Desert Places

DESERT
a novel of terror
PLACES

Blake Crouch

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS
ST. MARTIN’S MINOTAUR
NEW YORK

for my parents, Clay and Susan Crouch

THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.

DESERT PLACES. Copyright © 2004 by Blake Crouch. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N. Y. 10010.

Design by Kathryn Parise

Excerpts from “Desert Places” and “The Road Not Taken” from The Poetry of Robert Frost edited by Edward Connery Lathem. Copyright © 1916, 1969 by Henry Holt and Company, 1964 by Lesley Frost Ballantine, 1936, 1944 by Robert Frost. Reprinted by permission of Henry Holt and Company, LLC

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA

Crouch, Blake.
     Desert places : a novel of terror / Blake Crouch.—1st ed.
       p. cm.
     ISBN 0-312-28644-9
     1. Anonymous letters—Fiction. 2. Murder victims—Fiction. 3. Extortion—Fiction. 4. Novelists—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3603.R68D47 2004
813′.6—dc22

2003058549

First Edition: January 2004

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They cannot scare me with their empty spaces
Between stars—on stars where no human race is
I have it in me so much nearer home
To scare myself with my own desert places.

—ROBERT FROST, “DESERT PLACES”

Acknowledgments

I’VE been in good hands from the start. Linda Allen came along with her faith and encouragement and found a home for this story. She’s an extraordinary agent and a wonderful friend. Marcia Markland made my first editing experience everything I’d hoped it would be, with grace, humor, and unfailing insight. Bland Simpson, greatest creative writing professor of all time, was the first to believe. His brilliance as a writer is matched only by the generosity he extends to his students. Mary Alice Kier and Anna Cottle have been amazing, and I’m grateful to have them in my corner. And Diana Szu is a superhero. Sam Stout, M.D., Ted Vance, M.D., Michael James, and Marianne Fuierer shared their medical and pharmacological acumen in answering a handful of creepy questions. Paul Lowry was my encyclopedia on firearms. Myrna Woirhaye told me all about ranching in Pinedale, and Sandra L. Mitchell, Ph.D., graciously lent her expertise on the high desert flora and fauna of Sublette County, Wyoming. Ritchie Kendall, Ph.D., another UNC great, helped me out with a Shakespeare question. All mistakes, exaggerations, and impossibilities are mine. In this moment of completion, the love and sacrifice of my parents, Clay and Susan Crouch, overwhelm me. My brother, Jordan, lets me bounce titles off him even though he never likes any of them. He’s a great guy, and he’s going to be a writer. In the wife department, I’m blessed beyond belief. Rebecca, your friendship and love guide me through. And finally, a nod to Pamela Bumgarner, who stoked the coals at a delicate time.

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