Edgar-finalist Guthrie (Savage Night
) explores the tenuous division between truth and desperate fiction in the mind of a rookie prison guard in this gritty thriller. In 1992, having recently relocated to Edinburgh, Scotland, with his wife, Lorna, and young daughter, Caitlin, Nick Glass manages to form an uneasy friendship with Mafia, a nearly blind inmate, whose crime was so horrific that no one will talk about it, at a prison for violent offenders nicknamed “the Hilton.” With abuse coming from his fellow officers and prisoners alike, Glass is soon coerced into a dangerous alliance with another inmate, Caesar, who threatens Glass's family unless he agrees to smuggle in heroin. So begins Glass's bloody descent into hell, as he tries to protect Lorna, Caitlin and himself from Caesar's henchman and a danger that might lurk much closer to home. Guthrie's visceral style is a perfect match for the grim setting. Fans who prefer their crime fiction ultra hard-boiled will be rewarded. (Nov.)
