Darkness the Color of Snow

Gritty and tense, Cobb’s (Crazy Heart) new novel exposes small-town hypocrisy, petty rivalries, jealousy, and media-fueled hysteria as a young rookie police officer is unfairly blamed for a hit-and-run fatality. When patrolman Ronald Forbert tries to arrest Matt Laferiere for drunk driving, the confrontation turns violent and deadly, and Ronald must defend his actions in a town where everyone knows there was bad blood between him and Matt. Police Chief Gordy Hawkins and his officers back up Ronald’s story, and so do three witnesses, but as public pressure to blame someone mounts, one coerced witness changes his version, with disastrous results. Lydell is a (fictional) rural farm and mill town in an unspecified state, dying a slow economic death, and the poisonous gossip feeds the local TV and print media, eventually becoming so frenzied that it interferes with the investigation and search for the hit-and-run driver. Nobody wins in this tale, but that never detracts from its undeniable power. (Sept.)