Mink: Skinning Time in Wisconsin

It's The Monkey Wrench Gang meets Psycho in 1993 when penniless Gulf War veteran and would-be guitar hero Kees VanSpyker is hired by the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) to infiltrate a mink ranch to discover what happened to the last guy they sent there—who subsequently vanished. A story of ecoterrorism, animal liberation, fur farming, and that sweet '90s music.

"Everything about Mink is unexpected. The deep dive into mink farming, the trip back to the 90s. The prose is so elegant and evocative, which lulls you into a comfortable sense of nostalgia, only to rip that all away with an ending that leaves you breathless and shocked. A superb book by Zakariah Johnson, and I can't wait to read more."

—Amina Akhtar, author of KISMET

"In the magical world of fiction, if T.C. Boyle and Robert Bloch had a love child, his name would be Zakariah Johnson. Johnson is a sharp-eyed writer with an ear attuned to the period in which he sets his story.

—Jeff Esterholm, lifelong Badger-stater and author of The Effects of Urban Renewal on Mid-Century America and Other Stories

"Filled with a cadre of fascinating characters set within a unique premise soaked in Midwest and 90s nostalgia, Mink delivers intrigue, thrills, and heart all the way to the bloody end. You won't want to stop reading once you've started."

—Curtis Ippolito, author of Burying the Newspaper Man

"Mink reaffirms what many of us Midwesterners know about Wisconsin: That state's not just about beer, cheese, and the Packers—it's a setting for deadly secrets."

—Michelle Kubitz, mystery writer

"Clever and twisty, Mink is a wild and visceral page-turner that will leave you clutching your hair and turning vegan."

—Meagan Lucas, author of Songbirds and Stray Dogs and Here in the Dark

"Mink delivers unflinchingly dark realism with an atmospheric crystal-clarity in Johnson's deft hands. You want a slasher horror-mystery tale that smartly, tartly evokes the sick, twisted underbelly of the 1990s? Think Mink."

—D.T. Neal, author of The Cursed Earth and The Thing in Yellow