Another Southern Gothic nominee, This Dark Road To Mercy , the second novel by Wiley Cash, author of A Land More Kind Than Home.  This is a wonderful novel about two little girls who are rescued from foster care by their deadbeat dad after he steals a  LOAD of money from the kind of man you don't steal from (local Dixie Mafia boss). The point of view alternates between their guardian ad litem, an ex-cop named Will Brady, and the oldest (age 12) girl (Easter). A psychotic hit man and the FBI are also involved. All packed into 230 pages! Best bet of the year.

      I did a Staff Pick for MPL for this one, so I'll repeat it here: Tawni O'Dell 's  One  Of  Us, out last August.  Family history, family mysteries, and unsolved crimes in Pennsylvania coal country. Very good, as all of hers are.

    On the other end of the spectrum (from 4th of July Creek), a slick little thriller from Shane Kuhn (also a first-time novelist) titled The Intern's Handbook. Human Resources, Inc., is a murder-for-hire organization that sends its employees (hitmen) into the companies where their targets work as interns, on the premise noone is lower on the totem pole and therefore less noticeable than an intern. The fast pace and dry sense of humor (it's first-person), keep it light and enjoyable.  Another review said "Picture Dexter in 'The Office'".

    More non-fiction: Mother of God : An Extraordinary Journey into the Uncharted Tributaries of the Western Amazon by Paul Rosalie.  Just to open up your world view a little if for no other reason. The native Amazonian people, and the animals!

   Late last spring (sorry) I read a modern-day rural poverty story, Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson. This one is so good I can hardly believe it's a debut novel. The main character, Pete Snow, is a social worker dealing with families in Tenmile Montana - the starting incident concerns Benjamin Pearl, the malnourished, nearly-feral son of a local survivalist. At the same time his own family has imploded, addict wife divorced and daughter dissappeared. At one point he says to her "My job is taking kids away from people like us". Anyway it's well worth reading. I can hardly wait for more from this author.