After his estranged father is murdered in an apparent robbery-gone-bad, prizefighter Hudson Miller unexpectedly inherits his father’s business, a salvage yard called Miller's Pull-a-part. With his boxing career put on hold by a suspension, Hudson is desperate for money. He returns to his hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina to run the yard, only to discover that the family business is far more than junk cars and scrap metal; it harbors a deadly, dark secret that will thrust Hudson into the fight of his life.
It Dies with You is a timely story about the long shadows cast by sins of the past.
What People Are Saying
“Blackburn has a burner of a book on his hands. He's a crime writer whose name you need to remember, and if you read It Dies with You I can guarantee you won't forget it. Fans of Michael Farris Smith, David Joy, Daniel Woodrell, and Chris Offutt, this is the new writer you've been waiting for." -Wiley Cash, NY Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind than Home and When Ghosts Come Home
“Scott Blackburn pushes his characters to the extreme, while offering them grace and humility, the careful touch of a careful writer not afraid to go for the knockout.” —Michael Farris Smith, author of Nick and Blackwood
“Blackburn writes with the same ferocity as Hammett and James M. Cain and It Dies With You is a heavyweight gut punch of hardboiled badassery. This book will leave you with bloody knuckles.” -Brian Panowich, award-winning writer of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, & Hard Cash Valley.
“Scott Blackburn’s debut novel is a brutal, heartfelt story rooted deep in the rural South, told with an arresting new voice. Blackburn announces his arrival on the literary stage with a strong, right cross, straight to the jaw. Imagine if Ron Rash, David Joy, and Wiley Cash all stepped into a steel cage match and bled all over the page.” — Eryk Pruitt, author of Dirtbags
"It Dies With You is a satisfying gut-punch of a story. Gritty and surprising, the small-town Southern mystery is populated with big characters that make this novel truly special. I was rooting for Hudson Miller, the disgraced former prizefighter turned dive bar bouncer, from page one, and I still want to buy Charlie Shoaf a beer or six. Lucy Reyes is an absolute teenage badass. I’d happily spend more time in this world.” —Tiffany Quay Tyson, award-winning author of The Past is Never
“It Dies with You is a novel with a plot that keeps the pages turning. It’s a whodunnit with grit and heart. I wanted to stay with these characters after the final page, because even when faced with tremendous loss, they fight for what might not be in their best interests, but for what is right. In a cluttered market of antihero protagonists with no redeeming qualities, Hudson is a man I see myself in, and root for. Blackburn’s debut is a must read. It’s sentimental, absorbing, and fun as Hell.” -David Moloney, author of Barker House
“Lou Berney and Michael Kardos fans will look forward to more from this gifted author.” —Publishers Weekly
"Scott Blackburn's It Dies with You is a stunner. It hits hard right out of the gate and burns with that same intensity all the way through. Crackling prose, great characters, and a killer sense of place. Blackburn's written a gritty tale full of heart. Fans of Wiley Cash, S.A. Cosby, and Brian Panowich should take note. This book will really stay with me." -William Boyle, author of Shoot the Moonlight Out
“Scott Blackburn’s It Dies With You is a southpaw of a thriller that starts with a slow burn, stuns with a one-two punch of family drama and murder, lands a hook into small-town politics, and closes with an uppercut of an ending. With the most unusual sidekicks this side of a Stephen King novel, ex-boxer Hudson Miller must deal with the legacies left by his father’s death—if he survives. As a writer of Southern rural noir, Blackburn is one to watch.”’ -Christopher Swann, author of Fire in the Night
“Scott Blackburn wields prose like a scalpel, using it to peel apart a small Southern town with surgical precision. Gun-running, fisticuffs, murder—this debut novel has it all. Blackburn bobs and weaves between humor and heartbreak with a sure-footed confidence that will make Joe Lansdale green with envy. Equal parts laugh-out-loud funny and gut-wrenching, It Dies with You will live on in readers’ imaginations long after the last page.” - J.G. Hetherton, author of Last Girl Gone
"[The characters'] chemistry is dynamite. Fans of the TV series Ozark will love this book" —First Clue
“It Dies with You is a delightfully gritty southern crime thriller that drives home an optimistic message of finding your purpose in the unlikeliest of places.” - Best Thriller Books