Yonders, Illinois

by Dennis Noyes, Trébol EDITIONS (Editor)

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬. Once a sweetcorn-canning boomtown built by a busy railroad crossing, Yonders, Illinois, now stands as a proud but fading testament to the relentless march of time. Back in 1959, a gruesome triple homicide was committed, but the police investigation was obstructed when truth was overshadowed by convenience. Nearly 40 years later, Keelan Putnam, long suspected but never convicted of the murders, resurfaces in the town. Police Chief Buster Lawton, an unwavering beacon of justice, finds himself entangled in a maze of law, truth and redemption. Dive deep into this story where the heartland reveals tales of lost love, unsettled dilemmas, and ghosts that refuse to vanish.

384 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2023

About the author

Dennis Noyes is well known, especially in Spain, as a motorcycling journalist, ex-racer, and TV commentator. But as he travelled widely for many years covering the MotoGP World Championship, he wrote fiction in his free time and in recent years working steadily on his debut novel, Yonders, Illinois, published in 2023.

Even as a teenager, Noyes was torn between his dual passions for motor racing and fiction writing. In 1966, he won the Atlantic Monthly Annual Writing Contest for Students and was granted a scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference. While an undergraduate at Monmouth College, he worked a summer as a reporter for the Daily Journal in Caracas, Venezuela. After graduation, he taught English in Guatemala before what was intended to be only a few months sojourn in Barcelona. He stayed fifty years in Spain.

Born in Chicagoland (Oak Park) the son of a linguistics professor and a war correspondent, he was raised by his grandmother on the wrong side of the tracks in a tough, downstate Illinois corn-canning town and grew up among a mix of heartland Midwesterners and wilder folks who came up from rural Kentucky during hard times to work in the factories. Although he has written a popular book and co-authored a second with his son, both in Spanish, he is now beginning a new novel spiced with the rich vernacular, humor and dark undercurrents of that fictional place he calls Yonders, Illinois.

Reviews

[Mike Prosise · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved loved LOVED this book. The story is compelling, but even more so I couldn’t get enough of the setting. The fictional town of Yonders is based very specifically on my hometown, but I think that it will ring true to a native of any midwestern small town whose economy used to boom in postwar times but started to decline quickly through the 90s. The characters are vibrant and alive and are accurate representations of the types of folks who are born and raised in these towns. I was struck throughout by a sweet nostalgia for what used to be and a sadness for what it is now, but ultimately a sense of reconciliation. It is what it is… the people are lovely and that’s what ultimately matters.

Sorry for the ramble… I have such mixed feelings about my hometown, but this novel was a wonderful expression of how complicated those feelings can be.

Congrats to Dennis on an excellent first novel. I REALLY hope we see the plan of a trilogy set in Yonders come to fruition.

[Emily Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Even Murderers get homesick, but small towns have long memories."

This debut novel is filled well developed and relatable characters. The story will take you back in time to an era where life was simpler, but consequences were not. Written primarily in the 50s and the 90s, in a small Midwest town, Yonders, Illinois, this is a story filled with mystery, justice, and redemption. Take a trip down memory lane with this novel.

[Vicki Hoppenrath · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this book. It is a murder "mystery", but the reader immediately knows who is guilty. This does not make the book less interesting, but more so. The murderer escaped to Nevada and after 40 years still has not been identified to the public. We get to know many people in this small town. Some of them are directly related to the murder, others just add to the story! I loved getting to know all of the characters.

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book especially all the different characters that make up the story. I was sad to see this is the author’s only book. If you’re from a small town (especially one in Illinois), the way people think / act is so relatable

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not usually my type of book, but loved it. Read in one sitting. Reminded me of my own home town characters and feelings. Great debut. Hope for more to follow.