Ransom Burning

A decade after he fled his hometown, a writer finally returns to Kentucky to face head-on the dark past he tried to outrun.

Inspired by true events, James Markert’s Ransom Burning is rich with multilayered characters and small-town intrigue, perfect for fans of Wiley Cash and Ron Rash.

It’s 1974, and Los Angeles Times reporter Hunter Dreary returns to his hometown of Ransom, Kentucky when he hears his autistic brother, Wally, is in trouble. But when he arrives at the Sheriff’s office, Hunter is the one facing an interrogation after Wally accidentally confesses details from an infamous night in the town’s history. That confession, along with the suicide of one of Hunter’s old friends has led the sheriff straight to a body buried in the woods. 

The body dredges up the memory of Lewis Truffant. Lewis, the first to integrate the Catholic School of St. Anthony, was found hanging from a tree the morning after he led his high school basketball team to its first state championship title. 

Each new unearthed secret pushes Hunter to finally start asking questions of his own. 

But he’s not the only one searching for answers.