The Mark of Cain

In a world that has changed much during the six years he's been in prison, Ronnie Harrison struggles to piece together a new life from the wreckage of his old one. As a condition of his early parole, Ronnie must stay at a halfway-house for ex-cons called Camp Eden, where things are not exactly what they seem. As Ronnie realizes that he may still be imprisoned, a man from his past, Travis Campbell, shows up to bring Ronnie back into the world that led him to prison the first time. A rough world of moonshine, marijuana, and meth, which also happens to be the Harrison family's business. Eventually, Ronnie's struggle for a new life brings everything to a head in a violent revealing conclusion. Tyler Keith's debut novel is delivered in a deft hand, detailing the landscape of his native Florida panhandle as intimately as his complex characters.

About the Author :
Tyler Keith was born and raised in the Panhandle of Florida. He moved to Mississippi at eighteen and received a degree in English Literature at University of Mississippi where he studied writing under Barry Hannah. He spent the next twenty years writing songs and playing in the bands the Neckbones, Tyler Keith and the Preacher's Kids, Tyler Keith and the Apostles, and Teardrop City, making 14 albums and touring in the U.S. and Europe. In 2013 he wrote and performed in a musical play called "the Outlaw Biker." He returned to the University of Mississippi and received a master's degree in Southern Studies, and a MFA in Documentary Expression. This is his first novel.

Review :
"Tyler Keith is a writer of amazing talent with echoes of Jim Thompson and Harry Crews in this wildly dark, funny trip to the Florida panhandle. This book bleeds with authenticity." - Ace Atkins, NYT Bestselling author of The Shameless "Tyler Keith writes with the rhythm and thrum of a gospel choir. The Mark of Cain lives on the rim of salvation, where hope is dangled like some heavenly gift above the desolate, damaged world below. It's a hot, hard, hardscrabble life, and The Mark of Cain stares into the fire with eyes wide open." - Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick and Blackwood "Singer/songwriter Tyler Keith has written The Mark of Cain in the same way he writes and performs his music: it's spare, gritty, and packs a powerful punch. He brings his intimate knowledge of sketchy people and skeezy places in a little-known part of Florida to create this dark, suspenseful story that I'm calling Panhandle Noir. Creepy, and fun!" - Lisa Howorth, author of Flying Shoes and Summerlings, and co-owner of Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi "I have to tell you that I love Tyler Keith. He's one of the few touring musicians that came through my town that always reminded me of what rock and roll was, sounded like, and should be. His debut novel Mark of Cain proves once again that he's the real deal: the preacher's kid rolling through town again." - Bram Riddlebarger, author of Golden Rod and Southeastern Nowhere "Tyler Keith's The Mark of Cain creates - almost imperceptibly - an atmosphere of realistic, creeping dread. The kind of dread you might feel when the neighbor you're positive beats his wife (though you've no proof), gives you a weird look when you pull into your driveway, inadvertently running over the edge of his hose as he waters his lawn. Keith traces how corrosive family ties can ignite a moment of weakness in the young, manifested in decent ex-con, Ronnie Harrison. A moment can turn into days and weeks of angry resentment, resulting in unavoidable, often misplaced accountability. The subtle menace of innocuous daily rituals of work, storefront religion and mysterious visits from sketchy outsiders can snowball into an avalanche threatening to bury you alive. Grudges nurtured for decades can taint bloodlines, and capital 'E' Evil can, indeed, run in families, passed down to new generations like a disease in the blood, a spiritual rot that metastasizes. When familial cancers of the soul take hold, they can infect an entire community, ravage and eat away, until the goal of "going straight" seems as fanciful an idea as being able to walk on water. Chilling." - Chris D., author of crime novels and short stories, singer/songwriter of the bands, The Flesh Eaters and Divine Horsemen