Black Angus — Newton Thornburg

An Ozarks rancher takes a desperate gamble in this searing novel from “one of the truly great American writers of the 20th century” (The Guardian).
 
Bob Blanchard spent his entire inheritance on a cattle ranch in the Missouri Ozarks -- but it hasn't turned out the way he'd hoped, and he's now being threatened with foreclosure. The cattle are sick, and the herd can't survive, so Blanchard agrees to a reckless scheme to sell the cattle before their illness is widely known. But when a faked cattle rustling and an insurance scam goes wrong, the plan begins to crumble from the inside out.
 
“A commanding writer of unusual delicacy and power.” -- The New Yorker
 
“A born storyteller.” -- St. Louis Post-Dispatch