Cities of the Plain is the third in McCarthy’s magnificent Border trilogy, following All the Pretty Horses and The Crossing. This design makes the most sense when viewed next to the other two—the first is stark black and white, the second a sepia duotone, and now this, in full color. The title’s reference to Sodom and Gomorrah was not lost on me, and it’s a good thing, because that’s all I had to go on—there was no manuscript. But having read the first two, I had a fairly good idea of where the story was going, and it wasn’t anyplace nice. When I finally got to read it (long after the jacket had been put to bed), I had one of those “Hold me” moments—there actually was a scene where one of the characters talks of a wild prairie brush fire.