Two sisters. One murder. And a woman who will cross the line to uncover a killer's secrets.

Though they are sisters, Kit and Jenny could not be more different. Jenny is the dutiful daughter, following in her father's footsteps to become a Texas cop. Now working as a detective in the the Austin Police Department, Jenny is surprised when she sees a crime report with her sister's name on it.

Kit is the rebellious one, hiding from her past. She's trying to escape the fallout of her mother's death, and the gravitational pull of her father's expectations. Working as a stripper, Kit is living in a nighttime world of pseudonyms and lies. And she's begun to notice some new characters hanging around the club.

Suddenly, one sister's murder leads to the other's investigation of it, and brings her into a world more deadly than she can imagine. As the truth unfolds, one sister begins to question everything—even her own sanity—and the role she might have played in this lethal dance. The Devil's Backbone showcases Kim Wozencraft at her best: a novelist whose power to shock and compel you is unsurpassed.

   

Published by: St. Martin's Press

   

   

   

"Kim Wozencraft might just be the noir fiction lover's dream: She writes characters so authentic that the reader swears he or she knows them in real life; her prose is spare and powerful with nary a wasted word."

— The Baltimore Sun

   

"Wozencraft skillfully blends philosophy and action, humor and terror."

— The Blue Stone Press

   

"Wozencraft's brilliant third psychological thriller...eloquent prose that's unflinchingly honest."

— Publisher's Weekly (starred review)

   

"A deftly plotted, briskly paced psychological thriller: solid storytelling in the dependable Wozencraft manner."

— Kirkus

   

"Wozencraft paints an alternately witty and harrowing picture of dysfunction."

— Entertainment Weekly

   

"The Devil's Backbone is an experience: you live it as much as read it, feeling in your own body every racing heartbeat and every degree of its merciless Texas heat. It is headlong, unremitting, and deeply passionate."

— Luc Sante

   

"A riveting study of psychological terror and ultimate betrayal, and a complex tale...gritty, profane, and utterly compelling...you won’t put this book down until the final shattering pages."

— Barbara Parker, author of Suspicion of Rage