Cover: Mason’s Jar: A Novel by John Jantunen

Mason’s Jar

Jantunen, John

$13.99

  • An electrifying mash-up of the western, sci-fi, and horror genres set against a backdrop of the housing, mental health, opioid, and climate crises

    Ex–police chief Mason Lowry is hell-bent on retribution. Ten years ago he arrested outlaw biker Clarence Boothe for selling a bad batch of illicit narcotics that killed 37 people. Boothe’s gang retaliated by killing Lowry’s teenage granddaughter, and ever since Mason has been biding his time, waiting for the moment when he can exact his revenge. But unbeknownst to him, Clarence has been laying plans of his own.

    In this-all-too-near future, addiction to the drug Euphoral has become epidemic. Withdrawal causes a violent psychosis, and on the night of their leader’s release, Clarence’s gang unleashes a waking nightmare by withholding its supply. Seeing the city he once swore to serve and protect descending into madness fuels Mason’s fury and he launches a one-man assault on Clarence’s compound. During the midnight raid, he’s saved from certain death by Meghan, a teenage captive with a violent past of her own who may just hold the key to something Mason had thought he’d lost forever: a chance at redemption.

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  • John Jantunen has lived in almost every region of Canada and currently resides in Kingston, Ontario. His first novel, Cipher, was shortlisted for a 2014 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize in the Mystery category and No Quarter was nominated for a 2019 Shamus Award.

  • Published: June 2023

    ISBN: 9781770417014

    Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 in.

    Pages: 360

Reviews

“A grimy, dripping fever dream freshly splattered across the cracked windshield of Ontario’s sputtering future.” — Andrew F. Sullivan, author of The Marigold and The Handyman Method

“Hope is an underlying theme throughout the novel, and change, after all “the line between being rich and poor in this country is very, very fragile. It’s very precarious.” And anyone can end up on the other side of that line, and when the balance tips, all manner of nightmares can materialize, as Jantunen aptly illustrates in Mason’s Jar.” — Bay Today

“I’ve been in awe of writer John Jantunen’s immense talent for some time now. With Mason’s Jar, he has joined the ranks of Cormac McCarthy and Michael Punke. It’s a work created by a towering talent of uncommon vision. He’s reached a place of rarity — a place occupied by genius. What really struck me was that it was an intelligent book written by an intelligent writer for intelligent readers. He played the notes that weren't there, as Miles Davis said.” — Les Edgerton, author of Hard Times, Adrenaline Junkie and others

“It won't be the happiest story you read this year, but you definitely will not soon forget it.” — Shelf Life