The new novel by award-winning author PETER FARRIS. Published in France to critical acclaim, THE DEVIL HIMSELF was an ELLE Magazine Best Mystery of the Year, won Le Prix 813, Best Foreign Novel at the Beaune Film Festival, and was an official selection for the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
"[A] riveting crime novel...Narrow escapes, violent encounters, and deep Southern culture shape this into an exciting tale. Noir fans will be well satisfied."
— Publishers Weekly
“From the very first page Farris sets the tone for a pulsing novel, a blaze akin to Jim Thompson and Larry Brown. The Devil Himself is a radical southern noir set to an infernal tempo.”
— Philippe Blanchet, Rolling Stone
“It’s fair to say Farris was one of my original inspirations to become a writer...and remains to this day one of the single best crime writers I’ve ever read.”
— Brian Panowich, bestselling author of Bull Mountain
Learn for yourself what French readers have known for a while now: Peter Farris is a master of hard-nosed Southern noir, a true heir to Larry Brown, Harry Crews, and Tom Franklin. The Devil Himself thunders off the page with beautiful writing and a killer sense of place. It's urgent, triumphant, and unflinching."
— William Boyle, author of Shoot the Moonlight Out
“The Devil Himself is a sharp take on a southern gothic fairytale — extra dark and cathartic, just the way I like them.”
— Louisa Luna, author of the Alice Vega novels
"This is The Good the Bad and the Ugly on nitrous, Peter Farris has written a southern gothic barn-burner...an epic tale of greed, drug running, redemption and justice."
— Frank Bill, author of Donnybrook and Back to the Dirt
"Peter Farris's intimate knowledge of the south shines through in The Devil Himself, a bristling novel that exposes the ever-widening gap between old ways and new, the country and the city, and how far some will go to protect what they love. Buckle up and let Brother Farris take you straight into the heart of Trickum County, a wild ride you won't soon forget."
— Eli Cranor, author of Don't Know Tough
"In this beautifully crafted novel, Peter Farris has created an American politician who is both terrifying and all too believable. The Bone Omen moves through time seamlessly, allowing what first appear to be disparate events and lives to intertwine. With each chapter, the suspense builds toward a final, startling reckoning. Farris is a gifted writer. He has a profound empathy for those among us who have little power, only courage and resolve. The Bone Omen deserves a wide and appreciative audience."
— Ron Rash, New York Times bestselling author of Serena
"Peter Farris is perhaps my favorite crime writer. His action explodes on the page, the darkness like a hood tugged roughly over your head, the start of a journey whose outcome you have no way of knowing. Yes, he can keep you breathless on the edge of your seat, but what truly sets Farris apart is that he never loses sight of the heart that beats inside his people, for he does make them people, not characters. You pull for them, yearn with them, feel their isolation, their tragedies and triumphs. Farris puts not a book in your hands, but real lives. He’s a master of his craft, and THE BONE OMEN finds him at the height of his powers."
— Pete Fromm, award-winning author of Indian Creek Chronicles & The Names of the Stars
"At once blood-chilling and tender, The Bone Omen takes us deep into the American heart, setting alight the seeds of our present whirlwind in a fiercely-wrought portrait of what has been, what is, and what could be. Peter Farris gives us a vision as unflinching as a skinning knife -- let us only hope The Bone Omen is not as prescient as it seems."
— Taylor Brown, award-winning author of Wingwalkers
“Magnificent…Le Présage is a tormented dive into a resolutely fascist America, recalling the corrupt South in Robert Penn Warren’s novels.”
— Karon Lajon, Le Journal du Dimanche
“A relentless novel whose power lies in the strength of its characters…and shows how—from the depths of America—emerge politicians capitalizing on the violence and resentment of neglected populations.”
— Laëtitia Favro, Le Journal du Dimanche
“A hypnotic story…fascinating until the end.”
— Fabien Vernois, La Croix
“This thriller paints an unflattering but credible portrait of a country plagued by corruption.”
— Télé-Loisirs
"With Le Presage, punctuated by an impressive charge against politicians, this gifted writer goes up a gear and gives his noir novels an unprecedented political dimension, without sacrificing his very dark intrigues."
— Philippe Blanchet, Le Figaro Magazine
“Farris, like Greg Iles before him, writes with the same sense of darkness and horror, and excels in describing a blood-chilling American south, when highly toxic characters take the law into their own hands with impunity…yet his characters are just as endearing when they’re on the side of the victims. Farris has written a cleverly constructed fourth thriller that is totally in line with this heritage of great southern works.”
— Thierry Coljon, LE SOIR
"Next to Cormac McCarthy's The Passenger, Le Présage is the other great American novel of the season."
— Phillippe Manche, Quais du Polar
“Certainly the author’s best novel…it’s beautifully dark.”
— Junk Page
“One could say that Peter Farris is inventing a new literary genre which would be the anticipatory noir novel, or dystopian noir novel.”
— FRANCE 3 AUVERGNE RHONE-ALPES
“Le Présage is a particularly brilliant noir with an impeccable style…without a doubt the author’s best novel.”
— Baz’art
“Le Présage is an astonishing novel…which establishes Peter Farris among the ‘new’ American writers who count. Those who draw on the history of their country to compose powerful and complex stories, destined to become future classics.”
— Vivre Au Lycée
“Poignant and powerful, Le Présage is outstanding.”
— Librairie L’oiseau moqueur
“Peter Farris brilliantly succeeds in a thriller that is as political as it is psychological. Breathtaking, this novel is the most accomplished by this great author.”
— Librairie La Manoeuvre
“A dark novel that hits hard…a thrilling noir…Peter Farris is an undeniable talent.”
— Librairie de Port Maria
“Cleverly constructed…Le Présage is both excellent and chilling.”
— Au Moulin des Lettres
“Peter Farris has an unparalleled talent as a storyteller…outstanding characters in an extremely gripping novel: a triumph!”
— Le Genre Urbain Librairie Paris
“More than just a thriller, Le Présage is a true noir novel about the real America...and a lesson for civilization presented by powerful writing.”
— Librairie Tome 7 Paris
“Wow…what can you say when you finish reading Le Présage. It’s dark, impactful…a novel of impressive and masterful construction.”
— Librairie des Pertuis
“In this unstoppable noir novel, as sharp as a well-honed knife, Peter Farris brilliantly tackles the new monsters of politics, born of crime and corruption, of which demagoguery, money and violence are the only values. Le Présage is a jewel of efficiency…a riveting story told with alarming accuracy.”
— Librairie L'Odyssée Saint-Malo
“Le Présage is a novel unmatched and to be devoured.”
— Librairie Attitude
"A remarkable thriller, in its construction and its narration. It's lucid, thoughtful and controlled from start to finish."
— Librairie Les Volcans
“Simultaneously human, tender and chilling, Le Présage is a novel to be devoured without delay!”
— Librairie Vivement Dimanche
“A very powerful story.”
— FNAC Angers
“A captivating, poignant novel that speaks to all the facets of the human soul. Beautiful writing and an absolute discovery!”
— La Cabane à lire
“480 pages of tension…a magnificent and powerful noir.”
— Librairie Les Fables d'Olonne
Called a “serious new talent” by Barnes & Noble, Peter Farris is the award-winning author of Last Call for the Living, The Clay Eaters and The Devil Himself. Published in France to critical acclaim, The Devil Himself won Le Prix 813, Best Foreign Novel at the Beaune International Film Festival, Le Prix Totem Des Jeunes Libraires, was an official selection for the prestigious Grand Prix de Littérature Policière and named a finalist for Le Prix SNCF du Polar. Among other accolades the novel received starred reviews in Rolling Stone, Hebdo and Le Parisien, and was picked one of the best mysteries of the year by ELLE and L'OBS Magazine. Also published in France by Éditions Gallmeister, his third novel The Clay Eaters was praised in Le Monde, debuted on the Palmarès Livres Hebdo des libraires Bestseller List, selected a Bookseller Best of the Year by Palmarès Livres Hebdo, was shortlisted for le prix Libr'à Nous 2020 and was a finalist for the 2021 Le Prix Lire En Poche. In 2022, Arcade published The Devil Himself in English worldwide and the novel will see an Italian translation via NN Editore. The French translation of a new novel The Bone Omen ("le Présage") was released this year by Éditions Gallmeister and selected as a finalist for the 2024 Prix Libr'à Nous. Peter lives with his family in Georgia.
Copyright © 2018 Peter Farris - All Rights Reserved.
Photo by Heather Photographers