The More They Disappear

Near the start of Donaldson's well-written, grim first novel set in 1998, troubled teenager Mary Jane Finley kills Sheriff Lew Mattock with a rifle shot at a fund-raising barbecue in Marathon, Ky. That action roils the lives of many Marathoners, including deputy Harlan Dupee, who suddenly finds himself sheriff, and the members of Mattock's family: his widow, Mabel; his son, Lewis; and Lewis's wife, Sophie. Mary Jane's boyfriend, Mark Gaines, who's Sophie's brother, and their father, Dr. Trip Gaines, are also affected. While Dupee, a reluctant and unprepared sheriff, begins to uncover Mattock's secrets (bribes, affairs, gambling debts), drug user Mary Jane and drug dealer Mark make ineffectual attempts to flee the area. Others, including the manipulative Trip, convince reluctant Lewis to run for sheriff. Donaldson relentlessly tracks the devastating fallout from Mattock's death as it sweeps through Marathon. Agent: David Hale Smith, Inkwell Management Literary. (Aug.)