A Cold Night for Alligators
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
A thrilling Knopf New Face of Fiction debut, A Cold Night for Alligators takes the reader on a breathtaking ride through the seedy, sensual Florida Everglades, unravelling a mystery at the heart of which lies a devastating family secret.
Twenty-six-year-old Jasper hasn't seen or heard from his older brother, Coleman, in over ten years. Not since Coleman walked through the back gate one morning, leaving behind a distraught family concerned by his increasingly outlandish behaviour. Now Jasper's life has come to an impasse — he has settled into a rather stultifying existence as a corporate drone, living with a girlfriend he doesn't quite know how to break up with. Until a freak accident and strange phone call change everything. With little more to go on than a random phone call, Jasper follows his brother's trail southward into the Florida Everglades where a family mystery from his childhood may hold the key to Coleman's disappearance. Accompanied by brawny, devout Donny and the extremely eccentric Duane, Jasper embarks on a series of misadventures involving a gorgeous swamp moll, an estranged aunt and alligator poachers as he gets deeper into his search for his brother. All roads seem to lead to Uncle Rolly Lee, a rock-and-rolling swamp rat whose rather rough exterior belies an even rougher interior. Can Jasper uncover the secrets of the past and find his brother before he gets mired in the swamp and the machinations of Rolly Lee?
Populated with unforgettable characters and a suspense-filled story at its heart, A Cold Night for Alligators is a first novel about loss, hope and the ties that bind family together.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
While the plot of Canadian author Crowe's rewarding first novel hinges on actual and attempted murder, it is more about coming to terms with the past than crime solving. Jasper, a 26-year-old Toronto resident, is leading a dull life until a schizophrenic man pushes him onto the subway tracks during his daily commute. After Jasper wakes from a seven-month coma, he receives a call from the police in Fort Meyers, Fla., who reported that a homeless man has given them Jasper's number as an emergency contact. Jasper wonders if it might be his older brother, Coleman, who grew increasingly strange as a teenager before disappearing without a trace. In search of answers, he and two friends make a raucous road trip to Florida, where he finds his goodhearted aunt, her musical meth-addict husband, and clues to Coleman's disintegration and disappearance. Crowe's voice is sharply funny, but the story has real depth and poignancy as well as a sardonic punch.