Where Trouble Sleeps (Ballantine Reader's Circle)
Edgerton returns to his native stomping grounds, small-town North Carolina, for his latest humorous portrayal of the irrationalities and peculiarities of human nature. In 1950, the community of Listre is not much more than a meager assortment of houses and businesses that have sprung up around a crossroads; a blinking traffic light was installed a while back (after a mule and a truck collided), which at least represents a certain amount of modernization. In yarn-like fashion, Edgerton perambulates around town from one citizen to another, establishing in the reader's mind who is who and what the ambience is like. Then about a third of the way through the book (up to this point, it reads more like a series of short stories than a novel), the real action begins, when a stranger arrives. Jack Umstead starts hanging around town; people notice him right away--he wears a yellow shirt every day. He begins ingratiating himself with the townsfolk, but the reader immediately knows what the town does not know, that Jack is up to no good, that he's here for his own benefit, not anyone else's. But it doesn't take long for the town to learn this, too, and in the process, we have been treated to a delightful tale of innocence and betrayal.Brad Hooper--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.