UL Lafayette alumnus Wiley Cash’s “This Dark Road to Mercy” is a finalist for the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel.
Cash, who earned a doctorate from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in English in 2008, is a New York Times bestselling writer who lives in North Carolina.
“This Dark Road to Mercy,” published by HarperCollins/William Morrow last year, is about a washed up minor league baseball player who kidnaps his daughters from a foster home.
The Edgar Award for best novel is given each year by the Mystery Writers of America. It is one of the most prestigious awards in literature.
Other finalists for the 2015 Edgar Award for best novel are:
• “Wolf” by Mo Hayder (Grove/Atlantic – Atlantic Monthly Press)
• “Mr. Mercedes” by Stephen King (Simon and Schuster – Scribner)
• “The Final Silence” by Stuart Neville (Soho Press)
• “Saints of the Shadow Bible” by Ian Rankin (Hachette Book Group – Little, Brown)
A winner will be named April 29 at a ceremony in New York City.
Cash began working on his debut novel, “A Land More Kind than Home,” as a thesis project at UL Lafayette. It was published by HarperCollins/William Morrow in 2012, and was named a New York Times Notable Book.
The book revolves around what happens after a 9-year-old secretly witnesses a tragedy during a religious healing ritual in western North Carolina.
Learn more about Cash and his work at wileycash.com.
Learn more about the Edgar Awards at theedgars.com.