Hearts of Stone

The “absorbing” second thriller featuring ex-con Carl Burns from the award-winning author of Rough Justice and the Virgil Cain mysteries (Publishers Weekly). The hunter becomes the hunted: Carl Burns pursues the ruthless gang who targeted him in ... Read more

The “absorbing” second thriller featuring ex-con Carl Burns from the award-winning author of Rough Justice and the Virgil Cain mysteries (Publishers Weekly). The hunter becomes the hunted: Carl Burns pursues the ruthless gang who targeted him in this fast-paced, suspenseful thriller. Happily ensconced at River Road Farm and planning to start their own maple syrup business, life is good for Carl Burns and his partner Frances, who also stars in her own TV show. But, unwittingly, Frances’s TV exposure has attracted unwelcome attention. Targeted by a gang of small-time criminals who need to get their hands on a large amount of cash—fast—Carl and Frances’s perfect lives are shattered in an instant. With clues as to the gang’s identity thin on the ground, the cops’ hands are tied. It’s up to Carl to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice—in whatever way he can. “Smith’s unsparing depiction of a small-town justice system that depends on ‘everybody’s ratting everybody out’ . . . allows a sense of monstrous injustice to fester till it’s ready to explode.”—Kirkus Reviews Praise for Brad Smith “Brad Smith has got the goods—he’s funny, poignant, evocative, and he tells a blistering tale. A writer to watch, a comet on the horizon.”—Dennis Lehane, New York Times bestselling author “Rivals Elmore Leonard at his best.”—Publishers Weekly “Country noir doesn’t get much better.”—Library Journal “Nobody does stand-up guys better than Smith.”—Booklist Less