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"Theres so much to love in Susan Bickfords newest novel, Dread of Winter: a profound sense of place, the visceral evocation of a bitter winters cold, a dead-on depiction of the pit of despair that is the opioid epidemic, and language so beautiful on the page itll give you goosebumps. Im a newcomer to Bickfords work, but Im putting her on my list of must-read authors. You should, too." - William Kent Krueger The remote town of Oriska, New York, hasnt been home for Sydney Lucerno for thirteen years. Shes escaped the creeping addictions and long-simmering anger that are as much a part of the landscape as the bitter cold. But when she gets the call that her mother is dying, every secret and fear she left behind is waiting to welcome her back. Two days later, her mothers lover is dead too. And Sydneys sworn to protect a half-sister she never knew she had, a prickly teenager named Maude, with an opiate habit and a bad-news family. But more lies and feuds are poised to spring from every once-familiar corner. The predators Sydney thought shed escaped are threatening both her and Maude. To get free, Sydney will have to discover the truth about what happened when she left - and decide what should stay buried, deep in the unforgiving snow . . . Praise for A Short Time to Die "By the end of the first chapter I was totally hooked." - Lisa Black "Gripping, chilling, and original . . . is sure to stay with you for a long, long time." - Eric Rickstad "Kept me reading late, late into the night, to an ending I never expected." - Taylor Stevens