Lost in the Holler
by Michael West
GENRE: Southern Gothic, Family Saga
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/12/2025
DESCRIPTION:
Disillusioned with his soulless New York career, RJ Burnette returns to his Appalachian home to find himself, only to discover a web of family secrets, including a decades-old murder. As he peels back layers of deception, RJ must confront the community’s rigid code of silence that forces him to question his identity, his past, and the very definition of justice in the insular world of Gizzard’s Holler.
The vivid and authentic descriptions of the food, the bluegrass jams, the slow pace of life, and the landscape place the reader in Gizzard’s Holler. There's a beautiful warmth in how the mountain folk care for one another, from cooking casseroles to sharing music on the porch. But that same closeness creates a formidable wall of silence, a protective, yet suffocating, nature of a closed community.
This story is haunted, not by ghosts, but by memories and secrets that refuse to stay buried. The final confession is chilling. Delivering a thematic payoff that is immense.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Michael West, a native of East Tennessee, has amassed a wealth of down-home wisdom from his travels and professional career as a Chief Executive Officer for several companies. His varied life has taught him the joy of trying new things and the comfort that comes from time with a good book. His writing reflects his easygoing storytelling style and diversity of thought; he seeks to entertain and inspire readers with stories that are sure to make the reader wonder, laugh, and think.
Today, Michael is Executive Chairman of Lirio, an agentic AI company focusing on patient engagement and behavior in healthcare. Despite his travels and wide-ranging career, Michael is never far from his grandchildren. An unabashed fan of his grandkids, he now lives in Bristol, Tennessee, with his wife of 37 years, Tiffiny. They have two children. Ashley and her husband, Gautum, and their daughter Kaneera live in Colorado and Thomas and his wife, Alexa, and their son Emmett and daughter Adelina, in Virginia.
REVIEWS:
“Community and justice go under a microscope in this thought-provoking novel.” – Kirkus Reviews
“The author sets up a compelling dynamic in which RJ must determine what he can live without knowing; the town isn’t going to change, so he must. Everything comes together in a shocking conclusion that readers won’t soon forget.” – Kirkus Reviews
"Stylistically, West favors clarity over flourish. His prose is direct and grounded in Appalachian cadence without overplaying dialect. The pacing is steady, building tension through revelation rather than spectacle. Some of the strongest scenes are quiet — a shared meal, a late-night conversation, a box of letters opened in a cedar chest. These moments root the mystery in emotional reality." BookTrib
CASTING:
RJ, Josh Lucas; James, Jeff Bridges; Nita Kathy Bates
PRIMARY VENUES/LOCATIONS WITHIN THE BOOK:
New York, NY, Mountain City TN in the Appalachian Mountains
BOOK EXCERPT:
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