When Darl Moody went hunting after a monster buck he’s chased for years, he never expected he’d accidentally shoot a man digging ginseng. Worse yet, he’s killed a Brewer, a family notorious for vengeance and violence. With nowhere to turn, Darl calls on the help of the only man he knows will answer—his best friend, Calvin Hooper. But when Dwayne Brewer comes looking for his missing brother and stumbles onto a blood trail leading straight back to Darl and Calvin, a nightmare of revenge rips apart their world. The Line That Held Us is a story of friendship and family, a tale balanced between destruction and redemption where the only hope is to hold on tight, clenching to those you love. What will you do for the people who mean the most, and what will you grasp to when all that you have is gone? The only certainty in a place so shredded is that no one will get away unscathed.

You may be wondering why we didn’t classify this book as a thriller. We could’ve used the umbrella term, but isn’t “Appalachian noir” so much better? It’s a label that author David Joy sometimes uses to characterize his writing, which is often about ordinary, hard-working people in shady, dire situations. Think smoking guns and shadowy outlaws, but in the backcountry. I mean, how can you not want to read this?

Darl Moody is just a regular guy trying to fill his freezer with deer meat before winter comes. When he goes hunting, he doesn’t expect to accidentally bring down a human—and he definitely doesn’t expect to fell Carol Brewer of the infamously violent Brewer family, a clan that even “Jesus Christ couldn’t have saved.” Despite his attempts to cover his tracks, Darl’s mistake conjures a revenge tornado in the form of the murderous Dwayne Brewer, whose grief will only be tempered when he delivers vengeance to Darl and those closest to him.

Think Cormac McCarthy, Tarantino, or your favorite Coen Brothers film. That’s the kind of rollicking, oh-shit-what’s-gonna-happen-next ride you’re in for here. This is also a surprisingly philosophical book. Who gets to mete out justice? Isn’t “an eye for an eye” fair? For all its homespun wisdom, though, what The Line That Held Us really nails is the plot—and what could be plottier than the woodland disputes of trigger-happy vigilantes? So get this book, hunker down, and enjoy!