Wide Open

When Sergeant Hallie Michaels comes back to South Dakota from Afghanistan on ten days' compassionate leave, her sister Dell's ghost is waiting at the airport to greet her.The sheriff says that Dell's death was suicide, but Hallie doesn't believe it. Something happened or Dell's ghost wouldn't still be hanging around. Friends and family, mourning Dell's loss, think Hallie's letting her grief interfere with her judgment.  The one person who seems willing to listen is the deputy sheriff, Boyd Davies, who shows up everywhere and helps when he doesn't have to.  As Hallie asks more questions, she attracts new ghosts, women who disappeared without a trace.  Soon, someone's trying to beat her up, burn down her father's ranch, and stop her investigation.Hallie's going to need Boyd, her friends, and all the ghosts she can find to defeat an enemy who has an unimaginable ancient power at his command.

full of sound and fury, ghosts and fire. A tough, tenacious heroine who relies on guts and brains rather than awesome cosmic superpowers. I loved it. Deborah Coates is a storyteller in the best sense of the word."

"Wide Open is a good read

exactly the person you’d pick to investigate your own murder.”

“Twin Peaks meets Dean Koontz... Deborah Coates offers a pitch-perfect sense of place, an uncanny knack for dialogue, and a complex heroine who’s mad, sad, tenacious, and tough

A. M. Dellamonica, award-winning author of Indigo Springs

"Wide Open lures us into the dangerous world of Sergeant Hallie Michaels and her alarmingly real ghosts.... Vivid, suspenseful, and filled with intensely convincing characters, this novel is an unforgettable homecoming.”

About the Author

DEBORAH COATES lives in Ames, Iowa and works for Iowa State University. Her short fiction has appeared in Asimov's and Strange Horizons, as well as Year's Best Fantasy 6, Best Paranormal Romance, and Best American Fantasy.

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