A River Closely Watched

Bobby DuBois comes from a long line of misfits. Basically a good kid, he can’t shake an inherited propensity for violence and drug abuse. When his father gets arrested, Bobby, too, is headed into the system, until Uncle Thaddeus rescues him and they take to the backwoods, managing to stay one step ahead of the law. On the run, Thaddeus teaches Bobby how to drink, fight, and fornicate—how to be a DuBois.

When hurricane rains swell the Swift River, ravaging Franklin County and flushing Bobby and Thaddeus out of the hills, the DuBois family wages a disturbing custody battle in the shadows of Stillwater Bridge. Sown through with bristling language and violent love, at its core, this beautiful and violent first novel explores Bobby’s struggle to save his own soul.