'The end of this story is pretty well known, since people wound up getting killed and the trials were in the news...'
The Coen Brothers meets Patrick deWitt in this glorious novel from award-winning author Tyler Keevil: a high-stakes adventure of love, loss and morality, introducing two unlikely outlaws…
Tim Harding has spent the fishing season in Canada working as a deckhand, making an honest living. When his hot-headed younger brother tracks him down at the shipyards in Vancouver, Tim senses trouble. Jake is a drifter, a dreamer, an ex-con, and now he needs help in repaying a debt to the notorious Delaney gang.
So begins an epic, unpredictable odyssey across land and sea as the brothers journey down to the Delaney’s ranch in the U.S., chased by customs officials, freak storms and the gnawing feeling that their luck is about to run out. But while they may be able to outrun the law, there’s no escaping the ghosts of their tragic family past and neither is prepared for who and what awaits at the other end.
The novel is available from publisher Borough Press or from independent bookstores (ISBN 978-0008228880). It is published in Italian as Ponch e Lefty by Jimenez.
Quick-witted and beautifully observed, No Good Brother is an exquisite portrait of brotherly love and loyalty, examining the loss of innocence and the ties that bind us.
No Good Brother was published in Canada and the UK on February 22, 2018 by The Borough Press, an imprint of HarperCollins. It is available to order direct from the publisher's website, via Amazon and Waterstones, and through all major chain and independent bookstores.
Quotes & Reviews
“No Good Brother is not just a great, gripping story, not just an increasingly hilarious yet totally credible thriller, but a ferociously well written one. His prose is graceful and subtle, there are moments of real, unforced poetry, but with that, he creates characters that live and breathe. Every moment, however crazy things get (and they get pretty crazy) rings true.’”
“A tender and at turns thrilling novel about grief and the way it seeps unshakably into the lives of the living. Keevil’s storytelling is both elegant and meaty and his prose stunning as per; I could almost taste the bitter sea air of Vancouver’s North Shore.”
“Quite a story. Keevil’s prose proceeds with the laconic madness of a patient horse, and the same ability to buck and kick.”
“No Good Brother is a paean to brotherly loyalty and a meditation on the things we can change and the things we must learn to love regardless. It is also the funniest and most exciting book I’ve read in years. A grand adventure in the spirit of Mark Twain, it is reckless and wild and beautiful, like something dreamed up by Cormac McCarthy and Hunter S Thompson on a drunken camping trip. It’s as big and as perfect as the prairie sky.”
“This is a picaresque tale of male relationships, told in Keevil’s trademark muscular prose. Tim’s narrative voice is unwaveringly wry and colloquial, recounting laugh-out-loud funny moments with the same self-deprecating pragmatism as the truly tragic ones. ”
“A humorous and surprisingly touching story...its greatest strength is the author’s strongly developed, down-to-earth characters. ”
“Fans of the late Elmore Leonard’s quirky thrillers will note that Keevil shares that master’s entertaining talent for chronicling the misfortunes of low-lifers. ”
“It’s certainly as un-put-downable...with plenty of action underpinned by contemplation of serious things such as grief, loyalty and the contradictions we harbour in our multiple selves.”
“No Good Brother highlights his talents for drawing affecting, rounded characters and conjuring engagingly screwball storylines...Their hairbrained schemes are variously amateurish, desperate and inspired; their conversational dialogue crackles with the knowing bluntness of so many sibling relationships. ”
“Tyler Keevil writes about commitment, family and doing what you can for each other...No Good Brother is suspenseful—but it’s also funny. The final chapters of the novel are a pulse-thumping ride into the unknown, showing that it is an adventure for our times—and one that consistently forces readers to cheer for the Harding brothers right up until the end.”