Love and Other Wounds

“[This] debut collection goes off like a shotgun blast of crime fiction tropes. . . . a tight, tough parcel of pulpy, high-octane tales.” —Publishers Weekly

A man runs away from his grave and into a maelstrom of bullets and fire. A Hollywood fixer finds love over the corpse of a dead celebrity. A morbidly obese woman imagines a new life with the jewel thief who is scheming to rob the store where she works. A man earns the name “Mad Dog” and lives to regret it.

Denizens of the shadows who live outside the law—from the desolate meth labs of the Ozark Mountains to the dog-fighting rings of Detroit to the lavish Los Angeles mansions of the rich and famous—the characters in Love and Other Wounds all thirst for something seemingly just beyond their reach. Some are on the run, pursued by the law or propelled relentlessly forward by a dangerous past that is disturbingly close. Others are searching for a semblance of peace and stability, and even love, in a fractured world defined by seething violence and ruthless desperation.

Crackling with cinematic energy, Love and Other Wounds is an unforgettable debut from an electrifying new voice. 

“A beautifully-written ride through America’s inner darkness.” —Roger Hobbs, author of Ghostman

“Raw, gritty, and unsettling . . . For fans of Cormac McCarthy, Daniel Woodrell, and Bruce Machart.” —Library Journal

“What sets Harper apart is his ability to deliver genuine literary epiphanies. . . . but, above all, characters we quickly know, understand, and still remember even after their brains have painted the walls.” —Booklist