Give Unto Us

There's something about the river house that calls to Trevor Davis. Moving here will restore him, will fill the hole he can't fill with beer, work, children. But what he gives the land, it takes, and when he discovers a seemingly bottomless sand pit in the yard, his obsession grows to grisly proportions. Part possession story, part body horror, Give Unto Us addresses the hole growing deep within us all. "Justin Lutz, this generation's Michael McDowell, proves yet again that he is here to bash our minds with stories so wonderfully-almost gleefully-grotesque, and made all the more grotesque by the empathy with which he explores his characters and their worlds. Give Unto Us is immediate, wry, and made me literally squirm, as if gritty sand were being elbowed into a hot, septic wound in my side. Oh, and it's tenderly romantic at times. This is a story of love and parental anxiety and pus, written by such an empathetic writer whose work is so alive, and so very frightening. I loved it."-Aaron Dries, author of Dirty Heads "Give Unto Us is Justin Lutz deftly edging his fingers under the edge of a scab while distracting you with gorgeous prose-a sage song of syllable and word-until the precise moment comes when he rips it free and lets us bleed freely. His novella of family and worry, of holes, both literal and metaphorical-binding the wound. It's essential reading teaming with emotions, horrors and sand. It's brilliant."-John Boden, author of Snarl and Jedi Summer