National Network for Equitable Library Service

Back working as a deputy in a small Tennessee town, Turner's hands are full when the sheriff and the only other deputy are shot and the shooter escapes the county jail.

Turner was a homicide cop long ago, until he got mixed up in the wrong case and ended up behind bars himself.

Sallis' novel tracks the fortunes of three men of vastly different ages, backgrounds, and ambitions.

Assuming the role of deputy sheriff in a small town near the city, world-weary ex-Memphis cop John Turner investigates sordid cases in a community that time is slowly forgetting.

Much later, as he sat with his back against an inside wall of a Motel 6 just north of Phoenix, watching the pool of blood lap toward him, Driver would wonder whether he had made a terrible mistake.

As we exit the initial novel, Driver has killed Bernie Rose, “the only one he ever mourned,” ending his campaign against those who double-crossed him.