Like Lions by Brian Panowich

All right, boys and girls. Right from the top:

This

Book

Kicks

Ass

1972. Bull Mountain is in north Georgia. It’s been run by the Burroughs clan for 4 generations. 3^rd generation boss is Gareth Burroughs. He runs guns, drugs, ‘shine’, through his county, anything that’ll make him money. Cruel man. To everyone. Wife Annette has been beaten enough and sneaks out with Clayton, the baby of their 3 sons. Leaving pre-teen older sons, Buckley and Halford. But she doesn’t get out of the compound before Gareth stops her. With Halford keeping a gun on her, Gareth keeps Clayton and lets Annette leave, penniless with just the clothes on her back.

Present day.

Gareth died some time ago with his meth shed caught fire. Buck is also dead. Clayton decided not to continue in the family business and got elected county sheriff. That left Halford in charge. Just like his deddy, a cruel cruel man. Ruthless and a killer of those who challenged the mountain. But one thing he did was he kept order on the mountain. He was more of a middleman who had to be paid to move contraband through his county to points north. But he did drugs. A lot. And got even meaner when high. One day, he chased a girl into the sheriff’s office, drew a shotgun on her and was met with two slugs to the chest. Courtesy of the sheriff. His brother Clayton. (most of that is what I gather happened in book #1).

Bull Mountain is home to an off-the-books club called The Chute. Rumor has it that it launders Burroughs money. Four idiot kids from some low-life family looking to expand their territory, hit The Chute and don’t find what they are looking for. Three fall. The fourth, JoJo is delivered to the man who was Gareth’s chief lieutenant (Scabby Mike) where he, Clayton and another member of the Burroughs followers interrogate JoJo. When done, JoJo is delivered back to his family’s homestead and dropped at the front door of the Viner matriarch.

Family against family for control of the criminal empire that is Bull Mountain. It’s the Capulets v the Montagues; Hatfields v McCoys; Corleones v Barsinis . . . on Bull Mountain, it’s the Burroughs v the Viners.

And make no mistake about it. This feud involves money, drugs, guns, pride, vengeance, vendettas and a whole lot of history. The violence is merciless, and the revenge is vicious. And no one is immune. Anyone remotely connected to either family is at risk. Clayton’s wife Kate and their 1yo son Eben are targeted. And we quickly learn about family loyalty and the depth of that loyalty.

Panowich is from Grovetown, GA that I’m guessing is near Augusta. His debut novel Bull Mountain was the 2016 International Thriller Writers Award winner for best first novel and was also the Pat Conroy Award for best crime novel. Other reviewers have called his work ‘Country Noir’ or ‘Southern Crime’. I’ve used the term Redneck Noir, but this might be in its own class. Hillbilly Noir maybe?

Whatever. This isn’t our normal political thriller or police procedural. This is about family and the extent to which family will go to protect family and anyone important to that family. In doing so, Panowich plants twist after twist in the plot, most of which you will never anticipate. Especially the final twist in the epilogue.

What you need to do is find this book. And not even having read Bull Mountain, based on this one, I’d suggest you find them both and read them in order. Also found a note that a British studio, ITV, has optioned his work for TV. Nothing more than that. Stay tuned.

ECD

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