- 320 pp
- ISBN 978-1-63388-357-4
- Paperback
- $15.95
- September 2017
Also available in ebook format World Rights
Two weeks before Christmas, Police Chief Thomas Lynch faces a crisis when Cody Forrand, a six-year-old with a life-threatening medical condition, goes missing during a blizzard.
Lynch’s suspicions about who abducted Cody are met with scorn by his detectives, some of whom can’t handle the fact that’s he’s gay. When half the station calls in sick with flu, Lynch seeks outside help. It arrives in the shape of an FBI agent for whom Lynch feels an immediate attraction.
To complicate matters, local crime is on the rise and Lynch finds himself the target of prank calls and hate speech that he worries is the work of a colleague. Time is ticking away, Lynch is struggling to discover who is behind Idyll’s crime spree, and he’s beginning to doubt that Cody will ever be found …
PRAISE FOR IDYLL THREATS:
“Lynch is a deeply compelling character…. Readers will want to see how the next two decades treat this intriguingly complex cop, should this fine crime debut launch a series.”
—BOOKLIST, STARRED REVIEW
“Gayle delivers a tight story that is part police procedural and part traditional mystery that keeps you guessing to the very end. It is also a fast-paced jaunt that never lags and paints a believable picture behind the charming and sometimes complicated facade of small town life.”
—KILLER NASHVILLE BOOK OF THE DAY
“Readers will hope that Gayle won’t be idle, and that this book will be the first of many with Thomas Lynch as the multidimensional and likable police chief.”
—BOOKPAGE
“Gayle has crafted a fascinating mystery and—even more engaging for this reader—a believable, complicated hero. Thomas Lynch is a flawed, sympathetic man struggling with the benefits and risks of coming to terms with himself. I was rooting for him the whole way.”
—STEPHEN McCAULEY, author of The Object of My Affection and Insignificant Others
“Gayle strings a tightwire of psycho-sexual tension, then gives it a radical twist in this smart, riveting tale of small-town murder and homophobia.”
—CRAIG FAUSTUS BUCK, author of Go Down Hard
PRAISE FOR MY SUMMER OF SOUTHERN DISCOMFORT:
“In this finely crafted debut novel, Gayle evinces a superb mastery of character development, rendering Natalie’s various crises of faith with empathic authenticity, endearing humor, and enviable grace.”
—BOOKLIST
Stephanie Gayle is the author of Idyll Threats, the first Thomas Lynch Novel, and My Summer of Southern Discomfort, which was chosen as one of Redbook’s Top Ten Summer Reads and was a Book Sense monthly pick. Gayle has also published stories and narrative nonfiction pieces, including two Pushcart Prize nominees.
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