Steven Sidor Official Site

Skin River is the story of Buddy Bayes, a man with a shadowy past trying desperately for a second chance at a peaceful life as a tavern owner in small-town Gunnar, Wisconsin. Buddy has traded his connections in the Chicago underworld for the loose friendship of an assortment of locals who frequent his bar. Before long, with the help of a young single mother who works for him as a waitress, Buddy starts to trust that he's lost himself in exactly the kind of new life he'd imagined.

His hopes for a clean start are shattered, however, when he finds the severed hand of a missing college student and falls headlong into a harrowing situation which has Buddy convinced that his past has come back to haunt him. As events unfold, it becomes clear that things aren't what they seem, and jumping to conclusions proves a disastrous mistake as the true nature of Buddy's situation slowly comes into focus. Skin River is a tense, chilling novel that introduces Steven Sidor, a fine crime writer with an exacting touch and a remarkable talent for suspense.

Here's what's being said about Skin River:

"SKIN RIVER is an incredible debut-unforgettable, spellbinding, and darkly suspenseful. Steven Sidor must have sold his soul to the devil to write this well."-Steve Hamilton, author of ICE RUN

"A stinger of a first novel-dark, harrowing, and unpredictable as a run of dangerous river. Steven Sidor plunges you into chilling waters on page one and barely lets you up for air. Sharply written, mesmerizing, and scary as hell, this book-and this author-is the real deal."-Gregg Hurwitz, author of THE KILL CLAUSE

"Skin River is a sharp, breathless upcountry thriller. Steven Sidor keeps the pacing piano-wire taut and selects his words with a vivisectionist's diabolical care."-Stewart O'Nan, author of THE NIGHT COUNTRY

"Chilling. A dark and violent story told with verve and stylish writing. 'Skin River' is a haunting read, and I'm looking forward to Steven Sidor's next."-William Landay, author of MISSION FLATS

"Steven Sidor writes like a dream--a fabulous fever dream--and SKIN RIVER grabbed me, pulled me into its dark malevolent world, and scared the hell out of me. With his lush prose, savvy plotting, vivid characters, and talent for terror, Sidor has all the marks of a master." -Sebastian Stuart, author of THE MENTOR

With an eye for gritty detail and a predilection for metaphor, Sidor paints a morbid picture of deviance and death in the small Wisconsin town of Gunnar in his fast-paced crime debut. Since removing himself from the armed robbery business a year and a half earlier, 52-year-old Buddy Bayes has been attempting to straighten out his life. He keeps busy by running his own tavern and eyeing Margot, the homely young mother living upstairs. But just as things are beginning to look up, he stumbles across the severed hand of a missing girl in a nearby river. Soon he’s back in the sheriff’s radar and is forced to hide his past and protect his loved ones as carnage ensues. That’s not easy to do when a former partner in crime wants him dead, one of his friends might be the sadistic murderer, and he has an uncanny knack for finding bodies. The pace accelerates as the killer, devilishly named Goatskinner, acts out his tortured fantasies, getting closer to Buddy with every slice of his knife. Sidor doesn’t stray far from formula, but Buddy’s futile attempts to repair his life give the story extra depth, and the salty prose ("She has an ugly smile, he thinks, like an open cut") and clever narration will keep readers hooked. From Publishers Weekly

You can't get creepier than this opening scene: a search party combs a section of woods in northern Wisconsin looking for a missing college girl while a serial killer--with the college girl trapped in the back of his truck--sits calmly smoking a joint a mere 10 feet away from the searchers. Sidor's debut novel maintains the tension throughout as the serial killer continues to thwart and taunt investigators. The hero, Buddy Bayes, is a moving target for both the killer and the cops. Bayes runs a tavern in small-town Wisconsin, a kind of hideout from his past. When Bayes finds the hand of the college girl next to the Skin River, he moves from local eccentric to suspect (for the police) and convenient fall guy (for the killer). Sidor sets this classic prey-and-predator story in a North Woods landscape laden with hunting associations. Exquisitely plotted, with a well-realized main character. From Booklist

When a psychotic almost kills the single-mother/waitress who lives above his rural Wisconsin tavern, Buddy Bayes goes ballistic. Buddy recently found the severed hand of a different victim, and because of his own former criminal life in Chicago, he feels both attacks may be a message for him. So he secretly returns to the Windy City to see if there's still a contract on him, while back in Wisconsin the serial killer continues to operate with chilling immunity. Deft descriptions, slick prose, and growing tension mark this first novel. Recommended for collections where patrons prefer dark, hard-boiled crime novels. Sidor lives near Chicago. From Library Journal

A first novel whose hero hates Chicago, hates being a thief, hates life on the run-and then everything he hates catches up with him. Now that he's fled to tiny Gunner, Wisconsin, Buddy Bayes is leading a comfortable existence as the owner of the modest and surprisingly successful Black Chimney Tavern when suddenly life stops being uneventful. A local girl has gone missing, and inadvertently Buddy finds her severed hand. He contacts the county sheriff, who, when not actively involved in the search for the rest of Melissa Teagles, spends much sleuthing time wondering about "The Guy Who Found the Hand" and deciding that he can see outlander Buddy as a homicidal maniac. Over a late night Glenfiddich, Buddy too begins to wonder, his thoughts turning reluctantly to Chicago and Red Mizel, a vicious thug who once put out a contract on him. Is the murder of Melissa part of a convoluted scheme whose eventual target could turn out to be Buddy? It's a shade far-fetched, Buddy acknowledges, but its shakiness might be due to a lack of up-to-date information. Buddy's right about that but wrong about Red. And crucially, horrifically uninformed about . . . Goatskinner!Hard-nosed, soft-hearted Buddy is irresistible, and Sidor supports him with bang-bang storytelling and a sharply drawn cast. Take note, and you may see a star in the making. Agent: Anne Collette, From Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

BOOKS

Skin River

Here's what's being said about Skin River: