Cities of the Plain

The final chapter of Cormac McCarthy's epic Border Trilogy, where the American frontier meets its brutal, inescapable end.

1952, New Mexico. John Grady Cole, last seen in All the Pretty Horses, works as a ranch hand alongside Billy Parnham, of The Crossing. These are the dying days of the American frontier.

From the north, the military encroaches upon the ranch. To the south are the mountains of Mexico, the pull of which prove irresistible to John Grady. And so it is that, when he falls in love with a sex worker south of the border, events are set into motion that will prove as dangerous as they are unstoppable.

Cities of the Plain brings Cormac McCarthy's legendary Border Trilogy to its inevitable conclusion. In this haunting, deeply felt novel, McCarthy captures the essence of a country on the cusp of change, where the cowboy lifestyle is fading into memory and modernity looms on the horizon.

Praise for Cormac McCarthy:

'McCarthy worked close to some religious impulse, his books were terrifying and absolute' – Anne Enright, author of The Green Road and The Wren, The Wren

'His prose takes on an almost biblical quality, hallucinatory in its effect and evangelical in its power' – Stephen King, author of The Shining and the Dark Tower series

'[I]n presenting the darker human impulses in his rich prose, [McCarthy] showed readers the necessity of facing up to existence' – Annie Proulx, author of Brokeback Mountain

Part of the Picador Collection, a series showcasing the best of modern literature.