Jake Powell came to Rattlesnake Bend to disappear.The dying North Texas lake town was the perfect place to outrun his past: no questions, no connections, no reminders of the life he left behind in Massachusetts. He kept his head down, worked for a local woodworker, drank too much at the Cock 'N' Bull, and tried not to think about April Hunter—the woman he abandoned without explanation years ago.Then April shows up in town wearing a yellow rain slicker.Less than twen...

Jake Powell came to Rattlesnake Bend to disappear.The dying North Texas lake town was the perfect place to outrun his past: no questions, no connections, no reminders of the life he left behind in Massachusetts. He kept his head down, worked for a local woodworker, drank beer at the Cock 'N' Bull, and tried not to think about April Hunter-the woman he abandoned without explanation years ago.Then April shows up in town wearing a yellow rain coat.Twelve hours later, s...

Scratch the surface of North Texas and the stereotypes of wide-open Western spaces with lots of football disappear, replaced by an endless series of contrasting images. Gleaming glass towers rise over stockyards redolent with the smell of livestock. Suburbs full of families sit just a few blocks from neon-lit nightlife districts. In any given neighborhood, you might hear conjunto music competing with country and western tunes. There are grimy bars and gleaming churches, funky stores and ne...