The Killing Jars

About the Book

John Trickett is a rancher in southern Saskatchewan suffering from guilt since his brother Luke vanished from the world twenty-five years ago. Luke was diagnosed with Schizophrenia while studying Entomology at the University of British Columbia and was institutionalized by his family who could not bear the shame of another illness. Institutions closed and Luke fell through the cracks.

When John's father calls him to his house in Maple Creek, he finds his frail mother clutching a newspaper article on the lost souls living in the ravines of Toronto. There is a photograph. She thinks it's Luke and pleads John to bring him home. He makes a promise to her and to himself, to reconcile a life lost. But John's wife Nora implores him not to go. She has a dire fear of Luke and what his return may bring to Windrush.

John defies Nora and leaves on a journey to Toronto's netherworld in the ravines of Toronto where he meets Steven, a contemptible panhandler. But he knows how to find Luke. John befriends him and soon learns that he is more than he seems, an intelligent young man hiding from unimaginable horrors. Finally Steven leads John to Luke. Together at long last, Luke is skittish, wild, and does not recognize John. In that moment enemies of Steven interrupt the reunion. There is a shooting and Luke is wounded.

Luke recovers and in the fall John brings him home to Windrush. Nora tries to accept him but cannot see past her fear. Still John is determined to make things right at all costs, to give Luke back the life taken from him. But all is not well with Luke. He is lost again. And John comes to terms with his past. What his family did and did not do for Luke could never be truly forgiven, but at last acknowledged and accepted to allow space for new beginnings.

About the Author

Danial Neil is the author of eleven novels. The Killing Jars is his debut novel. He won First Prize in Poetry at the Surrey International Writer's Conference writing contest four times and had a short story published in the Federation of BC Writers Anthology edited by Susan Musgrave. Dan has studied Creative Writing at UBC. His writing is rich with the details of landscape and soul. His latest novel, Flight of the Dragonfly was published by Borealis Press in Ottawa, Ontario in September 2009. my June published by Ronsdale Press - 2014, The Trees of Calan Gray published by Oolichan Books - 2015. He lives in British Columbia, Canada.