The Bus to Beulah A Novel By E.C. Hanes 

On Sale May 10, 2022 Preorder Amazon

Paperback | $16.95 | ISBN-13: 978-1684631292

“Hanes’ prose is tight, forthright, and no-nonsense as he illuminates the lives of multiple characters willing to risk everything for a chance at survival.” –Kirkus Reviews

Maria’s disappearance triggers a desperate search, by her family and local law enforcement, to find her before the kidnappers can permanently dispose of her. As the investigation unfolds, long-time Hogg County high sheriff Will Moser confronts Albert Waters, a powerful businessman who Will suspects knows about Maria’s disappearance, but Albert and his Mexican cartel partners prove to be brick walls. 

At the urging of his wife, Lana, Will calls on Elijah Kahn, a man he got to know while serving in Vietnam who now runs one of the largest international security firms in the world. The idea of working with men who are rightly known as mercenaries troubles Will, but he knows he’ll never find Maria without Elijah’s help and when Lana reminds Will of the debt they owe to Tomas Delgado, Maria’s uncle, his hesitation evaporates. 

Organized in an hour-by-hour structure, The Bus to Beulah is a taut thriller that culminates in a massive, heart-pounding chase to save Maria before she disappears forever. 

Overview:

• Discusses the timely and controversial topic of immigration, which can cause fear and suspicion. 

• Addresses the important issue of human trafficking, which often accompanies immigrant labor. 

• Features strong female characters and role models.

 The Bus to Beulah A Novel By E.C. Hanes 

On Sale May 10, 2022 

Paperback | $16.95 | ISBN-13: 978-1684631292

buy on Amazon

 Advance Praise:

“Bus to Beulah takes us on a fast and furious ride through some of America’s toughest territory straight into border problems, trafficking, and drug cartels and features a Dickensian cast of characters swirling around the kidnapped Maria through eleven tense days. Topical, timely, terrifying. I read it one sitting.” – Lee Smith, best-selling author and winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters award for fiction, the O’Henry Award, and Mercer University’s Sidney Lanier Prize for Southern Literature

 “In The Bus to Beulah, Redge Hanes skillfully zeroes in on what happens when our byzantine immigration laws, the powerful farmers’ lobby. and local politics collide in bucolic North Carolina. In Billy Bowater, Hanes explored his state’s political jungle. Here, a local sheriff investigates the disappearance of a young woman and finds exploitative conditions that allow a human and drug trafficking network to set up shop.” – Howell Raines, former executive editor of The New York Times 

Eldridge C. Hanes — Redge to his friends, was born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and graduated from Woodberry Forest School in Orange, Virginia, and then from Duke University in 1967 with a BA in Economics. He graduated from the Army Combat Engineering Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir in June of 1968 and served three years of active duty, the last of which was in the Republic of Vietnam and earned him the Bronze Star. After the army, Redge worked seven years for Hanes Corporation and then left to start Xpres Corporation, which eventually became The Russ Companies, for whom Redge served as chairman for three years before retiring in 2011. In addition to his business interests, he has served on a number of boards in the education, environmental and arts fields. Redge has published two novels, Billy Bowater and Justice by Another Name, in addition to contributing essays and articles to various publications. His essay “Helen of Marion” appeared in the recent UNC Press anthology, Mothers and Strangers: Essays on Motherhood from the New South. Redge has been married for fifty years to Jane Grenley Hanes. They have a son, Philip, and a daughter, Lara, and are grandparents of five lively and beautiful grandchildren. 

echanes.com   Twitter @redgehanes   Amazon   Instagram @e.c._hanes  Facebook @hanesec