The INSTANT New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestselling novel from award-winning author Andrew Joseph White!
A queer Appalachian thriller that pulls no punches—following a trans autistic teen who's drawn into the generational struggle between the rural poor and those who exploit them.The limited-quantity first printing of this powerful novel features specially-designed endpapers with photos of West Virginia coal mines from The Library of Congress!On the night Miles Abernathy—sixteen-year-old socialist and proud West Virginian—comes out as trans to his parents, he sneaks off to a party, carrying evidence that may finally turn the tide of the blood feud plaguing Twist Creek: Photos that prove the county’s Sheriff Davies was responsible for the so-called “accident” that injured his dad, killed others, and crushed their grassroots efforts to unseat him.
The feud began a hundred years ago when Miles’s great-great-grandfather, Saint Abernathy, incited a miners’ rebellion that ended with a public execution at the hands of law enforcement. Now, Miles becomes the feud’s latest victim as the sheriff’s son and his friends sniff out the evidence, follow him through the woods, and beat him nearly to death.
In the hospital, the ghost of a soot-covered man hovers over Miles’s bedside while Sheriff Davies threatens Miles into silence. But when Miles accidently kills one of the boys who hurt him, he learns of other folks in Twist Creek who want out from under the sheriff’s heel. To free their families from this cycle of cruelty, they’re willing to put everything on the line—is Miles?
A visceral, unabashedly political page-turner that won’t let you go until you’ve reached the end,
Compound Fracture is not for the faint of heart, but it
is for every reader who's ready to fight for a better world. Hand this story to teens pushing for radical change.
Andrew Joseph White is the
New York Times and #1 Indie bestselling author of
Hell Followed with Us and
The Spirit Bares its Teeth. A queer, trans writer from Virginia, he grew up falling in love with monsters and wishing he could be one too. He received his MFA in Creative Writing from George Mason University in 2022.
★ "Unputdownable, unbelievably powerful, deranged, and magnificently defiant. Hold on to your humanity for dear life, readers."
—School Library Journal, Starred Review ★ "
Compound Fracture is White’s third novel and possibly his best thus far, delivering evocative, haunting prose and eloquently exploring economic injustice, poverty, generational trauma, and how easy it is to sink one's teeth into violence and revenge as a result."
—Booklist, Starred Review ★ "White’s latest is a stunning testament to the intertwining realities of politics and queerness, as well as community focused ideologies and the impact of those ideals in the face of oppression."
—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review ★ "Tremendously suspenseful. . . The hopeful, satisfying ending emerges from community collaboration. Unflinching and empowering."
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review ★ "White explores the violent realities of capitalism and transphobia while simultaneously celebrating the resilience and collective strength of the committed working class. He also weaves a tragic, beautiful thread through the tapestry of Compound Fracture, describing Miles's examination of his communist political leanings and paralleling it with his ancestor's path. This book will almost certainly leave readers battered, bruised, and inspired."
—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review ★ "Another unflinching, creative, disturbing, and incredible book by White."
—The Bulletin, Starred Review "White has crafted an engrossing horror-thriller that wears its heart—and guts—on its sleeve. Defiant to the end,
Compound Fracture uses a century-old blood feud, Appalachian history and politics, and a touch of the supernatural to explore the ways new generations must reckon with old wrongs." —Erica Waters, author of
The River Has Teeth and
All That Consumes Us
