The World Beneath

One cold November morning in Perser Oklahoma Sheriff Jerry Martin receives a disturbing call: a local fifteen-year-old has disappeared. The boy J.T. who is half Mexican half Chickasaw and has been raised by his grandmother is known for starting trouble. Sheriff Martin sets out on a fevered search determined to find J.T. even as the hunt reopens wounds from a traumatic event in his past. In a seemingly parallel but ultimately intersecting story Hickson Crider a veteran of the first Iraq war discovers a mysterious crevice perfectly round and seemingly bottomless in his backyard. The hole becomes Hicksons obsessionand an ominous clue in Sheriff Martins investigation.Aaron Gwyns perceptive quietly beautiful prose is reminiscent of Flannery OConnor (Kirkus Reviews) engaging us in a tale that is both savage and burning with heart about the after effects of war violence faith and random acts of devotion.