Mason's Jar

(Paperback)

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Set against a backdrop of the housing, mental health, opioid, and climate crises increasingly affecting so many communities, Masons Jar upends the classic western revenge tale to create a relentlessly entertaining vision of a man, and a world, teetering on the brink only to find hope in the unlikeliest of places.

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

Expolice 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. Boothes gang retaliated by killing Lowrys 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 leaders release, Clarences gang unleashes a waking nightmare by withholding its supply. Seeing the city he once swore to serve and protect descending into madness fuels Masons fury and he launches a one-man assault on Clarences compound. During the midnight raid, hes 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 hed lost forever: a chance at redemption.

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
"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

Author Bio

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.