The River Sorrow Paperback - 1998

From the jacket flap

In one of the most unique and powerfully realized debut novels of the decade, Craig Holden creates a page-turning drama that is both emotionally shattering and harrowingly plausible.
When a fatally burned victim is brought into the Morgantown General Hospital emergency room, a young doctor's life is changed irrevocably. For Dr. Adrian Lancaster, the arrival of "John Doe" is only the first of a bizarre and bloody series of events that will force him to relive his violent past and put him on the run. On the road and underground, accused and accuser, Lancaster's only hope for survival lies in facing the terrifying truth.

Media reviews

"A brilliant first novel... The River Sorrow stuns from page one on. This is the first crime novel to capture late-20th century mid-American ennui and loss without whining. This is a book that oozes power." -- James Ellroy, author of The Black Dahlia and White Jazz.

"A one-of-a-kind read... gives an enlightening glimpse into the dramatic nexus of cops, crooks, and science." -- James Grady, author of Six Days Of The Condor andThunder.

"The River Sorrow is a beauty -- tough, complex, and thoroughly entertaining. It's not just a fine first novel, it's a wonderful book. Like a postmodern Ross MacDonald. I loved it." -- James Crumley, author of The Mexican Tree Duck


From the Paperback edition.