Rivière Rouge

_Everything that shaped him happened near that river...

Now its banks are filled with lies and greed, shame, and murder..._

[ John Hart](https://www.goodreads.com:443/search/search?q=%20John%20Hart

"John Hart")'s debut, [ The King of

Lies](https://www.goodreads.com:443/search/search?q=%20The%20King%20of%20Lies

"The King of Lies"), was compelling and lyrical, with Janet Maslin of The New

York Times declaring, "There hasn't been a thriller as showily literate since

[ Scott Turow](https://www.goodreads.com:443/search/search?q=%20Scott%20Turow

"Scott Turow") came along." Now, in Down River, Hart makes a scorching return

to Rowan County, where he drives his characters to the edge, explores the dark

side of human nature, and questions the fundamental power of forgiveness.

Adam Chase has a violent streak, and not without reason. As a boy, he saw

things that no child should see, suffered wounds that cut to the core and

scarred thin. The trauma left him passionate and misunderstood---a fighter.

After being narrowly acquitted of a murder charge, Adam is hounded out of the

only home he's ever known, exiled for a sin he did not commit. For five long

years he disappears, fades into the faceless gray of New York City. Now he's

back and nobody knows why, not his family or the cops, not the enemies he left

behind.

But Adam has his reasons.

Within hours of his return, he is beaten and accosted, confronted by his

family and the women he still holds dear. No one knows what to make of Adam's

return, but when bodies start turning up, the small town rises against him and

Adam again finds himself embroiled in the fight of his life, not just to prove

his own innocence, but to reclaim the only life he's ever wanted.

Bestselling author [ John

Hart](https://www.goodreads.com:443/search/search?q=%20John%20Hart "John

Hart") holds nothing back as he strips his characters bare. Secrets explode,

emotions tear, and more than one person crosses the brink into deadly behavior

as he examines the lengths to which people will go for money, family, and

revenge.

A powerful, heart-pounding thriller, Down River will haunt your thoughts long

after the last page is turned.