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All The Beautiful Sinners (2003)
Matthew Hardy

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PAGES: 354
AUTHOR: Stephen Graham Jones

'"The world reduced itself to a heartbeat"

The small town of Nazareth's sheriff is gunned down by a vagrant American Indian who has the rotting bodies of two young children in his trunk. The deputy sheriff Jim Doe takes it upon himself to track down the suspect, little does he know the suspect holds a connection to the disappearance of the deputy's sister years earlier. The closer Doe gets the more he realizes his involvement in this matter is no coincidence.

Stephen Graham Jones has a way with words that every writer wishes they had. His prose is rich, sharp and has this rhythmic quality to it that is just hypnotizing. Now I've heard people refer to his writing as "a confusing pile of words". This is something I can't quite understand, sure his writing isn't spoon fed to you, but if you even remotely comprehend what you read or take the time to actual pay attention instead of blowing through it, it shouldn't be a problem at all. If you allow it his sentences will take root in your mind and be with you for quite some time after you've closed the book.

With that being said...sure, it isn't for everyone. It can be a bit violent and disturbing, its definitely not for the faint of heart. It also tends to jump around from various POVs and different times. With what I've said before this shouldn't be a problem If you pay attention. Even still you might find yourself going back checking where you last left a character. This is a novel that demands to be read several times, through additional reads you will most definitely find things that had slipped though the cracks the first time.

Stephen Graham Jones is easily becoming one of favourite authors. If it is at all possible (which it may not be, considering it is out of print) pick this up without a second thought.