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The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles
a novel
Gregory Hill
Johnny Riles is in a rough patch. He’s
lonesome, he’s drunk, and someone’s murdered his horse. He
spends his days searching—for the mysterious killer, for his
brother’s soul, for a sober reason to
live. In this off-kilter tale spun out with
dry humor, Johnny delves beneath stark Western landscapes
both literal and figurative to unearth the truths behind his
nightmares.
Booklist Review by Bill Ott
The Riles brothers couldn’t be more different. Kitch is a
high-living, coke-sniffing pro basketball player in the old
ABA (circa 1970s), and his older brother, Johnny, is
managing the family farm by himself in rural—way
rural—Colorado, dealing with hard realities like “You can’t
sell cattle with pink eye.” This is Johnny’s story, about a
murdered horse, a woman who lives in a cave with a probably
dead baby mammoth, and a girl that Johnny, a 27-year-old
virgin, just might like to have sex with. Unfortunately,
Johnny’s lonely but oddly sweet and more than a little
magical world collides viciously with Kitch’s when the
younger brother invites Johnny and his girlfriend-to-be to
Denver for a game and afterparty. The trouble starts there
and leads to a bizarre finale in that cave with the woman
and the probably dead mammoth. By the end, the probably dead
head count has grown, and, well, pink eye is the least of
Johnny’s problems. Like Hill’s superb debut,
East of Denver
(2014), this one isn’t really a crime novel, but it surely
is a damn fine, if distinctly peculiar, country noir.
“A crazy novel. And I mean that in the very best sense.”
—Mike
Keefe, editorial cartoonist, 2011 Pulitzer winner
“Filled
with the same easy energy and bright style that
earned praise and awards for East of
Denver, The Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles
will take you places you didn't know existed—both on
the hard plains of eastern Colorado and deep inside
the soul of an unforgettable man who knows the world
is a mean place. He knows the perfect song and the
perfect drink to get him through the day, but even
Johnny Riles can’t predict what the world, or his
brother, might throw his way. After a sip or two of
this richly told novel, you’ll want to glug the
whole thing down.”
—Mark Stevens, author of the Allison Coil series
“The
Lonesome Trials of Johnny Riles renders Eastern
Colorado/High Plains life as it really has always
been: down-to-earth, matter-of-fact, and always on
the brink of psychedelia. This is an unapologetic
triumph of contemporary Rural American Realism.”
—Zach Boddicker, songwriter, 4H Royalty
Praise for
East
of Denver (Dutton, 2012)
“[An] agreeable,
offbeat debut novel...A story about a father and son
who bond against the odds, with
an ending as quirkily satisfying as the rest of
the book.”
—Kirkus
“An
eye for detail, an ear for dialogue, and a knack for
story-telling distinguish this unflinching novel of
rural America.” —Publishers
Weekly
“Hill
gives up plenty of laughs to go with the pain...a
fine first novel from a writer with a great sense of
character.” —Booklist
“A
breezily readable summer novel that not only
entertains but also surprises. It explores the
dynamics of family relationships without ever
stooping to sentimentality, and it’s one of this
summer’s most pleasant surprises.”
—Austin
American-Statesman
“East
of Denver is a slow burn, but by the end it’s
burning hot: you’ll leave this book a little
charred… This is writing on a par with that of
top-flight black-comic novelists like Sam Lipsyte
and Jess Walter, and it deserves to be read.”
—Lev Grossman
“A
witty, snarky, and thoroughly enjoyable read.” —Portland
Book Review
“East
of Denver” is painstakingly funny—the novel offers a
deep, dark look into the real life issues that make
society uncomfortable.”
—Kacy Muir,
The Weekender
“Gregory
Hill...displays a keen, at times riveting,
understanding of the absurdities and freedoms of
small-town isolation and the dying way of life that
was once the American standard.” —Shelf
Awareness
“Dark
humor, zany characters, and a sharp eye for detail
distinguish this arch novel set in Colorado’s dying
farmland…. Charming details of rural life are offset
by a madcap plot and tragicomic details of dementia,
even as father and son share high jinks and man-hugs
on their inexorable journey to face the music.”
—Marysue Rucci
About the Author
 Gregory
Hill lives, writes, and makes odd music on the Colorado
High Plains. A former book buyer for the University of
Denver library, he now records music and writes full
time. Greg was the 2012 Boulder County Artist in
Residence, and his previous novel, East of Denver
(Dutton, 2012), won the 2013 Colorado Book Award for
Literary Fiction. The
New York Times/i>
named the cover of the paperback edition among the “Best
Book Covers of 2013.”
The Lonesome Trials
of Johnny Riles • Gregory Hill
294 pages
• ISBN: 978-1-935248-67-5 •
Trade paperback, $16.95
June 20, 2015
Published by Leapfrog
Press LLC •
www.leapfrogpress.com
Distributed to the trade
by Consortium Book Sales & Distribution
www.cbsd.com
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