Welcome to the Fallen Paradise

A Novel

By: Dayne Sherman

Narrated by: Charles Kahlenberg

The Times-Picayune's Best Debut of the Year (one of four chosen)

American Booksellers Association Book Sense Notable Book

Baxter Parish, Louisiana, is a bloody place where family tradition is stronger than the law and pride more valuable than life. Thirty-year-old Jesse Tadlock returns home to Packwood Corners to claim his inheritance after a peaceful, if not dull, 12-year Army hitch. With a steady job, a past love back in his life, and his own land, he thinks he's outlasted the legacy of violence that has haunted his family. But the morning after his first night in his new home in Mount Olive, a neighbor turns up at his door with a loaded rifle on his arm and a bloodthirsty pit bull in tow. Cotton Moxley says he was born in this house and he'll die there, or Jesse will. With his Uncle Red pushing him to deal with the threat the old way - meeting fist with blade, bullet with bomb - at odds with his desire for a simple peace, Jesse must find a way to stand up and save his own, even if it means losing everything to the fires of pride.

©2004 Dayne Sherman (P)2016 Dayne Sherman

Critic reviews

"This pitch-perfect debut novel, about a hard-luck place where blood feuds spring up natural as pit bulls after raw meat, will go down easier with fans of rural crime stories than a juicy pork steak steeped in red-eye gravy." ( Booklist - May 2012 Hard-Boiled Gazetteer to Country Noir Winner and Starred Review)

A very slick debut tale, colorful and taut, that takes us into a crazy world and, at the close, brings us out alive. ( Kirkus)

5

I discovered an audio suspense - as opposed to video suspense -
that this skilfull author builds to equal an action thriller shoot em up video. It could be a good movie. I like this format. A very good book.

Welcome to Fallen Paradise

I thought the story was great, the narrator was perfect, with his portrayals of the different characters you could not have done better with your choice.