Dane Kirby, former fire chief up in McFalls County, GA. Bull
Mountain territory. Kirby is no longer looking at arson cases having joined the
Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The sheriff calls on Kirby to look in on a local
murder because the suspect says he is a friend of Dane. At least until the FBI
tells his boss to send Kirby to Jacksonville, FL to look into a case with a fire
link.
One of those ubiquitous airport hotels had a fire in a room. A hot flash
fire that burned itself out fast. It was an attempt to cover up a murder so grisly
that even a hardened investigator like Kirby gags. The victim was first
tortured then disemboweled while still alive. The who and the why can’t be
answered. An unremarkable clue suggests the victim has a brother.
Kirby is paired with Special Agent Roselita Velasquez. They
learn about the victim – Arnold Blackwell. Two-bit crook with a long string of
drug and robbery arrests. They learn that Arnold had a brother. Younger. Pre-teen.
With Asperger’s Syndrome. Likes birds. A lot. And he has Rain Man-like affinity
for numbers and odds.
The killers are Filipino mafia who have major money in cock
fighting. Turns out a major ‘tournament’ that floats from city to city had just
concluded in the Bull Mountain area. Arnold’s little brother’s specific skill is
an unrivaled ability to pick winners in a cock fight. The two of them took this
‘tournament’ for over a million dollars. The Filipino’s had a big stake in the competition,
and they want their money back.
Kirby and Roselita (not ‘Rose’) track backwards in time and
upwards in altitude to Bull Mountain. To find the boy. To find the money. To the
site of the cock fighting fest. And back around to that local murder.
This is Panowich’s 3rd venture into the Bull Mountain
corner of NW Georgia. His first, Bull Mountain knocked me off my feet. His 2nd,
Like Lions, blew me away. Hard Cash Valley? Good Lord. Panowich can flat out
write. Hard to believe this is just his 3rd outing. The maturity of
his storytelling. The turn of a phrase. The depth of pain felt by his
characters. The enormity of viciousness of the crimes. The body count. The
twists in loyalty and in the story. Call it what you will: country noir, hick-lit, Redneck noir.
I don’t care. Panowich is flat out one of the best new voices in fiction I’ve
read . . . ever. Three books and he has shouldered his way into my power
rotation. And that’s a first. Panowich is that great.
Available in May 2020.
More brutal and graphic than most novels that I read, even considering that most of those novels are murder mysteries - but Panowich knows how to tell a gripping story with great characters, both good guys and bad guys. This one gets a 5-star rating.
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