To the Bones

To the Bones began when I made the comment that, back when I lived in West Virginia, if I was going to kill someone, then I'd toss him down a mine crack. My friend challenged me to do just that —so Darrick MacBrehon, a government auditor, wakes up in a pit full of human bones after getting off the highway at Redbird, WV. He finds his way to a sweepstakes parlor operated by Lourana Taylor, a grieving mother who's been searching for her missing daughter. With a snowstorm bearing down on a Thanksgiving weekend, the pair find themselves making common cause against the local coal barons, the Kavanaghs, whom Lourana believes are behind pretty much everything that goes wrong there. Darrick has also developed a lethal defense mechanism, its source unknown. They gain and lose allies, make discoveries, and confront the Kavanaghs. There's a zombie panic, a New York psychic, and a terrible human tragedy before the final showdown.

the very definition of a literary page-turner." Katherine Scott Crawford in The Appalachian Review

"Nieman pairs sharp, intellectual prose with masterful plotting, and the end result is rip-roaring story

From the Back Cover

Darrick MacBrehon, a government auditor, wakes among the dead. Bloodied and disoriented from a gaping head wound, the man who staggers out of the mine crack in Redbird, West Virginia, is much more powerful—and dangerous—than the one thrown in. An orphan with an unknown past, he must now figure out how to have a future.Hard-as-nails Lourana Taylor works as a sweepstakes operator and spends her time searching for any clues that might lead to Dreama, her missing daughter. Could this stranger’s tale of a pit of bones be connected? With help from disgraced deputy Marco DeLucca and Zadie Person, a local journalist  investigating an acid mine spill, Darrick and Lourana push against everyone who tries to block the truth. Along the way, the bonds of love and friendship are tested, and bodies pile up on both sides.In a town where the river flows orange and the founding—and controlling—family is rumored to “strip a man to the bones,” the conspiracy that bleeds Redbird runs as deep as the coal veins that feed it.

About the Author

A former journalist and farmer in West Virginia, Valerie Nieman is the author of three novels, as well as collections of poetry and short fiction. She has held NEA and state creative writing fellowships. A graduate of West Virginia University, she received an MFA from Queens University of Charlotte. She is now a professor of English at North Carolina A&T State University.

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