HOME | FINN | KINGS OF THE EARTH | BIO | ON TOUR | EXCERPT | LINKS

Impoverished, illiterate, and rooted to the land, the three Proctor brothers have lived and worked together since childhood. When one dies and another is suspected of his murder, the community begins to talk. KINGS OF THE EARTH is a story of life and death and what comes after, on a hardscrabble farm in upstate New York.

An upstate native, Jon reports that the wellspring of his new book is the tragedy of the Ward brothers, a case that was the subject of national news coverage and a documentary film, Brother's Keeper, in the 1990's. Jon's father grew up down the road from the Ward brothers, although the elder Clinch—unlike his neighbors—is still among the living.

Kings of the Earth will be published by Random House.

Contents copyright 2007-8, Jon Clinch