Quick Synopsis

Ken Jaworowski’s Small Town Sins is a gripping Rust Belt thriller that captures the characters of a down-and-out Pennsylvania town, revealing their troubled pasts and the crimes that could cost them their lives.

Publisher’s Synopsis

In Locksburg, Pennsylvania, a former coal and steel town whose best days seem long past, five thousand residents have toughed it out, and have reasons for both worry and hope as this neglected place teeters between decay and renewal. For some of them, their biggest troubles have just arrived.

After years of just scraping by, three restless souls have their lives upended: Nathan, a volunteer fireman who uncovers a secret stash of money in a burning building and takes it; Callie, a nurse whose tender patient may not have long to live, despite the girl’s fundamentalist parents’ ardent beliefs; and Andy, a recovering heroin addict who undertakes a nightmare mission to hunt down and stop a serial predator.

Before long, Nathan’s stolen riches threaten to destroy everyone around him as he tries to cover his haphazard trail of lies. Callie risks her career to grant her young patient a final, and likely illegal, wish. And Andy’s hunger for vigilante justice becomes a fierce obsession that may end in violence.

As their stories barrel toward unexpected ends, Nathan, Callie, and Andy struggle to endure―or escape. They each face their pasts and gamble on their futures, and confront the underside of their rough Rust Belt town. Riveting, evocative, and unforgettable, Small Town Sins is a debut novel that marks the arrival of a major new talent.

Book Review

Small Town Sins is a debut thriller that follows three different individuals in the small Rust Belt town of Locksburg, Pennsylvania. Each of the main characters are facing the grim choices available in the dying town.

In Small Town Sins, Ken Jaworowski takes readers on a journey through the lives of three people stuck in a dead-end town. He asks us what do you do when all life hands you is an array of poor choices and bad circumstances and is a poor choice still wrong if you’re doing it for the right reasons.

I often find that authors struggle to make multiple narrators/protagonists equally compelling. Nathan, Callie, & Andy each represent an archetype of small town America. Each of their storylines is equally engrossing. I was never discontent with a storyline or dreaded one more than another. I think this is no small feat, particularly from a debut author.

My heart was warmed several times during Small Town Sins, which is not something I can usually say about a thriller. But despite the characters’ pasts or current decisions, they each displayed bits of altruism that left me feeling warm fuzzies.

For me, the only let down with this novel was the ending. I wanted more closure and a more definite stop. I felt like the end was a bit arbitrarily set and was not quite satisfying. I am still wondering what becomes of Nathan, Callie, and Andy. I realize that Jaworowski made his point, and therefore, saw the book as complete. But I needed a bit more story.

Overall, Small Town Sins is a strong debut novel full of grit. Jaworowski forces readers to confront the reality of post-industrial small towns and then dares us to judge those individuals when we actually know the full story. I recommend this novel and am looking forward to what the author writes next!

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