Nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel * Nominated for the ITW Thriller Award for Best Young Adult NovelA BookPage Best Book of the Year * A People Magazine Best Book of Summer * A Parade Best Book of Summer * A Crime Reads Most Anticipated Book of Summer“Powerful…a breathtaking read, with flawed and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root … and authentic characters who hit so close to home that at times it is impossible not to root for them.” — San Francisco Chronicle
A body burns in the high desert hills. A boy walks into a fire station, pale with the shock of discovery. A middle school teacher worries when her colleague is late for work. By day’s end, when the body is identified as local math teacher Adam Merkel, a small Nevada town will be rocked to its core.
Adam Merkel left a university professorship in Reno to teach middle school in Lovelock seven months before he died. A quiet, seemingly unremarkable man, he connected with just one of his students: Sal Prentiss, a lonely sixth grader who lives with his uncles on a desolate ranch in the hills. The two outcasts developed a tender, trusting friendship that brought each of them hope in the wake of tragedy. But it is Sal who finds Adam’s body, charred almost beyond recognition, half a mile from his uncles’ compound.
Nora Wheaton, the middle school’s social studies teacher, dreamed of a life far from Lovelock only to be dragged back on the eve of her college graduation to care for her disabled father, a man she loves but can’t forgive. She sensed in the new math teacher a kindred spirit–another soul bound to Lovelock by guilt and duty. After Adam’s death, she delves into his past for clues to who killed him and finds a dark history she understands all too well. But the truth about his murder may lie closer to home. For Sal Prentiss’s grief seems heavily shaded with fear, and Nora suspects he knows more than he’s telling about how his favorite teacher died. As she tries to earn the wary boy’s trust, she finds he holds not only the key to Adam’s murder, but an unexpected chance at the life she thought she’d lost.
Weaving together the last months of Adam’s life, Nora’s search for answers, and a young boy’s anguished moral reckoning, this unforgettable thriller brings a small American town to vivid life, filled with complex, flawed characters wrestling with the weight of the past, the promise of the future, and the bitter freedom that forgiveness can bring.
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Wow! This book was absolutely masterful! Beautifully written, raw, real, pulse-pounding and heartbreaking. If you loved THE DRY by Jane Harper you will devour THE DISTANT DEAD.
The young boy in this book is troubled after going to live with his uncles. His only friend is a teacher who later gets killed. The boy finds the body which is burned, and you find that the Uncles are more involved than they seem, and the boy also knows more than
what he is saying.
Loved this book.
The Distant Dead has been nominated for an Edgar Award, the second nomination for Heather Young. The novel is set in a small town but is steeped in the larger issues of the day. The main character is a twelve year old boy who has lost a mother to the opioid crisis and risks losing a lot more. My favorite mysteries read like literary fiction, and Young’s novel is a great story well told. It’s imaginative and layered, engaging and entertaining without shying away from hard truths. You’ll be glad you read it!
An absolute stunner of a book, nominated for a 2021 Edgar Allan Poe award in the best novel category. A middle school teacher is found murdered outside Lovelock, Nevada. The reasons for his death lie in his past, as a fellow teacher learns, with the help of a lonely sixth-grader. Highly recommended.
The Distant Dead by Heather Young has all of the ingredients necessary to produce a thrilling and literary mystery. The characters take center stage as they should but the plotting and pacing add tension and suspense to a wonderful book by an accomplished author. The story is told using two distinct timelines and multiple points of view examining motivations of the well-drawn characters. There are numerous twists and turns that keep us guessing making The Distant Dead an enjoyable way to pass the time during these somewhat crazy times.
This is the definition of a literary thriller.
While I love a twisty murder mystery — and this provides that in a way that puts on full display the master skill that Young possesses — the characters were what makes this one of the best books of the year. With a story that smoothly switches between three points of view and two timelines, Young dives into why people choose to stay in the rural Nevada hometowns their families have called home for generations.
As for the mystery element, even when I was sure I’d figured out what happened, there were a couple more twists coming that were both unforeseeable and inevitable.
Whether you love character-driven stories or plot-driven genre fiction, this novel will satisfy your thirst like a river running through the Great Basin.
The book was very good!!! Did not want to put it down! I will definitely read more of her books!
If you enjoyed Heather Young’s debut novel, The Lost Girls, you’re going to love The Distant Dead. Her lyrical prose, sympathetic characters, and atmospheric settings draw you into places you don’t always want to go. This isn’t a light and fluffy novel. If that’s what you’re looking for, look elsewhere. But if you want a thoughtful thriller that will haunt you long after you close the book, this is it.