Latest Books The Big Thrill Recommends: STONE CREEK by Kate Brandes

The Big Thrill Recommends: STONE CREEK by Kate Brandes

Recommended by Jody Gerbig

In her masterful second novel, STONE CREEK, Kate Brandes pulls readers in and keeps them swirling at the edge of disaster.

When eco-terrorist Frank Stone abandons his teenage daughter, Tilly, in their remote cabin on a mountain near Cottersville, Pennsylvania, she has no choice but to leave the only life she has ever known—cloistered in the woods, hiding from the F.B.I., helping her father bomb river dams.

Starving and without income, Tilly hikes across state lines toward her father’s only friend, an alcoholic furniture maker who lives off Ho Hos and grain alcohol. There, she keeps her guardian sober enough to learn his trade, preparing for the day she must once again start over.

Though her fugitive father promised Tilly he would return, 17 years pass without word from him. The only clues of his survival are a few cryptic op-ed pieces published in local papers following his signature bombings.

That is, until his 50th birthday when Frank returns to Cottersville, where Tilly has created a stable, though lonely, life. Only, she is not sure he returned just for her; the F.B.I. is about to take down the Cottersville dam—setting a trap to catch Frank—and Tilly worries her father will fall for the bait.

Delivered in a dual timeline that develops both Tilly’s difficult childhood and her present-day search for the truth, this slow-burning suspense builds to a bang. For fans of Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead and Liz Moore’s Long Bright River, Brandes’ newest novel delivers rich emotion, layered characters, and page-turning tension you won’t want to end.

The Big Thrill Recommends: STONE CREEK by Kate Brandes