Sunday, August 22, 2021

Hard Cash Valley

 

Author: Brian Panowich 

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Year: 2020

Arnie Blackwell is a life-long loser who just made a big score. He lands in Florida with a suitcase full of cash and plans for the high life. Then he is brutally murdered. 

Dane Kirby, a retired arson investigator now working for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, is called in to assist the FBI’s investigation of Blackwell’s death and help find Blackwell’s missing young brother. 

Dane is a man haunted by the deaths of his wife and daughter. His grief is palpable like a weight around his neck. He’s tried to move on, but he’s too guilt ridden and grief-ladened. Dane is paired with Roselita Velasquez, a perceptive and tough FBI agent. The investigation and search for for eleven year old William Blackwell takes Dean back to his hometown and up into Bull Mountain. Long buried secrets surface and Dane must confront his own demons along with psychopathic killer and FBI agents with their own agendas to try to save the boy and get off the mountain alive. 

Author Brian Panowich has crafted a masterwork of modern-day rural Southern noir. At just under 300 pages, Panowich sows together a intricate crime novel filled with vicious and bruised characters. His writing is brutally real and economical. He’s pared the story down so that he doesn’t waste a word and the reader doesn’t get lost in any extraneous fluff. The result is an intense, gritty, and heart-pounding crime drama. But his setting and characters and don’t suffer because of the author’s economy of words. The characters are expertly drawn and there is a real sense of place. Dane is such a vivid character. He’s a good man full of such heartbreak, guilt and grief that it’s a wonder he gets out of bed each morning. You can’t help but hope Dane can find some kind of peace as he races to save an innocent boy. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#hardcashvalley #brianpanowich #minotaurbooks #crimefiction #noir #arsoninvestigation #missingperson #georgia #southernnoir #bookrecommendations #fbi #greatread #fivestarread #asburgersyndrome #grief #fbispecialagent #thrillerbooks 

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