Dane Bahr

The Dead Ringer

A Novel

This haunting Western story features a man brought back from the dead to exact revenge upon those who have wronged him, only to discover that the world is capable of good—for readers of Charles Portis, Elmore Leonard, and Annie Proulx

It’s winter 1935 in the mountains of Montana. It’s coming on dusk and an old prospector finds himself staring down the barrel of a large pistol wielded by a bleeding, bedraggled corpse of a man standing in a freshly undug grave. The man is one Benjamin Kilt, left bludgeoned and buried alive by his bank robbing partner/half-brother, Bosco, and it is the prospector’s ill timed (for him) timely (for Kilt) arrival on the scene that sets in motion this classic western tale of revenge. 

Kilt will be joined in his journey to find and reap revenge on Bosco by Bonnie, a thirteen-year-old Native American girl he somewhat reluctantly rescues from her abusive “keeper.” It is Bonnie’s recollections in old age of their brief time together that provide the reader entre into Kilt’s life: from the child left orphaned by a suicidal mother in a midwestern brothel to the philosophical bank robber found near death in the snowy mountain wilds of Montana. And it is through the filter of Bonnie’s gaze that we watch as the thornier threads and deeper themes of Dane Bahr’s masterful tale unwind, leading to a showdown between the brothers at the very ranch where they were raised.

The Dead Ringer explores the slippery distinction between justice and revenge, and the moral dilemma of the justification of questionable deeds done for honorable ends. It tackles these thorny themes with the moving prose, memorable characters, propulsive plot, and evocative sense of place that have defined Bahr’s genre-bending novels from the first.

Stag

A Novel

For fans of True Detective and Ozark—“Once you’re in the novel’s grip, it’s difficult to break free. A predator thriller with a difference, by a rising star in the field.” —Kirkus Reviews

To stop a serial killer terrorizing the hills of rural Washington state, retired sheriff Amos Fielding must re-enter a world he’s tried desperately to escape

It’s 1989 and Amos Fielding, onetime sheriff of Oscar, Iowa, is in his early seventies and grieving the recent loss of his wife, Sara. He packs up his few belongings and heads to a ranch in the far northwest corner of Washington State.The farther he can get from Oscar and his years there as sheriff, the better. Eager to escape painful memories, Fielding throws himself into the daily chores of a gentleman rancher. But there is evil afoot, as dark as any he faced in Oscar.

A cold-blooded, amoral psychopath has been stalking troubled young women in the surrounding woods, staging elaborate scenes of his crimes. The local chief of police has turned a blind eye to the cases. In fact, the only law enforcement agents genuinely concerned about justice are Dee Batey (a recovering alcoholic and former detective turned wildlife officer) and Philip Wilson (an overly ambitious and weirdly obsessed young Seattle FBI agent). It is Batey and Fielding's growing friendship that provides the lure that will pull Fielding back into the world he so desperately wants to escape as the three team up to hunt a killer and stop the predator from finding new prey.

The Houseboat

A Novel

This "impossible to forget" psychological thriller set in small town Iowa in the 1960s pits a detective struggling with his own demons against a mysterious outcast who may or may not be a serial killer (The Wall Street Journal)

James Sallis meets Mindhunter in this stylish and atmospheric noir, a midcentury heartland gothic with abounding twists and a feverish conclusion.

Local outcast Rigby Sellers lives in squalor on a dilapidated houseboat moored on the Mississippi River. With only stolen mannequins and the river to keep him company, Rigby begins to spiral from the bizarre to the threatening. As a year of drought gives way to a season of squalls, a girl is found trembling on the side of the road, claiming her boyfriend was murdered. The townspeople of nearby Oscar turn their suspicions toward Sellers.
 
Town sheriff Amos Fielding knows this crime is more than he can handle alone. He calls on the regional marshal up in Minnesota, and detective Edward Ness arrives in Oscar to help him investigate the homicide and defuse the growing unrest. Ness, suffering his own demons, is determined to put his past behind him and solve the case. But soon more bodies are found. As Ness and Fielding uncover disturbing facts about Sellers, and a great storm floods the Mississippi, threatening the town, Oscar is pushed to a breaking point even Ness may not be able to prevent.