Spare and lyrical, High Hawk weaves a rich tapestry of love and history.
New Haunting Fiction
It’s 1970, and on the Windy Creek Reservation in South Dakota, amidst the rise of AIM in neighboring Pine Ridge, a baby boy appears nestled in a box of Styrofoam peanuts on the doorstep of St. Rose Catholic Church. His appearance disrupts the predictable, lonely life of longtime reservation priest Father Joe Kreitzer. The child, whom they name Bear, finds refuge under the care of Father Joe’s closest friend and ally, Alice Nighthawk.
Thirteen years pass without event, when Alice’s older son, Albert, is mysteriously murdered outside a bar in Rapid City, and Bear is accused of attempting to kill the only person who knows what happened that night. At the same time, Father Joe receives a letter from a person from his past, the only woman who made him question the path of priesthood. She has reached out to Father Joe as one of the few who might help her.
To keep Bear’s case from federal prosecution, Father Joe and Alice begin a search for Bear’s long-lost mother. But their journey unearths more than they bargained for, plunging Father Joe into a labyrinth of secrets and revelations. He is forced not only to confront the choices he’s made and the secrets he keeps, but also to see the truth of the lives of the people around him.
High Hawk is a rich tapestry of love and history, delving into the delicate intricacies of the past and the redemptive power of second chances. Through evocative prose, the lives of those on the fringes of American culture come alive, navigating adversity and forging connections against all odds.
What People Are Saying about High Hawk
“High Hawk is evocative and haunting. I didn’t want to put it down, despite the loneliness of it—a kind of beautiful, desolate, at times cold and very snowy loneliness, windblown and stark.”
Arianne Zwartjes
author, These Dark Skies
“In High Hawk, author Amy Frykholm delivers a beautiful blend of the simple and the profound in a story of self-discovery and reckoning. The gorgeously-rendered small-town Midwest setting and nuanced characters are a perfect fit for fans of William Kent Krueger."
Amy Pease
author, Northwoods
Amy Frykholm somehow conjures entire worlds—both interior and exterior—from a few dozen words. The landscape she lays out in front of us holds deep meaning and heartbreaking secrets. The exquisitely constructed ending is one of the most poignant and satisfying I have read in years.”
Cara Wall
author, The Dearly Beloved
About Amy
Amy Frykholm is an award-winning writer, scholar, and journalist whose work insightfully explores American religion and culture. She brings a nuanced perspective to topics ranging from evangelical apocalypticism to the forgotten narratives of women in Christianity. With a PhD in Literature from Duke University, Frykholm has authored several acclaimed nonfiction works—including explorations of purity culture and sexual exile in religious contexts—as well as a debut literary novel, High Hawk, that interweaves mystery, love, and historical reflection against the backdrop of the American West. Now based in Leadville, Colorado, she also leads retreats and workshops that delve into the intricate relationships between body, spirit, and land.