PINEVILLE TRACE
publishers weekly booklife editor’s pick | Etchings Press Novella Prize winner | next generation indie book award for first novel finalist | Feathered Quill Book Award for Debut Author finalist | National indie Excellence award for book cover design Finalist | Featured on Deep South Magazine’s Reading List
PINEVILLE TRACE, a multi-award-winning novella-in-flash from the the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press, is an “introspective, haunting tale that remains with us” (Heavy Feather Review) and “an utterly compelling read” (SmokeLong Quarterly) about a former revival preacher who walks away from an Eastern Kentucky prison in the 1970s, following a cat named Buffalo and trying to reconcile himself with his past. For readers who like cats, nature, and escape.
This novella-in-flash is the winner of the Etchings Press Novella Prize and was published by the University of Indianapolis’ Etchings Press in September 2024. It deftly uses short chapters in a unique format to allow for quick, intimate, and gripping flashes into the perspective of the main character, Frank, as he sets off on a quest through North America following a cat named Buffalo.
After Frank escapes from a prison in Kentucky, his journey to find meaning in the absence of his former life as a charismatic traveling preacher leads him all up and down the US and Canada, delving into his own memories and questions of faith, family, self, and stories—and where those stories lead us.
Publicity provided by Mindbuck Media Book Publicity.
AWARDS
Publishers Weekly BookLife Editors Pick
2024 Etchings Press Novella Prize Winner
2025 Feathered Quill Book Award for Debut Author Finalist
2025 Next Generation Indie Book Award for First Novel Finalist
2025 National Indie Excellence Award for Book Cover Design Finalist
2026 Independent Press Award for Literary Fiction Distinguished Favorite
2026 Independent Press Award for Audiobook Distinguished Favorite
REVIEWS
Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick Review
SmokeLong Quarterly Review by A W Earl
Heavy Feather Fiction Review: Mia Carroll Reads Wes Blake’s Novella-in-Flash Pineville Trace
Deep South Magazine’s Reading List (featuring PINEVILLE TRACE)
Kentucky Living Magazine: “Ex-Preacher and His Cat” Review by Penny Woods (July 2025 issue)
Southern Literary Review: “Pineville Trace” by Wes Blake: Reviewed by Cheyanne Hensley
See more reviews, here
PINEVILLE TRACE
A Novella-in-Flash
Winner of the Etchings Press Novella Prize
After being sentenced to a minimum-security prison in eastern Kentucky, former southern revival preacher and confidence man, Frank Russet, escapes. Taking only a cat named Buffalo and a desire to outrun his former life, he journeys to the fringes of society. As he struggles to survive, Frank confronts his past, seeking redemption amidst the wilderness. As Frank traverses the shadowy edges of society, he encounters remnants of his former self, forcing him to confront his deepest regrets and desires. Blake’s haunting prose captures the essence of a man on the brink of transformation, urging readers to ponder the thin line between redemption and damnation.
“I always tell the same story. Over and over. It’s the story about getting what you want. And the story about not getting what you want. It’s the only story I know.”
“[Frank] had become an actor in his own life. Reading a script.”
PRAISE FOR PINEVILLE TRACE
“A man escapes from prison only to find he can’t separate himself from his past. Pineville Trace is a story of a man on the run. Wes Blake renders the tale with great empathy and in language that’s so lyrical it practically lifts from the page. Blake is a writer to watch.” —Lee Martin, author of the Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Bright Forever
“Pineville Trace explores liminal spaces, “always at the edge of things. The edge between day and night. Between sunset and dusk.” Despite his own certainty that he is a fraud, Frank emerges for the reader as the truest kind of prophet, following a cat named Buffalo and searching for “the old magic.” Blake’s prose also glides along edges: balancing between simple diction and richly figurative imagery. He guides Frank across continents, “ghost-like as the lines… between his freedom and prison,” seeking an answer to that universal question: what ultimately releases a man from his own demons? A haunting debut!” —Julie Hensley, author of Landfall: A Ring of Stories
“Wes Blake’s Pineville Trace is a Pilgrim’s Progress through an America of our shared past; at times ardent or breathless, it is a dream book in the form of a road novel, a vision quest about finding a house in the trees. Accompanied by a wise cat, Blake’s protagonist is on the lam after becoming a seeker. Together they persevere, drawing strength from Shawnee visions, other restless wanderers, and the call of a sanctuary up ahead. Pineville Trace is a story of a light in the window with reminiscences of darker water. Ghosts come down the mountain. Blake’s novel shines into the spirit and reveals the struggle of our living in such worldly and spiritual conditions.” —Matthew Haughton, author of Stand in the Stillness of Woods
“Pineville Trace examines what happens when loneliness becomes habitual. Frank, a once capricious and charismatic southern revival preacher, does what he does best when feeling caged: he leaves, walking away from a minimum-security prison in eastern Kentucky with the only friend he has left—a yard cat named Buffalo. A terse, poignant, and sometimes bitter look at a man’s journey to tether his interior world to a meaningful anchor in the physical one. Blake’s debut manages to expertly capture that feeling of standing in an empty motel hallway, moving away and toward something, depositing you inside your own private emotional purgatory, the in-between time when you are invisible to everyone except yourself.” —Tina Andry, author of ransom notes
“This is the hollow heart of Frank’s magic, and provides a powerful indictment of the American Dream – what does one become if one can embody and enact all of one’s desires? Blake’s answer to this is captivating, sophisticated, and utterly haunting. This was an utterly compelling read. Blake’s prose is sparse and simple, whose short, almost broken, sentences sing with enormous power.” —A W Earl, review in SmokeLong Quarterly
“The story is so beautiful and sad and wonderful and heartbreaking all at the same time. As Frank tries to out run the ghosts of his past and tries to find himself and his purpose it feels as if all he wants is to be home. It’s all about growth and the daily battle between spiritual and worldly struggles. Read this. Let it sink in. You won’t regret it.” —Teresa Brock, Fully Booked in Kentucky
“Blake’s writing provides a contemporary case-study on artful, effective minimalism. The effect is an introspective, haunting tale that remains with us.” —Mia Carroll review in Heavy Feather Review
“Pineville Trace put me in mind of one of my favorite quotes, from Picasso: ‘A good painting comes together just barely.’ Just barely. It is the just barely-ness of Pineville Trace that won me over. The book is atmospheric and hypnotic and layered with meaning and ambiguity and complexity in the best possible sense, and I will remember for a long time.” —Anthony Varallo, author of What Did You Do Today?
“Blake’s writing of place and the natural world is transportative. A blurb on the book calls the language lyrical, but I say, if it is it’s a stripped-down, drowsy and elliptical lyricsm—atmospheric and harmonizing with the narrative. A slim, blues-tinged novel that made me feel, think, and remember.” —Rebecca Fishow, author of How to Love a Black Hole
“Lyrical, moody, perfect for a snowy day. I kept thinking as I read that some independent filmmaker ought to snap this up and make a gem of a movie—small cast, just a few sets, and possibly the best cat in literature/film. Sweet Buffalo.” —Tammy Oberhausen, author of The Evolution of the Gospelettes
“In Blake’s novella, the depth of writing is so strong that the reader can imagine standing in the background of every chapter, as no elaborate detail is missed. As I sit thinking about the complex aspect of this novella, I reflected on my own life. Certainly, Wes Blake was intentional in influencing the reader, as he loosely guides the reader in and out of Frank’s consciousness.” —Southern Literary Review
“One thing I will never take for granted as an avid reader are those rare instances when a book comes out of nowhere and makes you feel so deeply connected and deeply cathartic. There is something really special about Pineville Trace that I can’t stop thinking about. This novella is filled with some extremely stunning prose that really took me by surprise. Wes Blake manages to pull off a level of philosophical writing that is easily digestible without coming off pretentious, and somehow is equally comforting and almost hypnotizing.” —Brooke, review on Goodreads
Buy PINEVILLE TRACE:
- Audiobook: available everywhere digital audiobooks are sold.
- e-book/Kindle: available on Amazon.
- Purchase from your local independent bookstore. If they don’t stock it yet, ask them to!
- Check out the book from your local public library. If they don’t stock it yet, ask them to!
For Bookstores & Libraries
Pineville Trace is available with a standard returnable retail discount through Ingram.
- ISBN: 9781955521345
To schedule readings, signings, craft workshops, discussions, or other book events, please contact me.
For Book Clubs, Classrooms, & Workshops
Here is a book club kit and a teaching guide with discussion questions, analysis prompts, craft questions, writing prompts, an interview with the author, and the author’s library while writing the book. Feel free to use these in your book club, classroom, or writing workshop.
I’d love to visit your book club, classroom, or workshop, virtually, or perhaps in person—if you’re based in Kentucky. Reach out if you want the author to visit your book club, classroom, or workshop.