Forty Days and Forty Nights: A Novel of the Mississippi River
By Amber Edwards and Justin Scott
About the Book
Forty days and forty nights of torrential rain swell the Mississippi River to the brink of deadly rampage. Clementine Price, a young Army Corps of Engineers officer born beside the river, draws on science, brutal loss, and a warrior spirit to protect the people and the homeland she loves from a catastrophic flood. Suddenly, she discovers that a richly funded domestic terrorist—hiding in plain sight as a pillar of the community— has ingeniously weaponized the looming natural disaster.
Inspired by a river as powerful as it is unpredictable, his plot to inundate the Delta and cleave from America his own white supremacist nation is already in motion. Clementine has only hours to stop civil war and save millions from drowning. With the help of fellow Corps officers, civil servants, farmers, and local law enforcement, Clementine must harness the power of the torrent to turn nature’s fury against her enemy and embrace the raging river as her most potent ally.
About the Authors
Amber Edwards & Justin Scott are husband and wife. Forty Days and Forty Nights is their first collaboration. Amber, whose mother was reared in the Delta, has directed, produced, and written nineteen national PBS documentaries and one theatrical feature. Forty Days and Forty Nights, her first novel, was inspired by the only documentary she never finished, about an extraordinary Arkansas cousin. Justin, twice nominated for MWA Edgars, is the author of thirty-seven novels, ranging from thrillers to mysteries, sea stories to historical fiction, and nine detective adventures in the Isaac Bell series with Clive Cussler, three of which debuted at number one on the NYT Bestseller List.
Praise for Forty Days and Forty Nights
“Wonderful . . . the river—ominous, atmospheric, somehow inevitable—is so much more than just a part of the story . . . it is the story, in all its might and majesty. Very impressive, and highly recommended.”
—Lee Child, bestselling author of the Jack Reacher novels
“At this novel’s heart is a mighty river, raging and swirling, swirling and raging, and its characters are plain unforgettable. I sat down to read a few pages but got caught in its inexorable current and I couldn’t stop (and didn’t want to). A love story, an adventure story, a timeless story: Forty Days and Forty Nights is remarkable. I just wish it were longer!” —Tom Franklin, Edgar-winning author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
“Harrowing, fascinating, and entirely too plausible, Forty Days and Forty Nights is a thriller you’ll lose sleep over.” —Joseph Finder, New York Times bestselling author of House on Fire
“What a book! I was hooked not just by the plot and the rich mix of folks who make up the U.S., but by the characters, who are fantastically drawn. Clementine—‘just a farm girl who got herself to West Point’—what a powerful and down-to-earth hero.” —Susan Isaacs, New York Times bestselling author
"Readers looking for action and adventure on a cinematic scale will be rewarded."— Publishers Weekly. Read the full review here.
Read an Excerpt at Professional Mariner
Watch Amber and Justin discuss their book at the Six Bridges Festival here.
© 2021 University of Louisiana at Lafayette Press
Paperback | 366 Pages | 6" x 9" | $20.00 | ISBN: 978-1-946160-76-8