Prairie Ghost - Paperback

by Doug Krivanek (Author)

Praise for Prairie Ghost

"Set against the stark beauty of South Dakota's plains, it's a compelling meditation on guilt, isolation, and the hard-won grace of forgiveness."
-Smith College Club of MN Book Club

"Prairie Ghost is such a deeply resonant and beautifully crafted novel."
-The Manhattan Book Club

Welcome to Hat Creek, a South Dakota ghost town-turned-wellness retreat amidst the real-life hardships of collapsing buildings, ill-tempered rattlesnakes, violent storms, and herds of stampeding cattle.

Dan Stuart, proprietor of this unique endeavor, hides a dark past. Fleeing from a horrible accident, he settles into the remote Black Hills and turns recluse, using physical toil as self-inflicted punishment for his role in the tragedy. When a teenage runaway enters town, Dan faces a momentous decision: Is it worth his effort to save the youth-and, in turn, himself?

The redemptive path Dan forges, though, isn't as straightforward as it seems. Navigating secrets and past regrets as carefully as he does caving roofs and busted water pipes, he spends decades bettering himself by bettering others. Suffering a resident's horrific murder and a snoopy college intern unraveling his past, Dan's efforts lay in tatters ... until he peers into the mind of a stricken young boy and discovers the shocking means to set himself free.

Check out Doug Krivanek's next novel, In A Matter of Weeks, also available on Amazon

Seth Cooke leads the residents of a rural Colorado apartment building on an absurd and outrageous summer frenzy of felony theft, vandalism, bank robbery, child abduction, shoplifting, and unlawful entry.

Penniless and on the verge of bankruptcy, Seth must resort to such extreme measures to pay his stricken niece's astronomical medical bills. He owes Lily nothing less. He was responsible for her parents' deaths.

So why, on the very cusp of securing Lily's future, does Seth willingly throw away his hard-earned gains-and, perhaps, his life-in a hopeless attempt to rescue another young child from a burning building? Seth's scarred face holds the key, like the tip of an iceberg but the visible fraction of deeper emotional scarring. The mistakes of his past incur unpayable debts, coloring his perception and staining his personality, blinding him to the true power of human compassion.

So many questions. What constitutes bravery? Is selflessness a blessing or a curse? Do miracles happen by chance, or are they the result of careful planning? And why is it only little Lily, with but a tenuous grasp on life, who believes that Seth could have survived the fire?

Somewhere in this indifferent, hostile world, there's still room for belief, isn't there?