Acclaimed short story writer Josh Rountree’s (Fantastic Americana) long-awaited debut novel wades into the literary waters of True Grit and Lonesome Dove by way of The Creature From the Black Lagoon. This powerful tale of Texas in the 1900s pits found-family against relentless villains, all set against the worst natural disaster in U.S. history. Odd, creepy, funny, the Black Lagoon meets the Six Gun universe. High up on the way-cool factor. You need this.
–Joe R. Lansdale, Edgar Award winning author of the Hap and Leonard series

After burying his father, Floyd Betts returns home to Galveston, Texas. He is not be alone in his journey, riding out of town with the orphaned siblings Nellie and Chuck. On the way, they have also rescued the mysterious, not-quite human, Charlie Fish. Now dangerous men planning to profit from the spectacle of Charlie are on their trail, and winds are picking up from the impending hurricane

Descended from a long line of a witches, Nellie struggles with visions she experiences from other people’s minds. Her younger brother Chuck just wants to use his oversized revolver, a legacy from his father. Floyd is struggling to protect his young charges. Meanwhile, all Charlie Fish wants is to go home.

With the taut intensity of an impending storm, Josh Rountree’s neo-Gothic Western is a mesmerizing tale from a rising star of American fiction.