, his chillingly satisfactory new work should not be relegated to the ranks of genre writing. Highly recommended.
*--David Dodd, Univ. of Colorado, Colorado Springs*
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Description:
**Now a major motion picture directed by Lee Daniels starring Matthew McConaughey, Zac Efron, David Oyelowo, and Macy Gray, with John Cusack and Nicole Kidman ** *** *** ***NEW YORK TIMES* BESTSELLER** ** ** **“An eerie and beautiful novel . . . Its secrets continue to reveal themselves long after the book has been finished.”—*The New York Times Book Review*** The sun is rising over Moat County, Florida, when Sheriff Thurmond Call is found on the highway, gutted like an alligator. A local redneck is tried, sentenced, and set to fry. Then Ward James, hotshot investigative reporter for the *Miami Times, *returns to his rural hometown with a death row femme fatale who promises him the story of the decade. She’s armed with explosive evidence, aiming to free—and meet—her convicted “fiancé.” With Ward’s disillusioned younger brother Jack as their driver, they barrel down Florida’s back roads and seamy places in search of The Story, racing flat out into a shocking head-on collision between character and fate as truth takes a back seat to headline news. **“Dexter is a writer who cuts to the bone. There is not a spare word in this searing tale. . . . A bravura performance by one of America’s most original and elegiac voices.”—*People*** *** *** **“Hip, hard-boiled and filled with memorable eccentrics . . . *The Paperboy *burns with the phosphorescent atmosphere of betrayal.”—*Time*** * * **“A wise and fascinating tale well told.”*—Entertainment Weekly*** ** ### From Publishers Weekly Moat County, Fla., is located where the St. John's River flows north-a geographical rarity and, in literature, a signal that we've entered the strange and violent world of National Book Award-winner Dexter (Paris Trout). Narrator Jack James is the son of the Moat County Tribune's editor and publisher. While Jack's older brother, Ward, reports for the Miami Times, Jack has settled for a job delivering papers for the Tribune. But when Ward and his partner, evil dandy Yardley Acheman, come to Moat County to investigate the four-year-old murder of the local sheriff, Jack assists them in the inquiry. After a vicious beating by two sailors lands Ward in the intensive care unit, Yardley finishes the story without Ward and Jack, fabricating evidence to do so. Accompanying his traumatized brother Ward back to Miami, Jack takes a job as a copyboy at the Times. It isn't long, however, before Yardley's wrongdoing comes to light, generating more trouble for the Jameses. Dexter's writing is rock-solid, he offers acute observations about the nature of reporting and his grip on the Southern male psyche is unquestionable. The powerful thematic drive of Paris Trout is missing here, however, and the story line is so complicated that it loses focus and then almost peters out. But if this isn't Dexter's best, it's still a provocative offering from one of the most exciting novelists around. Major ad/promo. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. ### From Library Journal W.W. ("World War") James is editor of the Moat County (Florida) Tribune and the father of two boys. Ward, the elder, is a reporter for the Miami Times. Jack is a college dropout who delivers papers for his father. With his reporting partner Yardley Acheman, Ward returns to Moat County to investigate the murder of the sheriff and the subsequent trial of Hillary Van Wetter, who was imprisoned for the murder. The investigation calls Van Wetter's guilt into question, and he is freed from death row. But at what price? Dexter (Brotherly Love, LJ 10/1/91) is a taut storyteller who keeps the pages turning. Though he offers a cast of characters recalling the best of Carl Hiaasen and Elmore Leonard, his chillingly satisfactory new work should not be relegated to the ranks of genre writing. Highly recommended. *--David Dodd, Univ. of Colorado, Colorado Springs* Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.