Growing up in the South in the 1970s was a challenge at the best of times, especially in small communities like Chabot, Mississippi, where many folks still held tight to their resentment of the turbulent civil rights movement. For two young boys -- one black, one white -- becoming friends during this time could be a dangerous thing to do.

In his new book, CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER, author Tom Franklin weaves the threads of friendship, tragedy and redemption into a heart-wrenching story that readers will not soon forget.

Kids called Larry Ott "Scary Larry" because he was a strange boy, preferring to lose himself in his Stephen King novels than interact with others. Silas "32" Jones was a newcomer to Chabot and found it difficult to fit in to the small town way of life until he became a high school football star. But for a little while, the boys developed an unusual acceptance of one another, a tentative friendship during a time when they both needed it. But tragedy strikes when a girl Larry took for a date turns up missing and, although there is no hard evidence, Larry is seen as the prime suspect in her disappearance. Larry's life, and that of his family, is forever shattered. The fall-out inadvertently affects Silas as well, leading to his leaving town, vowing never to return. Twenty years later, Silas has returned to Chabot as the town's constable. His former friend Larry, now a mechanic, is still considered strange by the town folks but tries to lead a quiet life; but he's still the first person they suspect anytime anything bad happens. When the daughter of the mill owner disappears, Silas is forced to consider the idea that the past may have come back to haunt his old friend Larry once again, and it's up to Silas to put all the pieces of the puzzle together to uncover the real truth. But will the secrets that he dredges up help or hurt everyone who is involved?

Drawing inspiration from his own Southern small-town childhood, Tom Franklin expertly captures the gritty desperation of poverty-stricken Mississippi in CROOKED LETTER, CROOKED LETTER. You can almost smell the piney essence of the woods that have been clear-cut for lumber and the unique pungent odor of the mill wafting through this suspenseful story. Using the childhood mnemonic slang term "crooked letter" (M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, humpback, humpback, I) for Mississippi as the title for this spellbinding tale, Franklin, in my opinion, has delivered one of the best books of 2010.