Appalachian Book of the Dead

Angel Garcia Jones vanished into the deep woods of Yonah, North Carolina, leaving a trail of murders— and a lingering, spectral presence. Newcomers Cal and Joy McAlister, seeking to rebuild their lives, find themselves drawn into the mountain’ s shadows. Cal, a retired trader and recovering alcoholic, wrestles with restlessness; Joy, a potter and former physical therapist, seeks reinvention. Their handyman, Doyle Smathers, tends to Ainsley Morse, a young woman meditating in solitude to escape her own demons. As secrets surface and past crimes echo through the mountains, these lives collide in a haunting tale of grief, ghosts, and the darkness that refuses to die.

A prize-winning novelist, journalist, and teacher, Dale Neal is author of Kings of Coweetsee; The Woman with the Stone Knife; Appalachian Book of the Dead, shortlisted for the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award; Cow Across America, Novello Literary Award winner; and The Half-Life of Home. His essays and reviews have appeared in Our State, North Carolina Literary Review, Appalachian Journal and elsewhere. He earned an MFA in creative writing at Warren Wilson College. He lives in Asheville.