The author of Winter's Bone delivers "a terrifying journey into the heart of darkness" with this suspenseful coming of age tale set in the Ozarks ( The New York Times Book Review). Shug Akins is a lonely, overweight thirteen-year-old boy. His mother, Glenda, is the one person who loves him—she calls him Sweet Mister and attempts to boost his confidence and give him hope for his future. Shuggie's purported father, Red, is a brutal man with a short fuse who mocks and despises the boy. Into this small-town Ozarks mix comes Jimmy Vin Pearce, with his shiny green T-bird and his smart city clothes. When he and Glenda begin a torrid affair, a series of violent events is inevitably set in motion. The outcome will break your heart. "This is Daniel Woodrell's third book set in the Ozarks and, like the other two, Give Us a Kiss and Tomato Red , it peels back the layers from lives already made bare by poverty and petty crime" —Otto Penzler, Penzler Pick, 2001