The Year of the Storm

In this haunting, suspenseful debut novel, John Mantooth takes readers to a town in rural Alabama where secrets are buried deep, reality is relative, and salvation requires a desperate act of faith. When Danny was fourteen, his mother and sister disappeared during a violent storm. The police were baffled. There were no clues, and most people figured they were dead.  Only Danny still holds out hope that they’ll return. Months later, a disheveled Vietnam vet named Walter Pike shows up at Danny’s front door, claiming to know their whereabouts. The story he tells is so incredible that Danny knows he shouldn’t believe him. Others warn him about Walter Pike’s dark past, his shameful flight from town years ago, and the suspicious timing of his return. But he’s Danny’s last hope, and Danny needs to believe…

From Booklist

It’s been months since Danny’s mother and sister mysteriously disappeared into the woods. The anxious stasis of Danny’s life is interrupted by filthy, chain-smoking, oxygen tank–toting Walter Pike, who appears on the doorstep saying he might know what happened to them. In an alternate story line narrated by Pike, we learn a tale from his youth, when the teenage Walter befriended an outcast, Seth, who escaped bullies by taking refuge in an underground storm shelter in the forest. It was via this shelter that Seth learned to slip—to somehow travel to a strange swamp landscape where two girls missing from town seemed to continue to exist. Walter thinks Danny’s mother and sister may be in that same nether-swamp, but the time to find them is growing short. Yes, it takes a bit of effort to keep the similar story lines straight, but Mantooth’s masterful foreshadowing creates a need to know even when the stakes are lessened by the fantasy element. A tough and violent book, but also one with prose that aches with loss. --Daniel Kraus

John Rector, Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author of Already Gone, The Grove, and The Cold Kiss

“Powerful, dark, and heartfelt. The Year of the Storm is a wonderful coming of age novel by a very talented new writer. An astounding debut.”

Frank Bill, author of Crimes in Southern Indiana and Donnybrook

“A dark and mysterious southern-gothic story with hints of Tom Franklin’s Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter and Stephen King’s novella The Body, John Mantooth’s voice is masculine and powerful, flavoring the pages with the Alabama wilderness, the turmoil of family and how all of these elements work to shape and nurture teenage boys into men.”

fearnet.com

"As strong a debut novel as any I've read in a long time. It's frightening and sad, vicious and unforgiving, quiet and contemplative. It's a helluva start to what's surely going to be a career worth watching."

litreactor.com

"The Year of the Storm by John Mantooth is the very definition of "attention grabber." It is a flat out page turner. It is a rare thriller which combines elements of rural noir, supernatural horror, and is an intense dual coming of age story that is as spellbinding as anything from horror masters such as Stephen King and Laird Barron."

Booklist Praise for Shoebox Trainwreck

“Masterful foreshadowing… A tough and violent book, but also one with prose that aches with loss.”

About the Author

John Mantooth is an award-winning author, middle school teacher, former school bus driver, and basketball junkie. His first collection of stories, Shoebox Train Wreck, was released in 2012. He lives in Alabama with his wife and children. This is his first novel.

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