Don’t Know Tough

 

Author: Eli Cranor

Publisher: Soho Press

Year: 2022

🏈 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐏𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐚𝐲 🏈

Don’t Know Tough is an impressive debut novel from Eli Cranor. It is the personification of southern noir - gritty and bleak. 

The tiny town of Denton, Arkansas lives and breathes high school football. The team’s success is in the hands of Billy Lowe, a talented but troubled kid. Billy’s home life is a mess. His mother is an addict and turns a blind eye when her boyfriend physically abuses Billy. Billy has anger issues and his rage comes out on the football field. 

The team has a new head coach, Trent Powers. He sees a lot of his younger self in Billy and is determined to help the boy at any cost. When Billy’s abuser is murdered, Billy is the main suspect. Will the truth come with more deadly consequences? 

There are lots of villains in this story- from Billy’s abuser to the school administrator who only cares about the teaming winning to the coach’s resentful, manipulative wife. Cranor does a masterful job portraying Billy’s character. He gives  Billy layers of hidden depth. Billy is a character who will stay long after you finish reading his story. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @soho_press for the digital review copy. Don’t Know Tough is available now. 

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