A haunting and disturbing tale of a violent outcast Child of God is Cormac McCarthy's most
shocking and brutally compelling work. From the author of Blood Meridian and The Road . 1960s
Tennessee. Lester Ballard is a violent solitary and introverted young backwoodsman
dispossessed on his ancestral land. Homeless indulging in voyeurism he is accused of rape.
When he is released from jail he begins to haunt the hilly landscape - preying upon its
population unleashing his impulse for sexualised violence. As the story hurtles toward its
unforgettable conclusion McCarthy depicts the most sordid aspects of life with empathy and
lyricism. 'A powerful and talented writer able to elicit compassion for his protagonist
however terrible his action' - Sunday Times Praise for Cormac McCarthy: 'McCarthy worked
close to some religious impulse his books were terrifying and absolute' - Anne Enright author
of The Green Road and The Wren The Wren 'His prose takes on an almost biblical quality
hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power' - Stephen King author of The Shining
and the Dark Tower series '[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose
[McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence' - Annie Proulx author of
Brokeback Mountain Part of the Picador Collection a series showcasing the best of modern
literature.
