About This Book
It's 1975. Johnny Riles leads a lonesome, whiskey-soaked existence on Colorado's high prairie. Abandoned by his parents, who moved away after Johnny accidentally shot his father, and absent his buffoonish younger brother, who has left home to star in the American Basketball Association, Johnny is an uncommonly unhappy man.
Johnny is awoken from a depressive stupor after an autumn snowstorm leads him to cross paths with a brutal killer. Thus do his trials begin. The hunt for the killer splinters Johnny's psyche into dangerous and bizarre shards, driving him to beneath the stark western landscape--both literally and figuratively--to unearth the truths behind his nightmares, to search for vengeance, to bargain for his brother's soul, and to plead for a sober reason to live.
PRAISE
Hill is a dialogue artist, sculpting his characters with depth and the pitfalls of humanity...The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles is a rich and complex western that crosses over into the shady depths of noir fiction. It's a stunning read. - The Writing Bug
Like Hill's superb debut, East of Denver, The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles surely is a damn fine, if distinctly peculiar, country noir. - Booklist
A wild, weird, fun ride. - Yuma Pioneer
Impressively well written from beginning to end, The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles is a terrifically entertaining read and showcases extraordinary and imaginative storytelling abilities. - Midwest Book Review
After a sip or two of this richly-told novel, you'll want to glug the whole thing down. - Mark Stevens, author of The Fireballer
Reading Gregory Hill's marvelous page-turner of a second novel is like hunkering down in a psychedelic cave, buried by a flatland Colorado blizzard-with a knife at your throat. Expertly wrought weirdness abounds-you won't want it to end. Think, a poodle with no name meets Stephen King. - Barry Wightman, author of Pepperland
