A Choir of Ill Children: A NovelBONUS: This edition contains an excerpt from Tom Piccirilli's The Last Kind Words. This lyrical tale of evil, loss, and redemption is a stunning addition to the Southern gothic tradition of Flannery O’Connor and Harry Crews. A Choir of Ill Children is the startling story of Kingdom Come, a decaying, swamp backwater that draws the lost, ill-fated, and damned. Since his mother’s disappearance and his father’s suicide, Thomas has cared for his three brothers—conjoined triplets with separate bodies but one shared brain—and the town’s only industry, the Mill. Because of his family’s prominence, Thomas is feared and respected by the superstitious swamp folk. Granny witches cast hexes while Thomas’s childhood sweetheart drifts through his life like a vengeful ghost and his best friend, a reverend suffering from the power of tongues, is overcome with this curse as he tries to warn of impending menace. All Thomas learns is that “the carnival is coming.” Torn by responsibility and rage, Thomas must face his tormented past as well as the mysterious forces surging toward the town he loves and despises. |
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Abbot Earl ain't anymore arms basal ganglia bayou beneath Betty Lynn Bill Pronzini blood breath brothers brush Burke chest Choir of Ill Clay cormorant damn dark Darr dead Dodi dogs Drabs eyes face father feel fists Flannery O'Connor flat rock floor Fred fuck girl gonna grab granny witches guys hair hand head hell Herbie hold Holy Order inch inside Johnny Jonah keep laughing Leadbetter's leave legs light Lily lips listen long-jawed orb weaver look Lottie Mae Lucretia Maggie Mama mother mouth neck never night oxtail soup Piccirilli Potts County rain Reverend Bibbler Sarah says Sebastian smile staring Stewart O'Nan Stiel swamp talk teeth tell There's thing Thomas throat Tom Piccirilli tongue toss town truck turn Velma Coots vodka gimlet voice waiting watch wearing what's who's wind window wonder