Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

When Ghosts Come Home

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Winner of the SIBA Southern Book Prize for Fiction

"I loved it and devoured it with fury, straight to its blazing end." —Lily King, author of Writers & Lovers

From the New York Times bestselling author of A Land More Kind Than Home, a tender and haunting story of a father and daughter, crime and forgiveness, race and memory.

When the roar of a low-flying plane awakens him in the middle of the night, Sheriff Winston Barnes knows something strange is happening at the nearby airfield on the coast of North Carolina. But nothing can prepare him for what he finds: a large airplane has crash-landed and is now sitting sideways on the runway, and there are no signs of a pilot or cargo. When the body of a local man is discovered—shot dead and lying on the grass near the crash site—Winston begins a murder investigation that will change the course of his life and the fate of the community that he has sworn to protect.

Everyone is a suspect, including the dead man. As rumors and accusations fly, long-simmering racial tensions explode overnight, and Winston, whose own tragic past has followed him like a ghost, must do his duty while facing the painful repercussions of old decisions. Winston also knows that his days as sheriff may be numbered. He's up for re-election against a corrupt and well-connected challenger, and his deputies are choosing sides. As if these events weren't troubling enough, he must finally confront his daughter Colleen, who has come home grieving a shattering loss she cannot fully articulate.

As the suspense builds and this compelling mystery unfolds, Wiley Cash delves deep into the hearts of these richly drawn, achingly sympathetic characters to reveal the nobility of an ordinary man struggling amidst terrifying, extraordinary circumstances.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 26, 2021
      The trouble for Sheriff Winston Barnes, the upstanding hero of this leisurely whodunit set in 1984 from bestseller Cash (A Land More Kind than Home), begins when he drives late one night to the tiny Oak Island, N.C., airport, where an airplane has crash landed. On the runway near the plane, which is empty, lies the body of Rodney Bellamy, who’s been shot to death. Rodney went to school with Winston’s estranged daughter, Colleen, and was the son of one of the county’s leading civil rights advocates. An FBI investigation into the mysterious plane, which may have been carrying cocaine, threatens Winston’s image as a capable cop—and his chances in a tough re-election against rich boy Bradley Frye. Racial tensions escalate as Frye’s crew of thugs threaten Rodney’s widow and her 14-year-old brother. Meanwhile, Colleen is in town from Texas to figure out her law career and marriage after the death of her baby. A surfeit of background exposition and multiple tangential story lines slow the momentum of the murder plot. This rich character-driven tale works best as a social portrait of a community and an era. Agent: Nat Sobel, Sobel Weber Assoc.

    • Kirkus

      August 1, 2021
      In the 1980s, a small North Carolina town is thrown into turmoil when the sheriff discovers a dead body and a crashed plane. When Sheriff Winston Barnes is awoken by a loud noise in the middle of the night, he gets out of bed to investigate at the local airport. But what he finds there surprises him--an empty plane and a dead body. Now Winston, in the middle of an election against an entitled younger man named Bradley Frye who wants power more than he wants to be sheriff, has to figure out what was on that plane and who shot the man. As Barnes investigates the case, he's drawn deeper into the anger and resentment that bubble just below the surface in his small North Carolina beach town. The man who was shot, Rodney Bellamy, is Black, and now the White Bradley Frye and his friends are terrorizing Bellamy's family--driving through their neighborhood with Confederate flags, breaking their windows, and threatening them. In addition to the racism in his town, Sheriff Barnes is also dealing with his daughter, Colleen, who's back home and grieving after losing her child. Cash skillfully balances three points of view--those of Barnes, Colleen, and Jay, Rodney Bellamy's 14-year-old brother-in-law, who bears the brunt of Bradley Frye's racist attacks. Through the eyes of these very different characters, Cash creates an exquisitely detailed world that feels real and lived in. Sheriff Barnes is an easy character to root for as a man trying to do his best while living in a town that's fighting against him. Although the plot alone is compelling enough to keep readers turning the pages, this is also a quietly moving look at how realistically flawed characters deal with the tragedies life throws at them. A gripping mystery with characters that will linger in readers' minds long after they turn the last page.

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Booklist

      Starred review from August 1, 2021
      A plane flies in low over Oak Island, North Carolina, in the middle of the night, and after it crashes on the island's one scanty runway, Sheriff Winston Barnes discovers the bullet-riddled body of Rodney Bellamy on the ground nearby. With the wreckage missing both pilot and cargo, everything points to a failed drug heist, except that Rodney, a local Black basketball star and son of a beloved high-school teacher, had no known connection to that world. With his re-election days away, solving Rodney's murder and the mysterious plane crash would go a long way toward guaranteeing Barnes' victory. But his rival, Brandon Frye, a hot-shot land developer with a violent racist streak, capitalizes on the unsolved crime to paint Barnes as an incompetent buffoon. And maybe Barnes is distracted. His wife is dying of cancer, and his married daughter has suddenly returned home after the stillborn death of her first child. Writing with clarity and grace, best-selling Cash (The Last Ballad, 2017) is a gem of a storyteller, combining the solitary journey of a young mother's grief and a community's relentless battle against racial injustice. The result is a tightly crafted whodunit with true depth that readers will simultaneously want to speed through and savor.

      COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

    • Library Journal

      August 13, 2021

      Cash (The Last Ballad; A Land More Kind Than Home) dips into crime fiction with this novel set in 1984 coastal Oak Island, NC, where racial tensions are high, and developers are snapping up land to build houses for wealthy Northern "second homers" and transplants. Sheriff Winston Barnes is facing a tough reelection battle against odious local bad boy Bradley Frye and dealing with his wife Marie's cancer diagnosis. When a plane crash-lands in the middle of the night at the local airport, Winston arrives on the scene and finds an empty airplane and the body of Rodney Bellamy. He needs to solve the case and find Rodney's murderer before the election as well as comfort his daughter Colleen, who has returned to her parents' house after losing a baby. He also must contend with racists who terrorize Rodney's young widow Janelle and imply that Rodney was involved in drug dealing. VERDICT Cash excels at conveying realistic family and community dynamics and creating complex characters, at least with the Barneses. Other characters, especially the cartoon-like villain, are not as deftly written. Mystery readers might quibble with a sizable plot hole and a rushed but shocking ending, but Cash's fans and readers of Southern stories will enjoy.--Liz French, Library Journal

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      JD Jackson's performance is particularly skillful as he shifts among the multiple points of view of key characters whose stories are intertwined in this tense thriller. Cash's audiobook is set in a North Carolina beach town, a calm place that belies the intrigue and fear below its surface. Winston, the sheriff, responds to an early morning call to an airplane crash, where he finds the body of a murdered man. Details are scarce, and Winston soon clashes with his opponent in the upcoming election, as well as the father of the deceased man. The case inflames racial tensions in the community, forcing Winston to reckon with people he thought he could trust. Jackson's voice effectively captures the character's frustration, fear, and need for justice. S.P.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      December 1, 2021

      When a low-flying aircraft wakes Sheriff Winston Barnes in the middle of the night, he rushes to the tiny Oak Island, NC, airport, imagining a plane in distress. Instead, he finds an abandoned plane, wiped clean of fingerprints, and a murdered Black man on the runway. While he has served for decades as sheriff, Barnes isn't sure he can manage this murder investigation given what is already on his plate--he believes he is on the brink of losing his re-election bid to a wealthy racist land developer, his wife is battling cancer, and his married daughter has just arrived back home after a stillbirth. It is the mid-1980s, and the racial tensions that were already simmering below the surface come to a boil when white residents decide the plane crash is connected to Black members of the community smuggling drugs into town. Cash's (A Land More Kind Than Home) prose is the highlight of the novel, and veteran narrator J. D. Jackson's rich voice and steady pacing allow listeners to savor the lyrical writing. Jackson also smoothly manages the narrative shifts between Barnes, his daughter, and the teenage nephew of the murdered man, helping to bring their separate stories into a cohesive, powerful exploration of the devastating effects of racism. VERDICT Recommend to listeners who enjoy character-driven literary fiction.--Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib.

      Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading