Winter Counts

Description

Virgil Wounded Horse is the local enforcer on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota. When justice is denied by the American legal system or the tribal council, Virgil is hired to deliver his own punishment, the kind that’s hard to forget. But when heroin makes its way into the reservation and finds Virgil’s nephew, his vigilantism suddenly becomes personal. He enlists the help of his ex-girlfriend and sets out to learn where the drugs are coming from, and how to make them stop.

They follow a lead to Denver and find that drug cartels are rapidly expanding and forming new and terrifying alliances. And back on the reservation, a new tribal council initiative raises uncomfortable questions about money and power. As Virgil starts to link the pieces together, he must face his own demons and reclaim his Native identity. He realizes that being a Native American in the twenty-first century comes at an incredible cost.

Winter Counts is a tour-de-force of crime fiction, a bracingly honest look at a long-ignored part of American life, and a twisting, turning story that’s as deeply rendered as it is thrilling.

Winner, Spur Awards for Best Contemporary Novel and Best First Novel
Winner, Lefty Award for Best Debut Mystery Novel
Shortlisted, Best First Novel, Anthony Awards
Winner, Best First Novel, International Thriller Writers
Shortlisted, Dashiell Hammett Prize for Literary Excellence in Crime Writing, International Association of Crime Writers
Longlisted, VCU Cabell First Novel Award
Shortlisted, Barry Award for Best First Novel
Shortlisted, Reading the West Award
Shortlisted, Colorado Book Award (Thriller)