Time vanishes in this moving tale of love and loss, of a troublesome past and uncertain future, and with a cast of unforgettable characters fighting for the soul of their village.
Will Sawyer has a knack for inadvertently stirring up old ghosts in the crumbling northern New Mexican village of Guadalupe. He’s lived there for over thirty years now, but everyone still wonders why he sticks around, including his native wife. Even so, life in Guadalupe has been relatively quiet until Will reluctantly agrees to fix up the collapsing ancestral house of Manuela García, an old, mysterious woman few remember, with a dark history even she has forgotten. Forgotten, that is, until Will discovers the bones of a small child buried in the adobe wall of the ancient house.
With spare style, wit as dry as New Mexico, and utter compassion for the struggling residents of Guadalupe, Rick Collignon gives us his best work of fiction, reminding us that while we may be through with the past, the past may not be through with us . . . and dark as the past may be, love and community can help us rise above it.
Praise for Lost in a Place So Small:
“Collignon’s quietly atmospheric fourth entry in the Will Sawyer series (after Perdido) shifts between horror and magical realism for a story of crime in a remote New Mexico village…The descriptions of the land and its people set the scene indelibly…Fans will look forward to the next installment.”
—Publishers Weekly, full review here
Praise for Rick Collignon:
“Collignon writes with a plain, yet evocative (and often moving) style that’s sure to appeal to fans of Tony Hillerman.”
—Publishers Weekly
“ . . . especially reminiscent of Garcia Marquez’s magical realism.”
—Library Journal
“Collignon’s characters are masterfully drawn, as is his rendering of the stark New Mexico landscape.”
—The San Diego Union-Tribune
“Driven by Collignon’s decisive prose, his strong characters and his deep knowledge of New Mexico folklore, Perdido is a one-sitting read, a novel that captivates and surprises all the way to its chilling end.”
—The New York Times Book Review
