Powerful Characterization -- Molly and Stupe
would seem to be two of life's losers. She's been
forced into a life of child prostitution and
unknowingly may be headed for a fatal role in a
snuff film. He pumps gas in the convenience store
owned by his thoroughly unlikable father in rural
West Virginia, a store that fronts for something
much more sinister. But when plucky Molly and
good-natured Stupe join forces, they end up doing
more than many of the straight-arrow law
enforcement investigators in getting to the bottom
of the nasty business and trying to put things
right. What's more, they both grow through their
various challenges into a team the reader will
remember long after closing the
book.
~ The Roanoke Times
Carter Elliott brings to life the dialect and
the folkways of one West Virginia community in this
debut crime novel that snakes up snow-covered Sad
Mother Mountain and skids down Dumb John's Mountain
with page-turning prose skating by faster than a
car hitting ice on a hairpin curve. The former CIA
officer/Special Agent with a graduate degree in
clinical psychology puts his background to good use
in a poignant, richly layered story that resonates
both in the heart and mind.
~
Jody Ewing, The Sioux City
Weekender
Click Here to read Jody's
interview with Carter
A TwinPeaks-like odyssey--country noir. Elliott
makes the most of this clash of worlds in the early
going, and the novel soars whenever foulmouthed
Molly takes center stage.
~ Booklist
What others are saying about
Riding a Blue Horse
~
The hell-on-wheels Molly is loaded with
character, as is her champion Shug's gentle,
simple-minded son, Stupe.
~ The New York Times Book Review
Very, very impressive characterizations make
this debut effort stand out. No less impressive is
the great sense of locale. The remote Appalachian
backwoods literally comes alive. . . . this is a
remarkable achievement and well worth the reader's
time.
~ Deadly Pleasures:
A Mystery Fan Magazine (Larry
Gandle)