Richard Bausch · Winner, PEN/Malamud & Rea Awards
The Novel
A man who’s been moving so long he’s forgotten how to stop.
Readers of these books will feel at home
No Country for Old Men · Jesus’ Son · Crooked Hallelujah
In the shadowlands of the American South, a man drives an untraceable car — black-on-black, near silent, built for vanishing. Behind the wheel: a reluctant courier forced into servitude, paying off a debt to men who deal in violence and live by no law but their own. To survive, he must keep moving. To be free, he must disappear entirely.
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But as the miles add up, so do the ghosts. Each delivery drags him deeper into a world of myth, memory, and meaning — where found family, radical love, and defiant hope become his only compass.
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The Song of the Midnight Rider is a gritty, heart-thrumming novel about the cost of freedom and the lengths we’ll go to for redemption. With echoes of No Country for Old Men, Jesus’ Son, and the folklore of the open road, Santí’s debut pulses with lyricism, velocity, and grace.
Publisher
A Key Therapy Publications
Pages
377
ISBN-13
978-0-8275-0860-0
Formats
Paperback · Kindle
Available At
Amazon · Buffalo Street Books · B&N Ithaca
Advance Praise
What writers are saying
“A love letter to found family and the American road — fast, violent, and full of heart.”
Kelli Jo Ford
Author of Crooked Hallelujah · Finalist, PEN/Hemingway Award & Story Prize
“Lex Santí has a poet’s heart; his work is a wonder.”
Cara Hoffma
Author of Running, Be Safe I Love You · New York Times, The Paris Review
“A wild ride — gathering momentum page by page. I won’t soon forget Jordan Samson and his headlong journey toward, and then away from, his fate.”
Richard Bausc
Author of Peace and Before, During, After · Winner, PEN/Malamud & Rea Awards
“Combining the muscular pleasures of a thriller with sharp literary meditations on redemption — Santí’s novel keeps grace just one chance away.”
Michael Ny
Author of Until We Have Faces
The Long Road Behind the Novel
Twenty years in the making. One year that changed everything.
20
Years, first page to publication
This novel grew over more than two decades. It began at George Mason University during an MFA in Creative Writing, where the original story was first read aloud — and an audience gripped their seats.
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Life intervened. A second degree. An MSW. A career as a psychotherapist, founding A Key Therapy PLLC. The loans accumulated — eventually more than $500,000 with interest. The novel waited, revised in stolen hours between sessions.
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Then, after 11 years in public service and mental health, the letter arrived: federal student loans forgiven through Public Service Loan Forgiveness. That same year, the novel was published.
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The convergence was unplanned. But it was not accidental — because The Song of the Midnight Rider has always been about that same arc: obligation, uncertainty, perseverance, and the search for redemption.
Where to Buy
Get Your Copy
Local · Ithaca, NY
Find It Local
In store
Available at Buffalo Street Books, Odyssey Bookstore Barnes & Noble Ithaca. Want it in your local bookstore? Reach out.
Watch
The Promotional Video
The Music
The soundtrack of the road
Music was part of the pulse of this book from the beginning. The novel has its own Spotify playlist — The Song of the Midnight Rider V1 & V2 — blues, Southern rock, soul, folk, and classic rock, carrying the same currents as the novel: found family, danger, longing, grit, grace, and the restless pull of the road.
Gregg Allman Muddy Waters John Lee Hooker The Rolling Stones Creedence
Neil Young Led Zeppelin The Doors Otis Redding Warren Zevon
The Author
Lex E. Santí
Lex E. Santí is a novelist, poet, and essayist living near his hometown of Trumansburg, New York. He was the founder and editor-in-chief of Our Stories literary journal, where he edited six collections of short fiction and interviewed some of the most esteemed writers in American letters.
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His work has appeared in The Plum Ruby Review, In Posse Review, Cubista Magazine, and Word Riot. He is the author of four poetry collections, a collection of craft essays, and a short story collection. He is also a psychotherapist.
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The Song of the Midnight Rider is his debut novel.
In the Press
Media coverage
Cornell Daily Sun
Ithaca Times
Tompkins Weekly
Trumansburg Free Press
For interviews, readings, or review copies: lexsantiwriter@gmail.com · (607) 288-2812
Get the Book
The road is open.
The ride is waiting.
Available now in paperback, Kindle, and signed copies.