No Country for Old Men

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy is a riveting masterpiece that delves into the dark and unforgiving world of the Texas-Mexico borderland. This contemporary classic, adapted into an Academy Award-winning film by the Coen Brothers, is a tale of crime, moral ambiguity, and the relentless passage of time.

The story begins when Llewelyn Moss, a welder and Vietnam veteran, stumbles upon the gruesome aftermath of a drug deal gone awry while hunting antelope near the Rio Grande. The scene is littered with bullet-ridden bodies, a stash of heroin, and a suitcase brimming with over two million dollars in cash. Faced with a potentially life-altering decision, Moss chooses to take the money, setting off a perilous chain of events that irrevocably alters his fate.

As Moss attempts to outrun his pursuers, he is relentlessly chased by Anton Chigurh, a psychopathic hitman whose violent methods and chilling demeanour leave a trail of bloodshed in his wake. Chigurh embodies an almost mythical representation of fate and death, wielding a captive bolt pistol to enforce his own twisted sense of justice. Adding to the chaos is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, an aging lawman who grapples with his own sense of duty and despair as he tries to make sense of the violence engulfing his jurisdiction. Each character, in their own way, confronts profound questions about morality, survival, and the changing nature of the world around them.

This edition of No Country for Old Men is part of the Picador Collection, celebrating the best in contemporary literature as part of Picador's 50th Anniversary. Known for his sparse, evocative prose and philosophical depth, McCarthy weaves an unforgettable narrative that explores the human condition in stark and unflinching terms.

Fans of McCarthy will be pleased to know that his eagerly anticipated new novels, The Passenger and Stella Maris, are also being published by Picador in October 2022. Dive into No Country for Old Men for a spellbinding journey through a brutal landscape where every decision is a matter of life and death.