Wayward Voices
by Frank Nixon

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The last thing reporter Hank McGee expects to find in a downtown Montreal bar is a one-way ticket out of his life. But that’s exactly what happens after his paper kills the investigation he risked everything to write—and he crosses the wrong man in the city’s underworld. By morning, Hank isn’t just out of work—he’s living on borrowed time. With nowhere left to go, he disappears into the town of Wayward, a postcard-perfect community where no one forgets anything. Taking a job with his uncle at The Wayward Ledger, Hank plans to keep his head down and wait for the trouble to pass. But trouble has a way of following him. As Hank digs into backroom contracts and quiet deals buried in town hall, he’s met with legal threats, a warning from the mayor, and a message that makes his blood run cold. The deeper he goes, the clearer it becomes: Wayward is hiding something—and the people who know the truth will do anything to keep it that way. Now, with pressure mounting from all sides, Hank must decide what kind of truth he’s willing to tell—the kind that destroys, or the kind that protects. In Wayward, redemption is possible. So is payback.

www.franknixon.com

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“Nixon portrays Hank’s struggle with alcoholism and his recovery journey with nuance and complexity, and the prose has moments of startling beauty…thriller aficionados are likely to enjoy the layered narrative.” — Kirkus Reviews “A haunted man learns to stop running from his past.” — Foreword Clarion Reviews “The portrayal of a small-town newspaper doing big things rang true and very real.” — Sharon McCully, Publisher, Sherbrooke Record “...a must for anyone who likes their Raymond Chandler with a twist of Canadiana.” — Paul Carlucci, award-winning author and editor

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Frank Nixon is a Montreal-based freelance writer and former investigative journalist. For decades, he chased leads, interviewed reluctant sources, and wrote for publications of all sizes, driven to uncover the story beneath the surface. Much of his work took him into small towns, where the most revealing truths were often the hardest to reach—and where silence could carry as much weight as a confession. Now retired from the newsroom but not from storytelling, he turns to fiction to explore the moral and emotional terrain where journalism ends and human lives begin. He divides his time between Montreal and the quieter landscapes of the Outaouais region of Quebec.

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Contributors

Author

Frank Nixon

Editor

Paul Carlucci

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FriesenPress