Crime Fiction Right Between the Eyes by Scott Loring Sanders  

When a young girl is abducted in a historic New England town in 1981, a family seeks full and total revenge, unwittingly setting in motion several decades worth of wicked lies and betrayal.

Flash-forward thirty years, and the reader follows the Chief of Police, Box Sullivan, and his niece, Michelle, a ranger at iconic Walden Pond, two people who, on the surface, appear to be admirable, upstanding citizens. However, as the novel progresses, it becomes evident that both have plenty of hidden secrets and dark pasts which often intertwine with that kidnapping from decades earlier. They each share histories rife with trauma and deceit, as well as similar personalities bent on revenge. When a mysterious skull is discovered by two boys fishing in Walden Pond, and then Michelle’s husband later disappears, the suspicion and finger-pointing escalate, and along with it, the tension and suspense.

Told in alternating points of view, this literary mystery dives into the psychology of murderous betrayal, familial loyalty, and the extraordinary lengths people will resort to in the pursuit of self-preservation. Twists, turns, and ruthless back-stabbing fill these chapters, keeping the reader guessing and on edge until its unexpected and dark conclusion.

Scott Loring Sanders

“RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES is a riveting, twist-filled exploration of violence, memory, and family. With its richly complex characters and vivid sense of place, this is a novel that will stay with you long after you turn the last page.” —Lou Berney, Edgar Award-winning author of November Road

“RIGHT BETWEEN THE EYES is a propulsive tale of blackmail and murder rendered in spare, hard-hitting prose. Sanders does a masterly job revealing how a family’s closely-held secrets can echo across generations like a gunshot across a midnight lake.” —Dennis Tafoya, author of Dope Thief

“With a New England setting and the ghosts of Thoreau, Emerson, and Alcott coloring the background, Scott Loring Sanders weaves a tale of family secrets. Good people do bad things, and by the end, you are rooting for them to get away with it. Equal parts Stephen King’s Castle Rock and SA Cosby’s modern noir.” —Jim Winter, author of the Holland Bay thrillers

Scott Loring Sanders is the author of two young adult novels, a short story collection, and an essay collection, Surviving Jersey, which was a Finalist for Best Book of the Year by CLMP’s Firecracker Award. Winner of the 2021 International Thriller Writers Award for Best Short Story of the Year, his work has also been twice included in Best American Mystery Stories, noted multiple times in Best American Essays, and has received Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize Anthology. He teaches creative writing at Emerson College in Boston and at Lesley University in Cambridge.