A community at risk, a family in turmoil, and a young boy becoming a man... A death on Loyalty Island leads a 14-year-old boy to be swept up in a storm of lies and deceit that makes him question his family - and pushes his own morality to its outermost limits. A thrilling American debut.

Dybek brings serious talent to bear... [The novel] finishes on a powerful note of moral murkiness... Evocative. New York Times Finely crafted ... a taut novel juggling the sometimes conflicting impulses to do the moral thing, and to protect those we love Los Angeles Times Dybek has a gift for the atmospheric. The New Yorker An engrossing and exacting moral thriller. -- Peter Ho Davies, Author Of The Welsh Girl A thrilling yarn, delivered as if by a scarred man by the consoling light of a fire. The Economist An authentic, atmospheric, coming-of-age story with a painful dilemma ... A terrific debut. -- C. J. Box [An] engrossing, often haunting thriller. Washington Independent Review of Books Dybek has created a superbly orchestrated and soulful drama of loyalty to family and an imperiled way of life and the fathomless forces that make a good man go bad. Booklist A book to watch. O: The Oprah Magazine Complex and suspenseful ... A genuine tragedy-powerful, mythic, unforgettable. -- Jaimy Gordon, Author Of Lord Of Misrule This is a book about transitions, and revelations, and the thin line between acting out of fear, and out of out of a sense of morality ... Dybek is a clean and stripped-down stylist, striking a delicate balance between ambiguity and life-changing clarity. Los Angeles Times

Nick Dybek is a graduate of the University of Michigan and the Iowa Writers' Workshop. He is the recipient of a Hopwood Award for Short Fiction, a Maytag Fellowship, a 2010 Michener-Copernicus Society of America Award, and a Granta New Voices selection. He lives in New York City.