Friday, June 10, 2011

GQ votes for you to read The Ridge

Your Weekend Beach Read
Set in the foothills of east Kentucky, Michael Koryta’s latest tale begins with a death atop a woodland lighthouse, which sparks a plot that soon unites a scarred detective, newly unemployed reporter, beautiful widow operating a sanctuary for big cats—as in lions and panthers. And from there, things start to get weird. If you know Kortya’s work—he’s the 28-year-old suspense wunderkind whose editor, Michael Pietsch, also edited David Foster Wallace—you know this is SOP. See for instance the bar piano that plays like a violin at the West Baden Springs Hotel, setting for last summer’s So Cold The River. Or the way-too-conveniently located tavern in the Gulf Coast badlands that welcomes two late-night travelers in The Cypress House (now being made into a movie). Will you like the book? Put it this way: Suspense Godhead Dean Koontz says Kortya “is on my must-read list” and the author recently inked a six-book deal with Little, Brown, who is publishing three of his novels within an the unheard time span of one year. So, yes. GQ’s Cole Louison interviewed the private investigator turned novelist last year; click here to read it. Buy The Ridge here.