Paul Kruk sits in a hidden hunting blind with his father's Winchester rifle, deciding whether to kill a man. So begins The Hunters, the debut novel by prize-winning writer John Bolger, whose writing has been compared to that of Cormac McCarthy, Ernest Hemingway, Jim Harrison, Robert Stone, William Faulkner, and Don DeLillo.
With twists and turns, The Hunters explores the lives of the people touched by Paul's decision, from the men in his hunting party to his beautiful, brilliant sister, as this literary novel carefully and honestly depicts their choices, their actions, and the events that follow.
The Hunters portrays the idiosyncrasies of living in contemporary, rural America: serene, yet surreal; at once, beautiful and terrifying. It is the perfect book for readers of serious fiction who want to be entertained.
Praise for The Hunters
"I love this portrayal of the Northwoods, and the feeling of impending winter that pervades--the pressure cooker that is created by all these people trapped in such a cold bleak place. I like how information is withheld and delivered, and the way all the men in town are ruining their lives for the same woman. And I love most the twisted sense of justice, and just how twisted it gets in the end. A pinch of Hemingway and a pound of Cormac and all the rest original Bolger. This is a terrific book." Pam Houston, author of Contents May Have Shifted and Cowboys Are My Weakness.
"The men and women, the weapons, the deerhunt all make a huge and fragile danger in John Bolger's novel The Hunters. There is care and harm in this book and all written with felicitous and steady grace." Ron Carlson, author of The Signal and At the Jim Bridger.