Kelly J. Ford at Harvard Book Store

Harvard Book Store welcomes KELLY J. FORD—author of Real Bad Things and Cottonmouths—for a discussion of her new book The Hunt. She will be joined in conversation by ELIZABETH CHILES SHELBURNE, author of Holding on to Nothing.

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Masks are not required for this event. As of June 1, 2023, masks are encouraged but not required for most Harvard Book Store events, unless otherwise specified. Please review individual listings.

About The Hunt

For seventeen years, a serial murderer has used the Presley, Arkansas, Annual Hunt for the Golden Egg to find prey. Or at least that’s what some people believe. Others, like the town’s devoted “Eggheads,” relish the tradition and think the deaths are just unfortunate accidents. But for Nell Holcomb, the town’s annual Hunt dredges up a particularly painful memory: her brother’s death, long believed to be “the Hunter’s” first kill.

Nell has been caring for her nephew since then, trying to keep him safe and trying to conceal the role she played in his father’s death. Most importantly, she’s been trying to avoid the Hunt―despite the clashes that erupt in town over the event and her best friend’s obsession with winning the big prize.

As Easter draws near and the town’s frenzy escalates, Nell must face her past and the Hunt as the danger once again veers close to home.

Praise for The Hunt

“Imagine if Megan Abbott penned a chilling yarn about an annual Easter egg hunt in backwoods Arkansas, and you’re getting close to what Kelly J. Ford’s pulled off in her next novel. The Hunt perfectly captures the strangeness that lurks behind the guise of so many small-town Southern traditions. Nobody does buried secrets better than Kelly. But this dark rural noir conjures up more than just old ghosts—it shines a fresh new light on the truth.” —Eli Cranor, author of Don’t Know Tough and Ozark Dogs

“Ford’s The Hunt cements her as not only one of the best Southern fiction writers around but also one of the best contemporary writers period. There’s a macabre playfulness to The Hunt as each unpredictable twist builds to an ending no one will see coming. But despite the dark humor, this is ultimately a story about how guilt can consume and destroy, especially in small towns, where empathy can be in short supply and gossip is a sport. Ford knows how to put her characters’ humanity front and center even as they repeatedly stumble down dangerous paths. These are damaged people you want to see win.” —Heather Levy, author of the Anthony-nominated Walking through Needles

“Kelly J. Ford is a modern master of the rural noir—dragging the elements of a classic tale and reshaping it with a tone and viewpoint that is undoubtedly modern and alive. The Hunt is loaded with tension and razor-sharp plotting but also lets readers engulf themselves in the all-too-human characters Ford is so adept at creating. A small-town suspense novel that evokes tales like Megan Abbott’s The Fever and Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects with Ford’s trademark voice. A winner.” —Alex Segura, bestselling author of Secret Identity