Set in Gray’s fictional small town of Argus, Illinois, Police Chief Art Millage faces one last manhuntAs Art prepares to step down after 15 years as Chief and pursue a new life running the local marina, a mysterious figure from his past returns to Argus—Nathan Bedford, the son of Brant Russell, a desperate criminal Art was forced to kill in the line of duty years before.The troubled young Bedford, never having known his father, begins stalking Art. Tensions rise and suspici...

Michael Loyd Gray's prose unspools with the unmistakable cadence of a storyteller.-Stuart Dybek, author of The Coast of Chicago and Paper Lantern, winner of the Lannan Award, Whiting Award, Guggenheim Fellowship, and multiple O. Henry AwardsMichael Loyd Gray's fiction contains that heady brew of compassion and bravado that always leaves you rooting for the underdog. He's the sort of writer who can make...

Four solitary souls. One small town diner. A chain of events that changes everything.Hank Spencer knows what goes on in his diner. He knows which days are best for business and whether the Blue Plate special is selling, and he makes note of the customers who come to drink and make small talk with his servers.Lois is a hardworking waitress pushing fifty who hasn't forgotten her big city dreams. When opportunity presents itself, she boards the train ...

Busted Flat is gritty coming of age story of Hap, a homeless orphaned teenaged boy picked up by Shiner, a veteran of the Afghanistan wars. Together they travel the U.S. surviving by stealth and theft. Masterfully told by the boy Hap, the boy's experience with Shiner gradually leads to a dawning realization that the man who "saved" him from the streets, who sees that he is fed and has a place to sleep, is deeply troubled. PTSD makes Shiner's behavior erratic and sometimes violent. ...

The folks of Argus, Illinois, from the small-time dealer to the returning Vietnam vet, the townie grocery clerk and the new sheriff, all know what they want out of life, but the paths to their desires are conflicted and unclear. In a narrative with all the clarity and determination of a prophecy, Well Deserved chronicles the struggles of these four people as they come to the stark realization that their paths are not solitary, but entwined, and their very lives hinge on one shared...

Set in Gray's fictional small town of Argus, Illinois, Police Chief Art Millage faces one last manhuntAs Art prepares to step down after 15 years as Chief and pursue a new life running the local marina, a mysterious figure from his past returns to Argus-Nathan Bedford, the son of Brant Russell, a desperate criminal Art was forced to kill in the line of duty years before.The troubled young Bedford, never having known his father, begins stalking Art. Tensions rise and suspici...