Every Shallow Cut -- Tom Piccirilli

Every Shallow Cut is new novella by Tom Piccirilli, and it's a harrowing tale of a man who's lost pretty much everything: his house, his wife, his writing career (such as it was), his self-respect. About all he has left is Churchill, his bulldog. And then things start to go downhill.

In a way, this is something of a road novel, as the narrator's traveling across country to his brother's home, where he thinks he might find . . . something. But when he gets there, there's nothing. There's nothing anywhere for him and maybe not for anyone else, either. The novella is a cry of rage, anguish, and hopelessness, guaranteed to bring you down. It's blunt, compelling, and moving in a way that's hard to explain. You'll just have to experience it for yourself. You can read it quickly, but you'll remember it for a long time to come.