Every Silent Thing
About this ebook
“An emotional gut punch (or several). . . . A technical triumph.” —IndieReader 5-Star Review
A mother and son each harbor a plot to save the other—unaware their colliding plans threaten to unearth a secret that will destroy them both.
At thirteen, Levi Tallon is already running out of options. Trapped between a father’s escalating violence and a mother who keeps waiting for God to save them, he lives in constant fear of the next drunken rage. Then he meets Doley—a juvie-scarred loner and prime suspect in a woman’s disappearance. What starts as an unlikely friendship hardens into a dangerous alliance sealed in blood: together they’ll kill Levi’s father and free his mother for good.
But Levi has misjudged the woman who raised him. Maggie struck her own pact long ago, and the secret she’s been hiding within her marriage will twist his plan inside out. As her truth unravels, so does Levi’s faith—sending him on a search for answers that will tear apart everything he thought he knew about his family, his new friend, and himself.
Dark, intimate, and emotionally charged, Every Silent Thing is a searing domestic drama with the pulse and twists of a thriller—but it’s also a heartrending coming-of-age story of unbendable devotion, stolen innocence, and the choices that leave no clean way back. With its intricate plot and sharply drawn characters, Every Silent Thing establishes M.R. Madonna as a powerful new voice in psychological suspense.
For readers of Gillian Flynn, Liz Moore, Ashley Audrain, and Chris Whitaker.
“[Madonna’s] snappish observations about human nature . . . [are] similar to the way that hardboiled masters like Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett dished out larger truths about their characters, including the skewed morality that propels them down unsavory paths once they run out of options. . . . It takes a skilled writer to paint such a picture successfully yet sensitively . . . without ever bogging things down in the picture-postcard sentimentality that his hero so despises.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Claustrophobic scenes . . . twist into interweaving tensions ripe to burst. . . . The descent to a final confrontation is seamless in its wrenching suspense. . . . Not for the faint of heart, this novel’s heart-racing ride pushes morality and plot to their limits.” —US Review of Books
“An intricate novel about family secrets. . . . [Its] characterizations are multifaceted and complex. . . . Sensory descriptions abound. . . . And in the book’s satisfying ending, multiple gruesome new realities are revealed.” —Foreword Reviews
“An emotional gut punch (or several). . . . A technical triumph. . . . This raw and gritty plot feels like it’s wrapped in silk. . . . Every Silent Thing demands to be read.” —IndieReader 5-Star Review
About the author
M.R. MADONNA studied journalism at NYU and began his career in the editorial department of New York magazine. He later worked on Wall Street and in corporate consulting. Born and raised in Queens, New York, he now lives with his partner on a farm in Connecticut. Every Silent Thing is his debut novel.
Visit him at mrmadonna.com.
