CascadeCascade

From the author of The Saturday Night Ghost Club and Precious Cargo (finalist for Canada Reads) comes this collection of stories--his first since Rust and Bone, which was adapted into a Golden Globe-nominated film. Set in in the Niagara Falls of Craig Davidson's imagination, known by its denizens as "Cataract City," Cascade shines a shimmering light on a slightly seedy, slightly magical, slightly haunted place. An ex-Marine sniper gets caught up in the illicit trade of exotic animals and, when a deal goes bad, must stalk the snowy suburbs of Cataract City, hunting a wild panther dosed with adrenaline. A pregnant social worker grapples with the prospect of parenthood as a custody case takes a dire turn. A hard-boiled ex-firefighter turned arson investigator goes after a serial arsonist with a flair for the theatrical. An ex-con, ex-pro basketball player joins a minor league team and becomes the unlikely mentor to a wildly talented young player with a strange gift. Here are stories crackling with immediacy, as the craft and kinetic energy of classic Craig Davidson is everywhere apparent: in the visceral, crystalline, steel-tipped prose; in the psychological perspicacity; and in the endearing humour--making Cascade reminiscent of Stephen King's cinematic short stories that went on to inspire films such as The Shawshank Redemption and Stand by Me.