by Jess Walter
“And what do you think?”
“What do I think?” Above her, the jet stream is already dissolving in the violet sky. She sets the legal pads down, presses her thumb against her lips, then reaches over and touches his forehead. It is ice cold. She doesn’t even remember if this is how it’s done. But she makes a small cross of absolution on his cold forehead. Clark closes his eyes. “I think this world is enough,” Caroline says.
And then she leans back and rests, stares out across her city, just beginning to stir, the houses coming to light among the timbers and the first cars gliding along the hillsides—the entire valley bathed in sun—dark ridges of pine and fir holding it in timeless embrace. Clark leans against her and morning settles over them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to Anne Walter, Dan Butterworth, Jim Lynch, Cal Morgan, Lina Perl, Wayne Brookes, and Judith Regan for various acts of criticism, enthusiasm, and patience, and to Tony and Suzanne Bamonte, whose book, Spokane’s Legendary Davenport Hotel, was a valuable resource.
OTHER BOOKS BY JESS WALTER
RUBY RIDGE
IN CONTEMPT
(WITH CHRISTOPHER DARDEN)
OVER TUMBLED GRAVES
Credits
Cover art and design by Keenan
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No reference to any real person is intended or should be inferred.
LAND OF THE BLIND. Copyright © 2003 by Jess Walter. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Walter, Jess, 1969–
Land of the blind: a novel / Jess Walter.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-06-039439-01.
1. Police—Washington (State)—Spokane—Fiction. 2. Spokane (Wash.)—Fiction. 3. Policewomen—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3573.A4722834 L36 2003
813'.54—dc21
2002031858
03 04 05 06 07 WBC/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Epub Edition © JUNE 2012 ISBN: 9780062036957
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W, 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com