Thickets

Dan Kelly, a banking executive in exile, his personal life in shambles, has been dispatched by his Mississippi-based bank to gain a foothold in Texas, a precursor to eventual expansion throughout the moneyed Lone Star State. He settles in among the labyrinth of towering pines and thick hardwoods in the area referred to by natives as Deep East Texas, a region barely known to exist by those who have never ventured into the area. Surprised and intrigued by the amazing secluded beauty of his new surroundings, and bored by his mostly self-imposed existence, Kelly begins a secret part-time endeavor offering parcels of land to potential buyers beyond state borders, utilizing ads placed in regional newspapers in neighboring states. One of the properties is purchased by a presumed retired industrialist and his wife from Ohio, who, unbeknownst to Kelly, are serving as a front for a brutal crime syndicate recently forced to abandon its cocaine processing operation in northern Ohio. Slowly becoming aware of the danger he has wrought upon the citizens of rural San Gabriel County, Texas, Kelly begins a desperate search to undo the damage he has caused, ultimately leading to a life-or-death confrontation. His odyssey leads him to Dallas, Houston, and to Knoxville, Tennessee, before finally meeting his own mortality face-to-face in the now-threatening deep, dark East Texas thickets.

Dan Kelly, a banking executive in exile, his personal life in shambles, has been dispatched by his Mississippi-based bank to gain a foothold in Texas, a precursor to eventual expansion throughout the moneyed Lone Star State. He settles in among the labyrinth of towering pines and thick hardwoods in the area referred to by natives as Deep East Texas, a region barely known to exist by those who have never ventured into the area. Surprised and intrigued by the amazing secluded beauty of his new surroundings, and bored by his mostly self-imposed existence, Kelly begins a secret, part-time endeavor offering parcels of land to potential buyers beyond state borders, utilizing ads placed in regional newspapers in neighboring states. An elderly couple, presenting themselves as a retired industrialist and his wife from Ohio, answers one of the ads, then quickly purchases one of the parcels located in the deepest part of the East Texas woods, in rural San Gabriel County. Unbeknownst to Kelly, the couple is acting as a front for a brutal, murderous crime syndicate leader, recently forced to flee northern Ohio due to the death of a sheriff who became too nosy. Slowly becoming aware of the danger he has wrought on the trusting natives of San Gabriel County, highlighted by the death of at least one local citizen, Kelly begins a desperate search to undo the damage he has ushered into the beautiful East Texas forests. His frantic efforts lead him from Dallas to Houston, and eventually to Knoxville, Tennessee, as his own life descends into danger. His odyssey comes to a violent end on a dark September night, as he faces his own mortality in a life-and-death confrontation in the now-threatening thickets of the East Texas woods.

Doug McCall is a native Mississippian who has spent his adult life in his home state and in his adopted home state of Texas. He is the author of five previous novels: By Proxy: A Final Good Deed; Blind Trust; Beneath Forbidden Ground; Indiana Deaths: Questions of Greed; and Only Darkness Every Day. A decorated veteran, and the father of two sons, he currently resides in Madison, Mississippi.