Dry County

Richard Weatherford is a successful small-town preacher in the Arkansas Ozarks. He’s a proud husband and father of five, and has worked hard to grow his loyal flock with strong sermons and smart community outreach. But while Weatherford is a man of influence and power—including a big force in local politics—he’s also a man with secrets.In the lead up to the 2016 presidential election, Weatherford’s world is threatened when he’s blackmailed by a former lover. Collecting the money the blackmailer demands will be a nearly impossible feat, especially over Easter weekend, when all eyes are on him. So Weatherford will have to turn to the darkest corners of their small town in a desperate attempt to keep his world from falling apart.Exploring a divided country and a cracked façade through the alternating perspectives of Weatherford, his wife, his lover, and other town residents, Dry County is a powerful story about how far some will go to keep hold of all they know—and all that others think them to be.


Genre: Mystery

"Dry County is a hillbilly noir jewel. Jake Hinkson reveals the underbelly of small town life in this gritty thriller as he depicts the fall of a Southern preacher. An absorbing tale." - Nancy Allen

"A masterpiece of economy and tension. An instant noir classic." - William Boyle

"A day in a small town with big secrets is the setting for this perfect storm of a book. Jake Hinkson takes the reader on a white-knuckle ride in a world where good people have done bad things. I couldn't put it down." - Aoife Clifford

"Desire, desperation, and despair collide in Jake Hinkson's bleakly imagined and perfectly rendered vision of small-town Arkansas. Religion, respectability, hope for the future--virtue is the flip side of vice and Hinkson drives that truth sharply home." - S J Rozan