ASHES, ASHES (Vine Leaves Press)
Release date: April 16, 2024 (Vine Leaves Press)
Available from your local indie bookstore and the following booksellers, linked below:
Press & Recognition
Readers & Writers - St. Paul Pioneer Press
Minnesota Writer Fredrick Soukup’s latest novel is ‘Ashes, Ashes’ - KAXE
Rooted in Realism - My Villager
9 Free Things to do in the Twin Cities this Week - Star Tribune
Book from Pequot Lakes graduate explores struggles of those raised in foster care - Brainerd Dispatch
Literary thriller from Pequot Lakes graduate explores struggles of those raised in foster care - Pine & Lakes ECHO Journal
About
Dorian is white-knuckle sober, carving out a life for himself in Minnesota’s Northwoods. He owes his reformation to the wisdom and love of Miss Bonnie, a foster mother to him and so many others, though painful memories of his tumultuous childhood and adolescence have kept him from returning to thank her. After learning of her sudden passing, he resolves to pay his respects. What he discovers back home, however, alters the course of his life forever.
Upon his return, Dorian reunites with Heath, a brother bound to Dorian not by blood, but by the years they spent together under Miss Bonnie’s roof. When Heath unburdens himself of a horrifying secret—that the local police covered up her murder—Dorian sets out to uncover the truth and bring the killer to justice.
Laying bare the struggles foster children experience in their pursuit of identity, belonging, and love, Ashes, Ashes is a unique and essential tale.
Praise for ASHES, ASHES
“Soukup offers up a heartfelt and genuine slice of life. His characters jump from the page with crackling dialog that transports the reader into an intoxicating, though often terrifying, world. Truly gripping.”
“Soukup conducts a chorus of seductively unreliable first-person voices to relate a heartbreaking coming of age… parable that delves into the depths of human despair and celebrates the redeeming power of compassion. Ashes, Ashes is unflinching acknowledgement of society’s unseen. You may be uncomfortable watching, but you won’t look away.”
“Soukup perfectly captures how growing up with trauma leads to harsh choices and, ultimately, a kind of grace.”
“Fredrick Soukup returns to familiar territory—rural Minnesota and its disenfranchised—capturing the abject despair of foster care youth while at the same time offering up a heartbreaking murder mystery.”
“Edgy. Smart. Exhilarating. This breathtaking thriller of small town intrigue demonstrates the heartbreak and redemption that can rise from the ashes of a pillaged youth.”