The Keepers of Truth

Bill, a college dropout and the last heir of a family of manufacturers, fills The Daily Truth, a small-town paper whose news rarely goes beyond baking contests, with long pieces lamenting the end of American industry. The torpid summer breaks when local tough Ronny Lawton says his father has disappeared. A severed finger turns up and the town is sure the son killed him, yet there is no proof, and Ronny becomes a local celebrity. Bill grows obsessed with the Lawtons, starts an affair with Ronny's estranged wife, comes upon a rotting head and is soon under suspicion himself, while memories of his own father's suicide press in on him. Around the mystery, derelict factories, trailers and fast food stand for a national dream gone sour.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Crime, Satire (assigned by AI)

Set in

United States, 1980s

First published

2000

Author's age

36 when first published

ISBN

9781861591791 (Phoenix, United Kingdom)

9780753811023 (Phoenix, United Kingdom)

9780743223614 (Simon & Schuster, United States)

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Wikidata