A Violent Gospel
A VIOLENT GOSPEL
Mark Westmoreland
PRAISE FOR A VIOLENT GOSPEL
“Let me be the first to sing A Violent Gospel’s praises. Mark Westmoreland’s debut is the literary equivalent of The Dukes of Hazzard driving onto the set of Elmore Leonard’s Justified. This book is filled with folks who know right from wrong but don’t like boring.”—David Tromblay, author of As You Were and Sangre Road
“Mark Westmoreland’s A Violent Gospel is a down-n-dirty, rough-n-tumble romp where no punches are pulled, and Old Testament justice is the law of the land.”—Steph Post, author of Lightwood and Miraculum
“In A Violent Gospel Mark Westmoreland stakes his claim as a powerful voice in the Neo-Southern Gothic Movement. Equal parts Flannery O’Connor, Harry Crews with a smidge of Gator era Burt Reynolds, A Violent Gospel is a visceral slice of existential cornbread.”—S.A. Cosby, author of Razorblade Tears and Blacktop Wasteland
“This book is rural crime fiction at its best. A bullet read that gets right down to the dark and dirty point. Westmoreland’s ability to play in the gray area between darkness and light is spot on word candy that is perfectly suited to the title of A Violent Gospel. Look out for this guy. He’s going to listed with Daniel Woodrell and Tom Franklin in no time.”—Brian Panowich, author of Hard Cash Valley and Bull Mountain
“A Violent Gospel is one rollicking old testament ass whoopin’ of a debut. Westmoreland is an exciting new voice in southern noir, delivering 100 Proof Hellbilly Pulp and I can’t wait for more.”—Peter Farris, author of Last Call for the Living and Clay Eaters
Copyright © 2021 by Mark Westmoreland
All rights reserved. No part of the book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
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The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
Cover design by Bad Fido
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
A Violent Gospel
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Preview from Blood Like Rain by Albert Tucher
Preview from Northern eX by Colin Campbell
Preview from Stalker Stalked by Lee Matthew Goldberg
For Dawn,
You make all the words worth it.
And from the days of John the Baptist until now
the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence,