About the book, The Bones of Amoret
- Genre: Mystery /Suspense
- Publisher: Stitched Smile Publications
- Date of Publication: April 1, 2022
- Number of Pages: 323 pages
- Scroll down for Giveaway!
In this enigmatic follow up to his critically acclaimed debut novel The Cuts that Cure, Arthur Herbert returns to the Texas-Mexico border with this saga of a small town’s bloody loss of innocence.
Amoret,Texas, 1982. Life along the border is harsh, but in a world where cultures work together to carve a living from the desert landscape, Blaine Beckett lives a life of isolation. A transplanted Boston intellectual, for twenty years locals have viewed him as a snob, a misanthrope, an outsider. He seems content to stand apart until one night when he vanishes into thin air amid signs of foul play.
Noah Grady, the town doctor, is a charming and popular good ol’ boy. He’s also a keeper of secrets, both the town’s and his own. He watches from afar as the mystery of Blaine’s disappearance unravels and rumors fly. Were the incipient cartels responsible? Was it a local with a grudge? Or did Blaine himself orchestrate his own disappearance? Then the unthinkable happens, and Noah begins to realize he’s considered a suspect.
Paced like a lit fuse and full of dizzying plot twists, The Bones of Amoret is a riveting whodunit that will keep you guessing all the way to its shocking conclusion.
Buy, read, and discuss this book:
About the author, Arthur Herbert
Arthur Herbert was born and raised in small town Texas. He worked on offshore oil rigs, as a bartender, a landscaper at a trailer park, and as a social worker before going to medical school. For the last eighteen years, he’s worked as a trauma and burn surgeon, operating on all ages of injured patients. He continues to run a thriving practice.
He’s won multiple awards for his scientific writing, and his first novel, The Cuts that Cure, spent ten days as an Amazon #1 Best Seller. His second novel, The Bones of Amoret, will be released on April 1, 2022 through Stitched Smile Publishers. Arthur currently lives in New Orleans, with his wife Amy and their dogs.
Arthur loves hearing from readers, so don’t hesitate to email him at arthur@arthurherbertwriter.com.
Connect with Arthur:
WEBSITE | FACEBOOK | TWITTER | AMAZON | GOODREADS | BOOKBUB
My Thoughts
I have not read Arthur Herbert’s first novel, and I’m really sorry about that, because this author’s voice caught me from the first page. (I’ve since purchased a the Kindle version.) The Bones of Amoret, which is not a sequel, but a second, stand-alone story, is the kind of thriller that I love to read. It’s gritty and earthy, and there are dangerous acts of questionable legality, but at it’s heart this is a novel about love – between friends, between parents and children, between brothers-by-choice – and it’s also about family and about loss. As well, it’s a pages-long proof that doing what is right is not always easy, and that even good people sometimes do terrible things.
Told from the POV of country (well, US border) doctor, Noah Grady, this book opens with dialogue and description that immediately put the reader in the Southwest Texas landscape. You can feel the heat from the road, and taste the dust in the air, and while the conversation isn’t one most of us would ever be party to – first, the number of people being helped across the border, and then the discovery of another man, seriously dehydrated and carrying quite a lot of cocaine – the cadences of the speakers, casual language about far-from-casual events – are familiar.
As the novel progresses the main plot unfolds – Blaine Beckett has disappeared. It’s difficult to feel sympathy for him, as he’s pretty universally disliked by the community, but his disappearance leads to other, darker events, that do cause anger, tears, frustration, and eventually, satisfaction. It’s this ability to elicit deeper emotional responses from the reader that is author Herbert’s greatest skill, because he does it with plain prose that is reminiscent of Hemingway seasoned with a dash of Twain.
I also appreciated the author’s commitment to period authenticity. The Bones of Amoret takes place in 1982, when AIDS was still called GRID, and sonogram machines fill half a room. Herbert never hits us over the head with his “vintage” setting, but he also ensures that there are no obvious anachronisms pulling us out of the novel.
Bottom line: If you like stories that are both compelling and compassionate, while also being incredibly relevant, The Bones of Amoret is a worthy choice.
Goes well with: chicken mole, dirty rice, and negra Modelo.
Giveaway
THREE WINNERS!
Autographed Copies of The Bones of Amoret
(US Only. Ends midnight, CDT, 4/15/2022.)
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