November Mourns

by Tom Piccirilli

Two years ago Shad Jenkins went to prison for assaulting his sister’s attacker. Now he has returned to the southern mountain town of Moon Run Hollow, only to find that Megan is dead. No one knows how she died–or why she was found on Gospel Trail Road, a dirt path leading up to the gorge high above the Chatalaha River, where victims of yellow fever were once brought to die.

Navigating a world filled with abnormal children and clandestine snake handlers, one that is slowly being poisoned by illegal moonshine, Shad must pierce the townsfolk’s superstitions and terrible secrets to find out the truth about his sister’s death. But the Blood Dreams he’s suffered from since childhood have taken on an eerie urgency, revealing to Shad the nightmarish form of an unseen adversary. Plagued by the wraiths that haunt the hollow, Shad finds himself increasingly unsure of his own sanity as he begins to piece together what may have happened to his sister–and who exactly his enemy is....

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Mystery, Crime, Southern Gothic

281 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Thomas Piccirilli (May 27, 1965 – July 11, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer.

Piccirilli sold over 150 stories in the mystery, thriller, horror, erotica, and science fiction fields. He was a two-time winner of the International Thriller Writers Award for "Best Paperback Original" (2008, 2010). He was a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award. He was also a finalist for the 2009 Edgar Allan Poe Award given by the Mystery Writers of America, a final nominee for the Fantasy Award, and the winner of the first Bram Stoker Award given in the category of "Best Poetry Collection".

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobody in prison ever hated him at first sight the way people at home did.

Shad has just spent two years in jail for assaulting the man who preyed on his sister. Then he receives a phone call from his father. Your sister's been killed. Come home 'fore you get on with your life.

So, he's back where it all began, in the hollow, where superstition and fear are a way of life. Surrounded by old enemies and demons, haunted by blood dreams and ghosts, he is determined to find out how his sister died. His quest leads him into the arms of snake-handling zealots, gun-toting moonshiners and horrifically deformed, inbred children.

This was a weird read, and I have no idea how to categorize this book. It was dark and murky, yet not scary enough for horror. It WAS a mystery - was the girl murdered, and by whom...or what? - but there were too many supernatural elements to comfortably shelve it anywhere near Agatha Christie. Perhaps a new category...Appalachian gothic? Hmm...

I CAN comfortably say that like the two other Piccirilli titles I've read, this book posed more questions than it answered.

[Gatorman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interestingly odd tale from Piccirilli centered around a man who returns to his small village town after serving time in prison to find out how his sister died while he was away. The local characters are bizarre, to say the least, and the mystery as it unfolds is sometimes frustrating, sometimes fascinating, with more than a hint of the supernatural or otherworldly at play here. The resolution is a bit murky but certainly fits the story and leaves the reader with something to think about, which is never a bad thing. Not great but not bad either. It's a short read so worth the effort even if not Piccirilli's best.

[Dez Nemec · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just was not for me. After nearly 200 pages, I couldn't care how it ended. DNF for me.

[Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Party at my house! You'll find torches, tar, and feathers waiting in the back yard.

Rather than beat around the bush, hemming and hawing, let’s just jump right into these shark-infested waters, shall we? The pace is as slow as molasses and just as interesting to watch. For over one hundred and fifty pages nothing interesting happens. In fact, the speed irritated me so much that I locked it in the closet four separate times, in my attempt to read it. After screaming, “Bad, bad, bad book” more times than I care to admit, I decided to just trudge through in hopes that it would get better. It didn’t.

The plot is original, intricate, and subtle. So subtle, in fact, that it was essentially hidden. What really hurt was the knife-in-the-back twist at the end; where you learn there is no point, where you find Piccirilli did not follow through on what was hinted to be a phenomenal story, and where my heart was broke and he killed what little hope I had for this book.

Now surely, when you think of Piccirilli , you think atmosphere, correct? Well, if you want to keep those memories intact, just stop at this review and for Thumper’s sake keep away from this book. Rather than sketch a picture and have the reader use their imagination, Piccirilli runs rampant with the colors and then throws it in your face. Except the timeframe. I went through half of this book thinking it was set in the early 1900’s only to find out it was intended to be unfolding in the present. Ta hell?? Does anyone still make moonshine? Why is it illegal, didn’t we discard prohibition? Am I the only one in the dark about the boom of moon?

Beautiful and profound, Piccirilli's style of writing is simply sublime. The man can string a bunch of words together and make your head spin. It's when you expect those strings to fit together and make sense to tell a story, that they haunt your ever-waking moment; haunt it with frustration. There's no depth to his words and no heart in his dialog, and this above else, will leave you wanting. Writing in full circles, it's only at the end of the book that you realize you've gone nowhere and his words were empty. Take for example the main character Shad. Now, while in his head he may have these astounding revelations every few minutes, when he opens his mouth he sounds as dumb as a rock. Or take his 'Pa', a guy who is constantly teetering on the line between ignorant backwater bumpkin and Yoda; you know, always possessing the one-liners of wisdom. Sweet mercy, someone get this bi-polar cast some medication.

My rating? I give it a 1. For those of you who are on the fence, RUN! For those of you who’ve already bought it, I mourn for your sanity.


-As reviewed for Horror-Web.com

[Charles Dee Mitchell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most of the young men in their twenties who are the protagonists of Tom Piccirilli's novels, Shad Jenkins receives visits from the dead. In Shad's case the ghost is the mother he never knew. She died shortly after he was born. But a few days before Shad's release from prison, his father calls to say that Shad's younger stepsister has been found dead on Gospel Trail Road. Her heart stopped. It is as though she simply went to sleep. The local police call it "death by misadventure," but before he leaves prison Shad's sister, or at least her hands, visit him in the night, beckoning him to come to her aid. He knows that when he returns to his Appalachian home, he has work to do.

November Mourns is not as good as The Choir of Ill Children, the Piccirilli novel that precedes it, or that which follows it, Headstone City. Its Appalachian setting comes off as a cruder version of the Southern swampland setting of Choir. Incestuous couple's and their deformed offspring share the stage with those so wasted on moonshine that their toothless mouths and bloated bodies might just as well belong to a corpse. As in Choir there is one ancient conjure woman for the hero to consult, and both Shad and Piccirilli seem to like her. But most of the other characters are sketched in as ignorant and gross. Shad works to unravel the mystery surrounding his sister's death, but the sleuthing involved reads like a dry run for what will work much better in Headstone City. That said, I have to admit that the snake handlers Shad spends time with are as weird, entertaining, and homicidal as you could hope for.

This is a minor entertainment from a dependable author.

[Ignacio Senao f · Rating 2 out of 5]

-Historia: 4. Venganza. Pues si te meten en la cárcel y mientras estas interno matan a tu hermana lo normal al salir es que te quieras vengar y sepas quien es. Todo esto ocurre en un pueblo, nada de ciudad, demasiado grande y gente… complicaría la trama. Con este argumento el aclamado director Park Chan-wook podría añadir otra película a su trilogía “La venganza”. Muy bien. El problema viene cuando se facilita la resolución con el típico desenlace paranormal de serie b, todo muy copiado del maestro King, pero de una manera bastante simplona y nefasta.
-Narración: 5. Fácil, sin complicaciones. Se le bien, nada de florituras. No parece que sea un escritor veterano.
-Ambientación: 6. Facilitado todo esto por un pueblo y una misteriosa montaña donde viven personas muy raras. Hay algo en ese monte, algo que mata ¿Qué será? El libro se divide en dos partes: 1º En el pueblo habla con algunos amigotes. 2º Va a ver que hay en la montaña. No penséis que es gótico, ni muy cargado.
-Personajes: 2. Tan planos que si se ponen de perfil y desaparecen.
-Acción: 2. Si consideramos como acción pegar un tiro…
-Terror: 5. Bueno, algún fantasmita que se saca de la manga para resolver la carente trama.
-Edicción: 3. Factoría de ideas, esa editorial que con enviar el curriculum posiblemente te de 1000€ para que traduzcas un libro. En la que la figura del revisionador creo que eligen un nombre al azar, pues la falta de letras es algo normal ya… Se salva que es de gran tamaño su ediciones, aunque en algunas (que en este no es el caso) ponen la letra tan chica para ahorrar páginas que necesito mis gafas y una lupa para leer, pero a los 30m mi vista esta fatigada.

[William M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, Tom's writing is top notch. He's an incredible talent with a truly original voice. You could read any paragraph in this book and know immediately that it was a Tom Piccirilli novel. Although November Mourns has a very intriguing dark mystery at it's core, the setup seems a bit tired -- a man returns home to investigate the death of his sister. Been there. Done that. But Tom always makes it interesting and throws a few curve balls in the mix. His imagery is like poetry and I found myself re-reading passages in awe of his unique language. If you're ready to experience a more mature level of darkness in the horror genre, give this a try.

[Erica Char · Rating 3 out of 5]

The back of the book claims that this author ‘channeled Poe’. That, unfortunately, made me compare the two throughout and i found Piccirilli wanting.

The story was curious enough i wanted to know the ending, but i can’t say that i enjoyed it. I found it often repetitive and ever strange/odd plot was thrown in.

The ending felt very tacked on and didn’t really resolve things. It just felt, empty?

**
I was typing my first version of this and accidentally deleted it. I noticed there were a lot of similarities to American Gods by Neil Gaiman so after looking at publication dates, i can’t help but wonder if this was an attempt at that kind of work.

[Angie crosby · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay. Didn't hold my attention well. Okay storyline of brother released from prison trying to figure out how his sister died. Choppy and just odd. Just wasn't that intersting. I read it though. It needed more something. More creepiness or something. I did like how it didn't end all happy.

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another winner from Tom Piccirilli. If you enjoy his other books, you will love this surreal noir/horror tale. He is truly an original and I'm sad I have read most of his books.

[Irving Ulises · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi primera lectura de Piccirilli, que me tenia bastante ilusionado por leer un coro de niños enfermos, pero no lo tenia y por ello empece con noviembre de luto, la lectura es muy Agil y sin rodeos, una trama bastante simple, que promete mucho y entrega poco, nunca senti el climax del titulo, tenía oara explotar bastante con el tema de la madre y se pierde en la nada, nos promete fantasmas y algo macabro pero nunca llega realmente, no es un mal libro pero es una historia lineal, sin nada que asombre 3⭐

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the things that I love about Piccirilli's books is the mood that he creates. The atmosphere and pacing comes across so quickly; you are practically breathing it in. All thanks to Piccirilli's poetic words. It's pulp noir poetry.

In this book, he channels that poetry through an ex-con who heads home to the Appalachian mountains. Shad Jenkins is finishing his two-year sentence in prison when he's visited by the ghost of his sister. After the confirming phone call from his father, Shad heads home with the very-clear intention of finding the killer and bringing him to justice. During his stumbling investigation, Shad discovers a new Moon Run Hollow. Not really a new town but one filtered through different eyes and a new perspective.

In my mind, that was the other half of NOVEMBER MOURNS. There is the primary story of Shad coming back to find a killer and avenge his sister. And then there is the "coming home as an adult" portion. After being gone for two years, Shad is seeing Moon Run Hollow differently. His visit stirs up the past, awakening old feelings, discovering things that weren't important previously. All while also realizing that his old life isn't right for him anymore. Unsure of what his new life would be, Shad must still get through the parts of his old life that are haunting him. He must get past the ghost of his sister. For us readers, it's that exploration of the story, the geography of the town and the past, that makes the book so enjoyable. The book was off-center at times but in a good way. Kind of Twilight Zone including a twist ending. I could attempt to summarize it as a loving, violent, tender, painful, haunting book; it wouldn't do the book justice though. Just go read it already and see what I am inadequately explaining.

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining setting and idea but not fully developed with things going off the rails a bit in the second half and an ending that seemed incomplete.

[Reevrb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second half of this book was better than the first but I still thought, after all that reading, the ending was a let down.

[Amy Webster-Bo · Rating 3 out of 5]

just ok thought it would be better, but it seems the author, got lost writing it and never gained it back, ended dumb, and was not really good towards the end

[Riddle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some threads are tied up shoddily (unlike "A Choir Of Ill Children"), but an enjoyable sightseeing trip through a backwater moonshine-soaked inbred hellhole that oozes atmosphere

[Vince Darcangelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review originally appeared in the BOULDER WEEKLY

"What do you do when everyone around you is going a little mad, and there's nothing you can do to stop it? How resolved would you be in the nature of your own beliefs if you awoke one day and realized everything you knew up to that point might be wrong?"

So asks Tom Piccirilli, a Bram Stoker Award winner and Loveland-based author of dark fantasy fiction. He's referring to Shad Jenkins, the protagonist of his new book, November Mourns. Jenkins is in prison when his father calls to inform him matter-of-factly that his half-sister is dead. After his release, he returns to his backwoods home of Moon Run Hollow to investigate the cause of her passing, but finds a town crippled by superstition and corruption, washing it all down with bootleg moonshine—and this is on the good side of town. Across the old trestle, over the feared Jonah Ridge, lies an untamed, forgotten part of America where a church of snake-handlers and a family of inbreds live in a shroud of Boo Radley-style mystery. Guided by the Blood Dreams, this is where Jenkins must travel to solve the mystery of his sister's death.

"It's an area that has always been able to adapt naturally despite terrible circumstances, but now those things that might once have been strengths are working against the townsfolk," says Piccirilli. "Even their churches seem corrupted by poisons of one kind or another, as snakes take precedence in the snake-handling rituals. Adapting to venom and diseases and poisoned liquor has left the hollow ill in a variety of ways."

November Mourns is filled with enough creepiness to make June feel like Halloween. This is no more apparent than when Jenkins finally crosses the trestle in the book's second act. Here Piccirilli's voice is strongest. His descriptions are vivid and tight, delivering the reader deeper into the domain of the snake-handlers than most would rather go. Along the way, Jenkins encounters a parade of freaks and outcasts worthy of the world's greatest sideshow—some of whom are related to his half-sister.

"I wanted to explore just how unsettling it can be to realize you're only a DNA strand or two away from being crippled, or insane, or a killer," says Piccirilli.

Unsettling is a good way to describe November Mourns, a dark quest with as many deadly creaks and twists as the abandoned trestle high over Jonah Ridge—a place supposedly haunted by its violent past, where Shad learns that sometimes the present can be the deadliest ghost of all.

Tom Piccirilli reads and signs November Mourns at 7 p.m., Thursday, July 7, at High Crimes Mystery Bookshop, 946 Pearl St., Boulder, 303-443-8346.

—Vince Darcangelo

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two years ago Shad Jenkins went to prison for assaulting his
sister’s attacker. Now he has returned to the southern mountain town of Moon Run Hollow, only to find that Megan is dead. No one knows how she died–or why she was found on Gospel Trail Road, a dirt path leading up to the gorge high above the Chatalaha River, where victims of yellow fever were once brought to die.

Navigating a world filled with abnormal children and clandestine snake handlers, one that is slowly being poisoned by illegal moonshine, Shad must pierce the townsfolk’s superstitions and terrible secrets to find out the truth about his sister’s death. But the Blood Dreams he’s suffered from since childhood have taken on an eerie urgency, revealing to Shad the nightmarish form of an unseen adversary. Plagued by the wraiths that haunt the hollow, Shad finds himself increasingly unsure of his own sanity as he begins to piece together what may have happened to his sister–and who exactly his enemy is....

[Heidi Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. What Piccirilli does best in November Mourns is pull you into the creepy sinister spiritually dark energy of the hollow to journey alongside the folk who live there and as are as much a part of the land as the slash pines:) The characters are appropriately twisted emotionally and physically, and yet do we call a tree twisted when it bends and grows arounds rocks and breaks and other traumas that alter it's unfoldment? After all, what is normal? I love when a book locates spirituality beyond churches, mosques, synagogues, and temples, and invests spiritual power in folks other than the religiously ordained. After all, depending on what you believe, energy, the force,g-d, is everywhere, and humans fashion all sorts of beliefs and rationales to invoke ITs name. This is a literary gothic horror story, Sentient land. Strange love. And of course, serpents.

[Lawrence FitzGerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first Tom Piccirilli I've read. The more knowledgeable Goodreads reviewers haven't been as enthusiastic about November Mourns; I bow to their superior wisdom, but...

Reading is an intensely personal thing and somehow for me this was just the right book at just the right time. Good prose, good characterization where needed, good atmosphere, good story, and a wonderful ambiguity to it all.

What does it all mean? I ask myself that every night between drinks. I'm not likely to find out; just pass the moon.

I would/will read November Mourns again and that gets it five stars any day of the week.

[Melissa Bennett · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Piccirilli book and unfortunately I wasn't that impressed. The story is about a guy named Shad who gets out of jail and heads back home to find out how his sister died. At the beginning I was really interested. The town sounded creepy. The mysteries behind the town even creepier. But as the story continued it seemed to just go around in circles. Finally towards the end it started to get really interesting again only to have a disappointing ending. I have read on other reviews that this is not his best work so I'll definitely give the author another try.

[Isidore · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and successful blend of the hard-boiled and horror genres. For popular fiction, there's surprisingly little padding or pandering to the audience: the character of Elfie perhaps isn't necessary except to supply some (redundant) sex, but otherwise the author sticks to developing ideas and atmosphere. The ending is particularly clever, furnishing a villain for the more literal-minded, while leaving things wide-open for those who prefer a more elusive and fantastic resolution. Well above-average, so why aren't their more reviews of it?

[DJMikeG · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains passages of intensely beautiful and poetic writing. Piccirilli is definitely talented, but overall, the narrative didn't quite hold up to the high standard of the descriptive and insightful prose. Still highly recommended for those who love supernatural thrillers, but want them written well. This was my first book by Piccirilli, and I look forward to reading more of his work.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tons of country crime noir elements, woo-woo and Southern Gothic sensibility make me love this book. The prose is beautiful and the characters run the scale from heroic to gross. What's not to love? I definitely preferred this book to A Choir of Ill Children.....but it could have been written about a town just down the road.

[David Holdredge · Rating 2 out of 5]

A mediocre read from an incredible author. Piccirilli's prose is polished and attractive, much like the workings of a Flannery O'Connor; however, his storyline gets lost behind all of the depressive description and flair. The storyline was top notch, but too many dull and bland areas of tedium all too often forgot to progress the storyline at a pace in which I enjoy.

[Elyse · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this one up at a yard sale thinking it looked interesting and read it pretty quickly, but I wasn't really that impressed by it. It's not of those books that stuck with me and I can't really say I remember it that well.

[Martha · Rating 3 out of 5]

I just read this book a little here and there, so it may not have had the impact it should have. All I know is after all the great build-up, I expected more from the outcome. Ever finish a book and think you liked the characters at first, but by the end you didn't care about any of them?

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

bit too southern gothic for me.
I was looking for primarily a mystery with a bit of the supernatural thrown in,
like baskervilles, this was more
American Horror story.
Well conceived, but not what I was looking for

[Christine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Psychological Suspense: Not believable..too bizaare. Had to push through it.

[Timothy Youngs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really, really good backwoods hillbilly story from the dependable wordsmith Tom Piccirilli.