"Fleeing Atlanta and an emotionally abusive marriage, Imogene McBride heads west with her precocious, beautiful teenaged daughter, Cora. When their car breaks down in the tiny North Texas town of Agatite, the mother and daughter sit out the wait for reapairs on a court house bench. Cora wanders off to buy ice cream, enters a drug store--and disappears without a trace. Initially believing that Cora is playing a prank, an agitates Imma storms the drugstore and then the sheriff's office demanding answers. When answers don't come, she returns to the park bench to wait, her annoyance turning to fear, then to obsession."

The re-issue of Reynolds' first novel by Texas Tech University Press marks the launch of a series of novels written about and set in his singular imaginary county in North Central Texas. It will be followed by re-issues of Agatite, Franklin's Crossing, and Monuments as well as volumes of new fiction. This new trade paper edition contains both the afterword from the SMU Press second edition as well as a new foreword by the author.

"An engrossing novel. Reynolds knows how to create and maintain tension without resorting to sensationalism. His book, like its protagonist, has a stubborn integrity that you can't help admiring. Imma's metamorphosis is absorbing." -- The New York Times

"The Vigil is a first rate piece of writing, a story well told, and an almost classic mystery." -- The Dallas Morning News.

--“Reynolds knows how to create and sustain tension without resorting to sensationalism.”—Gary Krist, The New York Times Book Review

--“Reynolds evokes more in his first 200-page novel than James A. Michener manages in the average two-pounder.”—Tom McClellan, The Texas Observer

--“The small-town ambiance is convincing, and the situation packs a whallop.” –Kirkus Reviews

--“The Vigil is an original and must be lauded for its unique style and holding power.” –West Coast Review of Books

--“The book is deceptively simple . . . yet Reynolds has saturated the atmosphere with nuance, with the silky threads of sexuality, with haunting dreams.”—Doris Ober, The San Francisco Chronicle

--“Clay Reynolds’ ability to embroider a simple story makes this a quietly captivating read.” –Kevin Whitehead, The Baltimore Sun

“The Vigil is a novel that draws a reader to itself. Good novels do that.” –Ronald Reed, The Dallas Morning News

Available through booksellers everywhere and amazon.com.

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