After the shocking murder of Ed Netherland at a secluded location in the Virgin Islands, architect Kem Hinton is stunned and confused by a mysterious occurrence at the funeral of his former classmate. Given a haunting challenge, he embarks on a decade-long investigation into the lifetime exploits of this ingenious person. After their shared time in high school and college, Kem uncovers a fascinating yet bizarre tangled web of toxic waste endeavors, controversial life insurance techniques, enticing investment schemes, the accumulation of enormous wealth, and then great loss ... any one of which may have contributed to the wildly-ambitious Netherland's death in paradise.
Author and renowned architect Kem Hinton tells the story with a quick wit and an entertaining style that chronicles not only Netherland's life but also what it was like to grow up in Tennessee in the last quarter of the twentieth century. Filled with anecdotes and photos, Nether Land is a spell-binding page-turner that will keep the reader mesmerized and awake at night pondering the still unsolved crime and its darkest questions.
PRAISE for Nether Land
"FIVE STARS! Deeply reflective, vividly detailed that traces a winding journey... on the life and death of a charismatic and controversial figure... Hinton's narrative style is warm and confessional, often humorous, and peppered with pop culture references, period music, and historical events. The book opens with a funeral, then moves back to trace the complex relationship of high school acquaintances... later bound by a web of competitive friendship, unspoken grudges, and romantic entanglements. Nether Land is one of the best books you'll read this year. It's truly fascinating."
--Carol Thompson, Readers' Favorite Reviews
"Eureka, a historian who writes like a poet. Such artful prose with honeyed metaphor, and a syntax like a conversation between old friends... a contemporary Chaucerian morality tale. I found it hard to put down, so I didn't... captivating to the last word and period."
--Paul Harmon, international artist and author of Inner Voices and Crossing Borders
"Equal parts illuminating and mysterious, the memoir provides a split-screen narrative of two men from the same town with the same background going on to lead vastly different lives, along with insights into the era... Fans of unsolved mysteries and personal cultural histories will enjoy Hinton's considerations of the way lives converge, diverge, and reflect each other. Nether Land is a somber, gently provocative memoir suffused with loss."
--BookLife Reviews
Hinton, Kem: - Kem Hinton is an architect, urban designer, visual artist, historian, and author. He was born in Nashville, raised in nearby Murfreesboro, and holds degrees from the University of Tennessee, University of Pennsylvania, and the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He was founding partner with Seab Tuck of Tuck-Hinton Architects (1984-2019). Their firm's architectural work received state, regional, and national awards, and their buildings have been publicized in prestigious international design journals of Italy, France, Germany, and Japan. Kem is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects, served on the Tennessee Historical Commission (2020-2024), and recipient of the AIA Tennessee "William Strickland Lifetime Achievement Award." He is now studio director of Kem Hinton Design.
