As Good as Gone: A Novel

When Bill and Marjorie Sidey have to go out of town for Marjorie’s surgery, Bill asks his father, Calvin, to stay with the children. But Calvin Sidey isn’t just any grandfather. Living alone in a trailer far from other people, Calvin is a relic of the Old West–with a reputation solidified by a violent act he committed years ago. Though Ann and Will are old enough to operate mostly independently, they’re both facing dangers: Ann from a rough, too-persistent boyfriend, and Will from a gang of unsavory friends. When Calvin decides it’s time to intervene, he does so according to his own code of morality and justice–acting out of a kind of love but also resolutely pushing those who love him away.

Watson’s tough, spare prose breathes life into Calvin in every scene, and offers no room for too much introspection or wavering hesitation. Calvin is too much of a cowboy for that. But make no mistake, he’s quick to tell his grandson: there’s no romance in the cowboy life. Calvin knows who he is, and he knows what he’s capable of. A character that is dead-set against change will break your heart–and leaves readers wanting to follow him long after this beautiful novel ends.