“A timeless story of good and evil…The luminous prose and depth of emotion Michael Farris Smith conjures in this beguiling book make Blackwood one of the more literary entries in the [Southern noir] canon…There is an inclination to read the book quickly, but the beauty of the language demands you slow down to savor it.”
—Suzanne Van Atten, Atlanta Journal-Constitution
(Best Books of the Year)
“Startling, brutal, and eerie…Blackwood places Smith firmly among the masters of Southern gothic literature.”
—G. Robert Frazier, BookPage
“Unsettling, heartbreaking, and frequently astonishing, this Southern gothic never runs out of revelations…Such is the power of Smith’s pitch-black poetic vision that the deeper you get into the book the more entwined you are by its creeping effects…A gleaming, dark masterpiece by one of Southern fiction’s leading voices.”
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Some of the most exciting and unique stories in contemporary fiction are growing out of the interstitial space between crime and horror, and Blackwood is one of the finest examples. Overrun by kudzu and smelling of wet earth, this haunting novel of ghosts, broken people, and lost childhood is packed with nightmarish imagery, great writing, and a noir atmosphere that puts the darkest realities of small-town America on full display.”
—Gabino Iglesias, National Public Radio
“Smith’s eye lingers on those elements of the Southern experience that most people look right past…In the South of Smith’s fiction, no portion of our landscape is too humble or hardscrabble to warrant study.”
—Matthew Guinn, Mississippi Clarion-Ledger
“As in the best noir, a soul-strangling inevitability hangs over Red Bluff, yet somehow Smith gives his doomed characters a dignity in the face of forces well beyond their control.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Blackwood is a solid page-turner, written in smooth prose.”
—Kendal Weaver, Associated Press
“Masterfully haunting…The writing is stunning and steady, but short chapters create an almost frantic apprehension as Colburn’s noble search for himself is marred by wickedness, past and present.”
—Lauren O’Brien, Shelf Awareness
“In Smith’s haunting, engrossing latest, strangers awaken an evil force lurking in a small Southern town…Smith’s meditation on the darkness of the human heart offers a moving update to the Southern gothic tradition.”
—Publishers Weekly