There was no warning when the cattle turned. Just an October day like any other. It was weaning season, and they were peeling the yearlings from their mothers, so…

  I’d just as soon cut his throat as watch him take one more step toward the mall. All things being equal. All things are not equal, so I’ll wait…

  Brandon and I were skulking around in front of the house, doing our best to impersonate respectability, when Mrs. Alvarado finally deigned to appear. I was watching the sky;…

  Simon Bettendorf, a motor-mouth grill cook and chronic history major, had no intention of taking up with a Lead Belly’s server or helping her mother to die, but he…

  Hector and I ride out from the slat-ribbed herd to find the lost cow. Morning lies red against the distant range. As the minutes pass the sky deepens, blue…

  Ok. I killed Dashwani. There is no argument or mitigation. I took the toss from O’Conn, a perfect little underhand flip, put my foot on second, cut a neat…

  1841 It is evening by the time you arrive at Second Eden: the sun has just set, and there is a nip in the air that presages the autumn…

  It was a truck like the army uses, but instead of the metal frame and tarp, the back was enclosed in a wooden box. Painted on the plywood was…

My great-grandfather’s grandfather bought the island and built the house. Before that, the island was nobody’s. There was evidence of Indians, great piles of clamshells near the southern tip, but…

My great-grandfather’s grandfather bought the island and built the house. Before that, the island was nobody’s. There was evidence of Indians, great piles of clamshells near the southern tip, but…

  Orlando’s mother, Grace, once said she’d make a terrible liar. I know why she said this. Her face showed her every emotion. I have never had that problem myself.…