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North Country
- Author
- Matt Bondurant
- Narrator
- Jim Meskimen
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 10 January 2026
- Run Time
- 11 hours 58 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
A taut literary thriller set along the northern border, North Country explores the monsters frozen in the depths of the human soul.
North Chazy, New York, is the heart of the North Country, a frigid region nestled against the Canadian border, characterized by the beautiful landscapes of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain—plus a steady stream of Quebecois drugs flowing south, spirited by snowmobile across the ice.
Tom Kaiser, fresh off a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, returns to North Chazy for his ailing father’s final days. It’s an uneasy homecoming—ever since his little sister was lost under the ice in mysterious circumstances when they were children, Kaiser has felt a terrible presence swimming in the deep.
Needing work, Kaiser falls in with Donnie LeClair, a slumlord, loan shark, and aesthete whose private collection of landscapes would rival a modest museum’s. Kaiser earns his keep roughing up unsavory locals who are late on their rent. But his true value is his aptitude for satellite telemetry, allowing him to find gaps in border surveillance, a useful skill for working with a Montreal kingpin who wants to move large quantities of ecstasy into the US.
As Kaiser spirals through the underbelly of drugs and crime, he finds the roots of evil run deep in the North Country—as bleak, impenetrable, and foreboding as the frozen lake.
Critics Review
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“Absolutely captivating…Bondurant pulls you right to the deep end in North Country. Vividly imagined and brilliantly written, you won’t want to miss this literary thriller.”
Don Winslow, #1 internationally bestselling author
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“Matt Bondurant has gotten better with each book, and this literary crime novel is his best yet. If this doesn’t center him on the map, find me a new map.”
Tom Franklin, New York Times bestselling author
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“Matt Bondurant’s North Country is a beautifully bleak crime drama, chock-full of unforgettable characters. The fictional border town of North Chazy, left for dead in a world that’s passed it by, feels so real it hurts.”
Ben McKenzie, New York Times bestselling author of Easy Money and lead actor on The O.C. and Gotham
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“Immersive…Multilayered characterizations and evocative prose enrich the proceedings. For literary thriller fans, it’s worth a look.”
Publishers Weekly
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“Bondurant’s absorbing novel about intersecting lives in a small town and the ripple effect of fateful decisions is infused with pathos and driven by intriguing characters and excellent plot twists.”
Booklist
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“Bondurant is a nimble writer…[His] prose is lyrical when the whiskey floods in, but also when the blood flows out.”
The New York Times, praise for the author
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“Only a writer of Bondurant’s skill could achieve such complicated braiding.”
Wiley Cash, New York Times bestselling author, on Oleander City
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“Bondurant writes fiercely and passionately…We are aware from the first page that we are in the hands of a remarkable storyteller.”
San Francisco Chronicle on The Wettest County in the World
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“As his new role deepens, the line between survival and complicity grows precarious. Ideal for readers of atmospheric literary thrillers rooted in landscape and internal conflict.”
The Cullman Times
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“To read Matt Bondurant is to make a commitment to the world of the novel. The setting is always rich, the cast of characters extensive, and their motivations deep and complex. Still, it’s worth every minute to get to experience a ride like North Country…Drug running, satellite tracking, fractured family dynamics, the dream of making a better tomorrow, and the awful ways people hurt one another unite in North Country, but don’t assume the book is without hope. Hope is a Bondurant hallmark, and it runs steady as the current under frozen Lake Champlain in this novel.”
San Francisco Book Review (five stars)
User Reviews
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Details
- Author
- Matt Bondurant
- Narrator
- Jim Meskimen
- Duration
- 11 hours 58 minutes
- Release Date
- 10 January 2026
- ISBN
- 9798874811785
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Thriller / suspense fiction, Crime and mystery fiction, Fiction: general and literary, Contemporary fantasy, Thriller / suspense fiction, Thriller / suspense fiction
Synopsis
A taut literary thriller set along the northern border, North Country explores the monsters frozen in the depths of the human soul.North Chazy, New York, is the heart of the North Country, a frigid region nestled against the Canadian border, characterized by the beautiful landscapes of the Adirondacks and Lake Champlain—plus a steady stream of Quebecois drugs flowing south, spirited by snowmobile across the ice.Tom Kaiser, fresh off a dishonorable discharge from the Air Force, returns to North Chazy for his ailing father’s final days. It’s an uneasy homecoming—ever since his little sister was lost under the ice in mysterious circumstances when they were children, Kaiser has felt a terrible presence swimming in the deep.Needing work, Kaiser falls in with Donnie LeClair, a slumlord, loan shark, and aesthete whose private collection of landscapes would rival a modest museum’s. Kaiser earns his keep roughing up unsavory locals who are late on their rent. But his true value is his aptitude for satellite telemetry, allowing him to find gaps in border surveillance, a useful skill for working with a Montreal kingpin who wants to move large quantities of ecstasy into the US.As Kaiser spirals through the underbelly of drugs and crime, he finds the roots of evil run deep in the North Country—as bleak, impenetrable, and foreboding as the frozen lake.
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