“In Cole’s first novel, a father-daughter hunting trip turns into a violent game of cat and mouse in the manner of Deliverance. Jake Crosby, an avid turkey hunter, and his tomboy daughter, Katy, must fight for their lives in the swampy backwoods of Alabama when a revenge-crazed gang of ruffians hunt Jake down for killing one of their own in self-defense. Meanwhile, high-school sweethearts Elizabeth and Tanner, oblivious to the manhunt, unwittingly become involved when the gang stumbles upon them stargazing in the same backwoods area. The lives of these innocent strangers converge while a bumbling police force makes inept attempts to piece together the various crime scenes and slowly determines the chain of events. Cole is a strong writer, whose fast-paced narrative moves with ease between characters and scenes. The novel is largely plot-driven, but as in Wayne Johnson’s The Devil You Know (2004),a generational focus may give it crossover appeal to thriller and general-fiction readers.” — Heather Paulson