A River Closely Watched

Jon Boilard

Mar 2013 · MP Publishing

About this ebook

Bobby DuBois comes from a long line of misfits. Basically a good kid, he can't shake an inherited propensity for violence and drug abuse. When his father gets arrested it appears likely that Bobby, too, is headed into the system. Then Uncle Thaddeus rescues him and they take to the backwoods, managing to stay one step ahead of the law until hurricane rains swell the Swift River, ravaging Franklin County and flushing Bobby and Thaddeus out of the hills. 

Still on the run, Thaddeus teaches Bobby how to drink, fight and fornicate how to be a right DuBois. Perhaps the most important lesson Bobby learns, however, is that he doesn t want to grow up to be like his father or his uncle. The bristling action culminates with a disturbing custody battle waged in the shadows of Stillwater Bridge. The DuBois clan is in trouble and has been for generations, and at its core this beautiful and violent first novel is about Bobby s struggle to save his own soul.

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About the author

About the Author: Jon Boilard was born and raised in Western New England. He has been living and writing in San Francisco since 1986. His short stories have been published in literary journals in the U.S., Canada, Europe and Asia. Two have been nominated for Pushcart Prizes, one of Jon’s stories receiving Special Mention in the 2011 edition of the Pushcart Best of the Small Presses series. Another story won the Sean O'Faolain Award and several others have earned individual small press honors. Since 2003, Jon has been invited annually to read his latest work and to teach a writing workshop at the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Festival in Cork, Ireland. A River Closely Watched is Jon’s first novel.