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When Ghosts Come Home

A Novel

by Wiley Cash

Narrator JD Jackson

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Length 10 hours 14 minutes

Language English

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Bookseller recommendation

“This book affected me so profoundly that I contacted the author to discuss it. Set in a North Carolina coastal town in the 1980s, I was instantly caught up in a murder investigation with Sheriff Winston Barnes as he worked to piece together the puzzling crime scene and get to the truth. Through his skilled use of spare dialogue and sparse clues, the author deftly guides Sheriff Barnes in his reluctant quest to reveal the rot of racism in his community, spread by those who embrace its hate and destruction, and to acknowledge the despair and fury of those who are targets of that hate. A stunning plot turn rendered me aghast but, ultimately, led me to an unflinching understanding of the anguish, despair and devastation that are inevitably reaped from racism, bigotry and hate. A must read, the lasting effects of When Ghosts Come Home refuse to let go, and will remain with me for quite some time.”
— Belinda • Quail Ridge Books

Bookseller recommendation

“Only Wiley Cash’s exquisite storytelling could turn a story full of sad and depressing topics into a powerful, beautiful and meaningful story. It is the story of Sheriff Winston Barnes, the longtime sheriff of the small community of Oak Island, NC who is up for re-election and doubts that he will win. It is the story of how something in his past still haunts him and because of that he always tries to do the right thing, not what everyone wants or expects him to do, it is the story of his family and how much they mean to each other, it is a story of the racial unrest in the area in the 80s. And it is also a mystery which starts when a ghost plane and the dead body of a young black resident of Oak Island are found at the small airport and ends with a totally surprising outcome. The narration was as beautiful as the writing and I couldn't stop listening.”
— Nancy • Fiction Addiction

Summary
About the author

Winner of the SIBA Southern Book Prize for Fiction

“I loved it and devoured it with fury, straight to its blazing end.” —Lily King, author of Writers & Lovers

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home, a tender and haunting story of a father and daughter, crime and forgiveness, race and memory.

When the roar of a low-flying plane awakens him in the middle of the night, Sheriff Winston Barnes knows something strange is happening at the nearby airfield on the coast of North Carolina. But nothing can prepare him for what he finds: a large airplane has crash-landed and is now sitting sideways on the runway, and there are no signs of a pilot or cargo. When the body of a local man is discovered—shot dead and lying on the grass near the crash site—Winston begins a murder investigation that will change the course of his life and the fate of the community that he has sworn to protect.

Everyone is a suspect, including the dead man. As rumors and accusations fly, long-simmering racial tensions explode overnight, and Winston, whose own tragic past has followed him like a ghost, must do his duty while facing the painful repercussions of old decisions. Winston also knows that his days as sheriff may be numbered. He’s up for re-election against a corrupt and well-connected challenger, and his deputies are choosing sides. As if these events weren’t troubling enough, he must finally confront his daughter Colleen, who has come home grieving a shattering loss she cannot fully articulate.

As the suspense builds and this compelling mystery unfolds, Wiley Cash delves deep into the hearts of these richly drawn, achingly sympathetic characters to reveal the nobility of an ordinary man struggling amidst terrifying, extraordinary circumstances.

Fiction Mystery & Thriller Fiction - Literary

Wiley Cash is the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home, the acclaimed This Dark Road to Mercy, and most recently The Last Ballad. He is a three-time winner of the SIBA Southern Book Prize, won the Conroy Legacy Award, was a finalist for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize and the Edgar Award for Best Novel, and has been nominated for many more. A native of North Carolina, he is the Alumni Author-in-Residence at the University of North Carolina Asheville. He lives in Wilmington, NC with his wife, photographer Mallory Cash, and their two daughters.