Bound and Unbound: A paranormal novella duology
Ali Hazelwood
In the Valley of the Sun: A Novel
by Andy Davidson
About this book
- [x]
A finalist for the 2017 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel.
An addictive Western literary horror for fans of Joe Hill, Cormac McCarthy, and Anne Rice.
One night in 1980, a man becomes a monster.
Haunted by his past, Travis Stillwell spends his nights searching out women in West Texas honky-tonks. What he does with them doesn’t make him proud, just quiets the demons for a little while. But after Travis crosses paths one night with a mysterious pale-skinned girl, he wakes weak and bloodied in his cabover camper the next morning—with no sign of a girl, no memory of the night before.
When motel-owner Annabelle Gaskin offers the cowboy a few odd jobs to pay his board, he takes her up on the offer. By day, he mends the old motel, insinuating himself into the lives of Annabelle and her ten-year-old son. By night, in the cave of his camper, he fights an unspeakable hunger. Before long, Annabelle and her boy come to realize that Travis is not what he seems.
Half a state away, a grizzled Texas Ranger is hunting Travis for his past misdeeds, but what he finds will lead him to a revelation far more monstrous. A man of the law, he’ll have to decide how far into the darkness he’ll go for the sake of justice.
When these lives converge on a dusty autumn night, an old evil will find new life—and new blood.
- Publication Date
- May 25, 2026
- ASIN
- 1510742840
Reader Reviews
August 10, 2021
Readers are likely to only read the Prologue of IN THE VALLEY OF THE SUN (2017) by Andy Davidson which takes place in Texas in 1980 before they start to wonder exactly what they have gotten themselves into. Travis Stillwell has a woman, Rue, “seventeen, maybe eighteen” alone with him in his camper anticipating an evening of what comes naturally to him—something most unnatural—but when he wakes up in the morning, he is unable to remember the night before. It is “a black hole punched through his...
May 7, 2018
A story that is compelling and keeps the interest high, wondering just what is going to happen. Although in the Vampire genre, it changes many of the expected Vampire scenarios, bringing the drinking of blood to a much more graphic and devastating level. No pointed fangs here, but copious amounts of blood. The interdiction of Texas Rangers, pursuing a strangler with a definitive MO places the story within the crime genre as well. The mixing of the two genre is marvelously interwoven. Nothing in...
December 6, 2019
\"In the Valley of the Sun\" is a purposely disjointed, haunting novel that sings its bleak, darkly poetic composition so quietly into your ear, you leave it unsure of its meaning... Here, author Andy Davidson creates a stark and bitter emotional landscape that burdens your consciousness with its endless, seemingly empty search for truth and meaning. His slow, laborious prose pressing harshly against your soul, leaving you feeling heavy and pained. You leave this book unsure of Travis's...
September 4, 2017
I had waited decades and completely given up hope of finding vampire novel that combined traditional lore with a splash of originality. The desert of the western United States was the perfect backdrop to this story-conveying life that's eked out in spite of the harsh environment. Not since I discovered Salem's Lot in the 70's have I been so transported and covered in gooseflesh as when I had the good fortune to pick up In The Valley of the Sun. I gobbled up the 384 pages in about a day and a...
June 23, 2024
I was not prepared to enjoy this book this much. Not a happy ending, BTW…but a deeply satisfying one. It’s modern day horror with a touch of a bleak western (Cormac, kinda). BUT NOT for the faint of heart. Whew. )
