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Houses on the Sand
Quincy Logan was only supposed to be in the squalid little desert town for a couple of days. He was there for the funeral of his grandfather, a rancher who had died of a combination of smoking, hard work, and a bad heart. But within hours of Quincy's arrival in Harper's Knob, one of the locals is murdered, and the sheriff seems determined to pin it on the outsider. In order to stay out of prison Quincy will have to solve the murder before the sheriff can frame him for it.
170 pages, Paperback
First published August 25, 2015
About the author
Noah Goats
8 books32 followersNoah Goats is an office drone who writes in his spare time. He's married and has four kids. Now that he has them, four seems like kind of a lot. He also has a big white dog that looks like a wolf and wants to run away to live with the coyotes who populate the mountains near Goats's house. There is a cat named Remi skulking around the family home as well.
Goats has been writing for fun and no profit since he was 14. He started with comedy bits, and then moved on to poetry in college. Fortunately, none of this poetry has survived beyond one typo packed T.S. Eliot ripoff that was published in the college literary magazine. You will never read this.
He wrote a novel each year he was in law school, which is a stupid thing to do and can only negatively impact your grades and harm your chance at getting a real job in the legal profession. He self published one of these novels as Incomplete Works. He shoved the other two down the memory hole.
He's written a few more books since then, and self published one of them (Houses on the Sand). In 2016 a collection of ghost stories that he wrote with Erren Michaels (Jersey Ghost Stories) was published by The History Press in the UK.
Goats has been writing for fun and no profit since he was 14. He started with comedy bits, and then moved on to poetry in college. Fortunately, none of this poetry has survived beyond one typo packed T.S. Eliot ripoff that was published in the college literary magazine. You will never read this.
He wrote a novel each year he was in law school, which is a stupid thing to do and can only negatively impact your grades and harm your chance at getting a real job in the legal profession. He self published one of these novels as Incomplete Works. He shoved the other two down the memory hole.
He's written a few more books since then, and self published one of them (Houses on the Sand). In 2016 a collection of ghost stories that he wrote with Erren Michaels (Jersey Ghost Stories) was published by The History Press in the UK.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
January 7, 2019
Another fun novel by Noah Goats. This time the main character is a Philip Marlowe-type private eye with the heart of a poet, stuck in the desert, accused of murder and surrounded by people who don't like him.
It's amazingly fast paced - I was finished before I knew it.
It's amazingly fast paced - I was finished before I knew it.
November 11, 2015
Loved the writer and the settings. Will definitely read another of his books.
September 12, 2018
Fast paced and engaging
Goats' choice of setting is obviously familiar and much beloved. This imbues his descriptions of scenery and characters with an effortless economy. The story moves quickly and engages this reader with ease even though the desert southwest environment is unfamiliar to this Yankee city kid.
The greatest flaw may rest with the protagonist, a private investigator from Los Angeles, whose inner monologue sounds a bit too much like something out of Mickey Spillane or Rod Serling. While there are worse examples he could follow, Goats may wish to strive for a more unique style of expression here.
Setting that aside, I still commend this story enthusiastically. Give it a try!
Goats' choice of setting is obviously familiar and much beloved. This imbues his descriptions of scenery and characters with an effortless economy. The story moves quickly and engages this reader with ease even though the desert southwest environment is unfamiliar to this Yankee city kid.
The greatest flaw may rest with the protagonist, a private investigator from Los Angeles, whose inner monologue sounds a bit too much like something out of Mickey Spillane or Rod Serling. While there are worse examples he could follow, Goats may wish to strive for a more unique style of expression here.
Setting that aside, I still commend this story enthusiastically. Give it a try!
March 12, 2021
Fantastic little murder mystery where the beautiful and desolate southwest U.S. is as much a character as the low-key hero and the gritty, grumpy residents of the town of Harper's Knob. Great evening's entertainment. Fans of Louis L'Amour will enjoy this.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews