Ransom Burning - by J H Markert (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Inspired by true events, this riveting historical mystery combines richly layered characters, small-town intrigue, and powerful emotional depth in an unforgettable story.

A decade after fleeing tragedy, an award-winning journalist finally returns to his hometown to face head-on the dark past he tried to outrun.

It's 1974, and Los Angeles Times reporter Hunter Dreary returns to his hometown of Ransom, Kentucky, when he hears his autistic younger brother, Wally, is in trouble. But when he arrives at the sheriff's office, Hunter is the one facing an interrogation after Wally accidentally reveals details from an infamous night in the town's history--details that lead the sheriff straight to a body buried in the woods.

The discovery brings back memories of St. Anthony's first state basketball championship a decade ago and of Lewis Truffant, the Black fifteen-year-old who not only integrated the Catholic high school earlier in the year but hit the game-winning shot. But it also dredges up what most townspeople had hoped to forget, that by sunrise the next day, Lewis had been found hanging from a tree, and fires and riots soon followed. The truth of what happened that night has been buried ever since.

Still haunted by Lewis's death and pushed into action by each new unearthed secret, Hunter, with help from a childhood friend, Annie Tampini, finally starts asking questions of his own.

But he's not the only one searching for answers.

And the painful truth, once exposed, might hold the power to finally bring the corrupt town to its knees.

This haunting Southern crime novel is perfect for fans of Wiley Cash's A Land More Kind Than Home and Liz Moore's Long Bright River.

Review Quotes

Praise for Ransom Burning
"A gripping narrative . . . Readers will feel the emotional weight of decades as Markert's story unfolds."
--Library Journal

"James Markert's Ransom Burning will grip you from the very first page. It's a powerfully-written time capsule of a novel that will utterly transport you."
--Meg Shaffer, bestselling author of The Wishing Game

"Ransom Burning combines the emotional depth of James Lee Burke, the narrative propulsion of John Hart, and the tragic intimacy of Mystic River, while telling a story that feels distinctly its own. A powerful mystery of the first order."
--James W. Hall, award-winning author of the Thorn series

"Ransom Burning is a heart-wrenching, page-turning Southern mystery with heart. With scalpel-like precision, Markert lays bare the dark, harrowing past of Ransom, Kentucky, a town fraught with long-buried secrets and evils of the worst kind. I found myself reading long into the night, from one shocking revelation to another. This timely novel demands to be read."
--Scott Blackburn, author of It Dies with You

About the Author

J. H. Markert is a producer, screenwriter, husband, and father of two from Louisville, Kentucky, where he was also a tennis pro for twenty-five years before hanging up the rackets for good in 2020. He graduated with a degree in history from the University of Louisville in 1997 and has been writing ever since.