Nothing Save the Bones Inside Her

by Clayton Lindemuth

"It's hard to turn the other cheek with a rifle barrel in your mouth."

In 1957 rural Pennsylvania, Angus Hardgrave works an oil rig, fights dogs, distills Walnut Whiskey... and murders wives, friends, anybody.

The presence in the walnut tree on a spur called Devil's Elbow instructs Angus what to do, and so far, following the visions has led Angus to a simple country bounty.

But Angus wants more.

Alone when her father dies, eighteen-year-old Emeline Margulies decides to follow the voice of God in all things. When she hears that she is to escape the clutches of a violent Korean War vet by marrying Angus Hardgrave--a man rumored to have pitiable luck with wives--she humbles herself and follows God's will.

And finds herself trapped between a stalking rapist and a serial killer. As each decision leads her closer to destruction, Emeline must choose between following the faith that got her into trouble...

Or the moxie, resolve, and evil within that promise to get her out.

417 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Clayton Lindemuth writes noir because that's where he lives. His debut, Cold Quiet Country, earned a coveted Starred Review from Publishers Weekly.

Clayton's follow-up novels Nothing Save the Bones Inside Her and My Brother's Destroyer deliver all the "thrilling, visceral, unsparing" (Publishers Weekly) prose that generated comparisons to noir masters such as Donald Ray Pollack, Tom Franklin, Ron Rash, William Gay, and Daniel Woodrell.

When Clayton is not writing, he's training for a marathon or reading economics or apologetics. He's a dog lover and eternally misses Arizona. Clayton lives in Missouri with his wife Julie and his puppydog Faith, also known as "Princess Wigglebums."

Reviews

[Rory Costello · Rating 4 out of 5]

This often brilliant tale is cut from the same cloth as "Night of the Hunter" (with its battle of good vs. evil) and "A Feast of Snakes"(with its dogfighting subplot and mordant humor). But it's in no way derivative. The occult strand that's woven through it too is effective as well. I found that the pace slackened about two-thirds of the way through, but it picked up again. This was a satisfying and memorable book.

[Lynne Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing alone is incredible. Raw talent. Brutal and hypnotic story with the beautiful prose allowed me to function an entire week on about 9 hours of sleep! One of the best books I've ever read, hands down.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had trouble putting down this novel. It was fast paced, brutal, and intense. The characters were honestly written and the plot kept me on the edge from beginning to end. I did find it very difficult to read the scenes involving dog fighting. The treatment of the dogs is hideous but, again, honest to true life, which is why I kept on. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys crime fiction.

[David T Calvert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't miss these two!

Amazing storytelling. The Culmination of book #1's ' no true life heroes' story which morphs into an even more 'in your face, the good guy(s) don't always win and the Calvary don't always show up' saga dribbled superbly with hints of mania and the supernatural. It's Steven king meets grit lit! I think the author has a gift for both. Spell binding read!

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

This could have been written by Dean Koontz, a younger Koonz before he got a conscience. I lived through the time period covered by this story and if anyone thinks the behavior depicted in this book was limited to just rural areas they don't remember why so many women wore sunglasses before it became vogue. Okay, maybe we didn't have stills in the urban areas but wives were surely expected to "submit" to their husbands. Even Ministers and Priests would counsel battered women to be better wives and get herself and the kids ready for the hard-working weary man-of-the-house (read that as King-of-the-Castle) to arrive home from his challenging labors. Of course, dinner must be ready and he should be greeted with his preferred cocktail. How more of this type of husband didn't succumb to premature death from "natural causes" is beyond me.
I was a bit disappointed that this book didn't pick-up right after the first book, "Sometimes Bone" when Angus figured out who his real father was. However, that didn't cause any reduction in the enjoyment of this story and I understand the author has plans to come back to that time and fill in what transpired up to the start of this book.
At the start of the first dog-fight, the event coordinator cautions the attendees to "Just get out of here" if they're not prepared to watch these dogs in all their glory, tear each other apart. That's good advice for any readers who don't wish to learn how these dogs are conditioned, trained, and tormented into being killers. If that isn't offputting, this book is hard to put down.

Review by THE HOLEY ONE

[Shanna Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth reading.

This book made me think what I would do in Emmeline situation. She had very tough decisions to make and did the best she could. I did not enjoy the dog fights, I find them revolting but necessary in this tale.

[Chuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lindemuth delivers

Just when you think it cannot get any more insane the author comes at you from an entirely unforeseen angle. Love this guys stuff. Have read 9 of his books in 2 months.

[mary e. pomeroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kept me up all night.

Clayton Lindemuth has become a favorite writer for me. His writing is fast moving and his characters are quickly well known to the reader and I like that. Plots and subplots are easy and gripping characters to root for. As he says, light does win.

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life is hard, sometimes too hard to survive.

The men and women in this story struggle to survive the darkest souls alive or dead. Sometimes you think you're winning, when the truth is you lost before the fight began. Will justice steer the course? Or the evil that guides men?

[Dean Packham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty to the max, but beautiful and with no holds barred. Keep 'em coming, Clayton!!!.

Gritty to the max, but beautiful and with no holds barred. Keep 'em coming, Clayton!!!. You have hooked by the gills.

[Bill Gilder · Rating 4 out of 5]

How strong is Emeline?

Can Emeline survive mean men, mean dogs and a hard life to do the Lord's work? A good read that keeps you guessing. I still think My Brother's Destroyer by Clayton Lindemuth is the best but I have not been disappointed with any of his books.

[Monroe Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange story

Lots of blood and guts. Some of it seemed to be excessive but maybe people live like that somewhere. Interesting story line but not sure I want to read anymore of this type.

[Carole Calomino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing but the Bones Inside Her

I loved the characters in this book especially Emilene. You just never know what's going to happen next in Clayton Lindemuth books. I couldn't put this book down.

[Jcad6169 · Rating 5 out of 5]

!wow! Interesting story. Very different kind of character driven plot. Wanted to throw it somtimes but couldn’t stop reading it.

[Betty Guregian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nope!

I liked the first book. But I couldn't get past the first few pages of this one. Hurting animals and abusing them isn't my thing.

[Christopher Combs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Twisted!

What a breathtaking story. Character creation is once again flawless! I have now read all of your books. Waiting patiently for the next adventure. Thanks for the ride.

[Linda Heggie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Twisted route, and unexpected tale. Loved it.

[David D · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 6th LINDMUTH read.

LINDMUTH HAS AN INCREDIBLE IMAGINATION AND ABILITY TO TRANSFER TO PAPER. STORIES FLOW SEAMLESSLY. HARD TO NOT READ IN ONE SITTING.

[shirley bishop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoy God reading

Very good book. Enjoyed the read and will read more from this author. You have more to come I hope.

[Tim Davis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this book. I preserved to the end, but it just wasn’t a pleasant read for me.

[Dave · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lindemuth is my favorite author; this is my least favorite book. Hard to find anyone to respect or admire 'cept the dog.

[Kelley Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Both of his books were not for the faint of heart. But the fact the women in both books not only survived, but got their revenge, was very satisfying.

[Chris Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another homerun, brutal, edgy and as beautiful as a train wreck.

[Audra Spicer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clayton Lindemuth’s NOTHING SAVE THE BONES INSIDE HER (2013) is a story about a believer and her God. But this is no feel-good-hands-in-the-air-and-hug-your-neighbor faith. Emeline Margulies Hardgrave believes in a God who has much power, but who demands much in return. Faith can conquer, Lindemuth seems to claim, but first, the believer must be conquered by faith.

Emeline’s journey shows her overcoming domination and power through submission to her God’s will. Her God is a harsh teacher who schools her in submitting to His will in the face of an evil that has free rein in the Appalachian mountains of western Pennsylvania. Can Emeline allow herself to become an instrument of righteousness? If she can, her vision of peace will become the future. If she can’t, a centuries-old evil made manifest will claim another life.

Emeline’s tormentors–both her stalker and her husband–want one thing: to hold in their fists dominion over the life and death of every living thing in Devil’s Elbow. The novel’s theme of man’s misuse of power is made clear in the breeding and fighting of pit bulls, which Lindemuth renders with particular detail and nerve-withering force.

But even though Lindemuth can make words climb into your mind and lodge like memory, the purpose is never mere shock porn. In this novel, puppies are tortured into being fighting dogs because powerless men need to pretend that they are strong. Justice comes with four legs and clamped jaws, though. Every man who trains a pit bull in this book has created a hound of hell, and the hounds exercise a moral force in the book’s punishing universe.

Lindemuth’s world is no place for half-measures, not for dogs nor characters nor author. His subject and style are in the tradition of John Donne, mixed with a northern Appalachian Gothic tone reminiscent of William Faulkner, and a crystalline, straight line of descent from Flannery O’Connor. The stalker’s car in NOTHING SAVE THE BONES INSIDE HER could appear in O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find;” the trailer that Deet fashions for Emeline is like the Bundren family’s wagon in Faulkner’s AS I LAY DYING.

Lindemuth’s last novel, COLD QUIET COUNTRY, is a Wyoming riff on Arthurian legend, a fact tipped to us by the characters’ names: Guinevere and Gale G’Wain. If you’re thinking that their literary pedigrees alone make Lindemuth’s books worth reading, you’d be right. These modern-day revenge tragedies and morality plays are spiritual–deep explorations of what we know is right and wrong, fair and unfair, moral and immoral, good and evil–the lights that illuminate, sometimes dimly, our journey through the world.

Lindemuth is a writer’s writer, too, in his use of setting, voice, and point of view. Anyone who practices fiction writing will benefit from a study of how he makes different voices come off the page through word choice, punctuation, and details.

Such a charged, emotional reading experience is an unusual, unsettling, yet rewarding experience, and I look forward to spending time with Clayton Lindemuth’s next release, MY BROTHER’S DESTROYER (2013).

[J.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emeline Margulies is a young woman whose ear is attuned to the voice of God. Sometimes she isn’t sure she’s heard right, but she continues to have faith.

Set in the 1950s in rural western Pennsylvania, the plot pits Emeline against arrogant tormentors who view her as only a commodity. Even Deet, the sole member of the Hardgrave family to show her kindness and help, has his own agenda.

Shortly after heeding the voice and marrying Angus Hardgrave to escape a stalking rapist her faith is tested as never before. Angus is brutal and demanding. He seizes her bank account and property and conspires to engage in dog-fighting and moon-shining with her stalker.

Angus, a man more than twice her age and with an evil reputation, is also moving to the direction of a voice—one definitely not divine. The voice he obeys spews hatred, selfishness and prescriptions for violence.

Emeline proves a brave woman, capable of enduring more than expected in this gritty novel with characters reminiscent of Faulkner. This is not a work for those offended by violence and harsh language. But if you’re willing to look beyond those obstacles you’ll find it an engrossing and memorable story.

The conflict between good and evil is never clear-cut, but in this novel it is absolute.

[Lee French · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it has a little bit of a slow start, I found myself wanting to savor the writing anyway. It was difficult to put down and impossible to avoid picking back up again. Angus is clearly the star of the show, and he's a complex man, one that inspires strong feelings from the moment you meet him. I was reminded of great literature showing the flaws of men and how much we are all influenced by our upbringing and surroundings.

My biggest problem with the book is hard to explain without giving away the ending. Emeline isn't a very strong character, and she seems to be irrelevant in the grand scheme. She's a puppet and a tool, and one that doesn't understand her master well enough to do anything properly. In some ways, she's a perfect foil for Angus, showing exactly the same result from a different starting point, but it's hard to overcome that she comes off as weak and stupid, even when she's being 'strong'.

Even with its flaws, I cannot overstate how absorbed I was by this book. I do caution readers that it's coarse and violent, and most assuredly fits into the darker side of its setting.

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing Save The Bones Inside Her was a gut retching murderous tale about man you want to read about again and again. Has dog fights so if you love animals have a strong stomach when you read this book. These characters are well written, some are downright unstable and this book will keep you in your seat to see what happens next. Can't wait to see what 2014 brings with this author. Highly recommended read.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another corker from Clayton

I'm not usually one for writing reviews so will just say it is very rare I read two books in succession by the same author. Now about to download his latest and I think it will go straight to the front of the queue, which will make it three in succession....

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a real page turner! I found this book so rich with character, so guttural and deep. I can see these characters and as the story unfolds you draw close to them. I am a new fan of this author. definitely worth the read!

[Carmen Gaarder kumm]

Good read

I wouldn't have chosen this book but it kept my attention, was very suspenseful,and had a good message. did skim over the details about moonshine and dog training but didn't lose the story