Vengeance is Mine

Red River Mystery #4

by Reavis Z. Wortham

Top 5 Modern Westerns by True West Magazine "Loaded with healthy doses of humor, adventure, and intrigue, populated by a remarkable cast of characters both good and bad and featuring one heck of an electrifying climax is a throwback to the pulp era in the best possible sense." ―Owen Laukkanen, bestselling author By October 1967… the Summer of Love is history, rock and roll is dark and revolutionary, and people in the small East Texas community of Center Springs want only a quiet life. Unluckily, two years earlier, Anthony Agrioli met newlyweds Cody and Norma Faye Parker in a Vegas casino and heard their enthusiastic descriptions of Center Springs as the perfect place to settle down and raise a family. Now handsome hit man Agrioli and a blonde bombshell full of surprises need a place to hide out and, if possible, duck retribution from his Las Vegas crime boss. Thirteen-year-old Top Parker has what his grandmother, Miss Becky, calls a Poisoned Gift. His dreams, though random and disconnected, always seem to come true. This time Top dreams he's a wagon wheel with spokes converging from all directions. To him, the spokes symbolize that something is coming. And it is―Center Springs will soon become a combat zone when a squad of gangsters arrives. Oddly, they're after something else. Not Agrioli―yet. Add a sheriff crooked as a dog's hind leg, an unsolved murder in the river bottoms, counterfeit money, and a bank robbery to this country-noir Shakespearian comedy, cast it with Wortham's real and sometimes wacky characters including a constable and a judge, and the outcomes become unpredictable.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Thriller

336 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2014

About the author

Reavis Z. Wortham retired in 2011 and now works harder than before as the author of the critically acclaimed Red River historical mystery series. Kirkus Reviews listed his first novel, The Rock Hole, as one of their Top 12 Mysteries of 2011. True West Magazine included Dark Places as one of 2015’s Top 12 Modern Westerns. The Providence Journal writes, “This year's Unraveled is a hidden gem of a book that reads like Craig Johnson's Longmire on steroids.” Wortham’s new high octane contemporary thriller from Kensington Publishing, Hawke's Prey, featuring Texas Ranger Sonny Hawke was released in June, 2017.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this fourth entry in the Red River Texas series. The time is 1967 and the series revolves around the Parker family. Top Parker now thirteen years old is being raised by his Grandfather Constable Ned Parker and his Grandmother Miss Becky. Pepper is Top's cousin and they always play a major part in the mysteries. Pepper is a trouble maker and now dreams of the California life style of the late sixties. Top's uncle Cody is also a Constable.

It begins with a Las Vegas hit man not finishing a job for his boss and then needs to leave Las Vegas as he knows he will be the next hit. He meets the Mob Boss daughter and she leaves with him. Both are longing for a simple life. Tony, the hit man, had met Cody Parker in a casino and liked what he had heard about Center Springs Texas. They arrived there, looking totally alien, in comparison to the locals. They bought a house and started making friends. Trouble couldn't follow them to Center Springs could it? Also, add in a crooked Sheriff, counterfeit money, a murder and a bank robbery to the story.

There was a tense and action filled scene at the end when all the people came together in Center Springs. I would suggest if you start this series to start with the first book The Rock Hole. It probably isn't necessary but reading the books in order shows the character development and past history of the stories. I am looking forward to reading the 5th book Dark Places. This is a very good mystery series.

[Pop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just another great episode of Wortham’s Red River Mystery series. Only 2 more books in it & I’m going to be sad when I finish them.

[Ronna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book free from the author. This is my honest review.

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth The Lord." (Romans 12:19). In 1967, in the small town of Center Springs, Texas, events are going to take place that will put this promise to the ultimate test. Tony Agrioli and his girlfriend, have just moved into town after having met Center Springs' Constable Cody Parker and his new wife while they were on their honeymoon in Las Vegas. Tony wants to live a simple peaceful life, but we don't always get what we wish for when our past follows us.

Usually a rather peaceful town, where everybody knows everybody else's business, Constables Cody and Ned Parker find themselves up against a crooked and racist Sheriff who is steeped in evil. There's been a murder and a robbery, but the Sheriff seems to have his own agenda. The Parker teens, Top and his cousin, Pepper's curiosity gets them into the center of trouble yet again, as a number of strangers come into town bringing intrigue and tragedy with them.

Once again, Wortham has created a tale of old fashion humor and violence, steeped with references to past times that thrills the senses. There's murder, bank robberies, mobsters, counterfeit money, and deadly secrets that move this story like a huge roller coaster ride. This book can be enjoyed by itself, but I definitely recommend first being introduced to the tall tales from the first three books in this series. Cops and robbers with quirky characters, a bit of foreboding dreams, and real heroes raise the story above the average mystery.

[Sandy Nawrot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of you may not have heard of Reavis Z. Wortham, the author of the Red River Mystery series. There is literally an ocean of mystery series out there vying for your obsessive nature, but luckily I happened upon this guy at a writer's conference a few years back. Mr. Wortham is a charismatic Texan who does a masterful job at striking a balance between nostalgia (his books are set in the 1960's), coming of age, and gritty murder most foul. "Vengeance is Mine" is his fourth installment, and I never tire of them. I've become very attached to the quirky main characters...an old grizzled constable Ned and his Choctaw wife Miss Becky, his best friend the judge, his part-Choctaw nephew Cody, the "colored" sheriff in town that is like family, and his almost pubescent grandkids Top and Pepper who are always in trouble. Their ways are Southern and easy, but very clever. And bad things always seem to wander into their small Texan town of Center Springs.

This time around, a Vegas mobster hit-man decides to get out of the business and tries to settle down in Center Springs with his young wife. But worlds are destined to collide here with a little help from one particular dirty sheriff that's got some bad Karma building up.

There is so much to love about this series and this book in particular. Pepper is starting to enter puberty and long for Bohemian life and music, not to be found in her two-bit town. Tensions and prejudices are still running high between blacks, whites and Native Americans, but I love that our Ned doesn't roll that way, and neither does his family. Throw in some hard core criminals, some smart and some not so much, and you have a very entertaining read. Granted, the endings of these books tend to be insane and over-the-top, usually accompanied by a big Texas-sized storm, but I don't mind. I'll keep reading these novels as long as Mr. Wortham writes them.

[Carl Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was received as a Goodreads win. As with some of my other reviews, I think that by not starting with the first book in the series I missed out. There are some references to people and incidents from previous novels. While I don't think its necessary to read the previous books to enjoy this one, I think it helps to have the whole story.
Think of this book as a cross between Casino, The Andy Griffith Show, with a little dash of The Dukes of Hazard thrown in for good measure. Set in 1967 in the sleepy Texas town of Center Springs, the story revolves around two kids, Top and Pepper Parker and their family. Judging from some of the things talked about in this book, these kids have something of a knack for getting themselves in trouble. Things get interesting when a former hitman for the Vegas mob comes to town looking to start over with his new girl and starts butting heads with the local crooked sheriff. Once heavy hitters from out of town head to Center Springs and start shooting, the book reaches a rather bloody and satisfying climax.
All in all, a pretty good read.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous series by author Reavis Z. Wortham. I have read the entire series and have enjoyed it immensely. It is set during the 1960s in northeast Texas. It was a time that was less than fifty years ago but feels like a lifetime ago. Following the adventures of Top and Pepper, the grandchildren of Ned and Becky Parker, is always fascinating.

This latest book, Vengeance is Mine, is filled with dizzying action throughout as former mafia lieutenant Tony Agrioli and his new wife settle into Center Springs. The town is soon engulfed by Tony's pursuers and the associates of a crooked lawman. Pepper longs for the action of California and the mystic of the Summer of Love during a time when their lives are consumed with more action than anyone can hope for.

Always magical to fall into the bosom of the Parker family and the drama that continually surrounds them. Fascinating to grow up with Top and Pepper. Vengeance is Mine is a great book...easy to recommend. Read the whole series if you can.

[Susan Krich · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great story and it is not necessary to have read the earlier Red River Mysteries.
There are 2 divergent stories with very different stereotypes (Las Vegas Mafia and rural Texas folks) that connect in Chapter 13. Some of the names and descriptions brought a smile to my face.
"Vengeance Is Mine" but who's? The young Texas boy,Grandpa and Uncle Cody, the daughter of the Mafia boss or the Lord?

[CW · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fun book in Reavis Wortham's Red River Series. Just when you think that Top and Pepper can't get into any more trouble, the Las Vegas mob comes to town. This was a very entertaining thriller and a very quick read. This book has suspense, humor, intrigue, etc. and was hard to put down.

[Jack Goodstein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in Center Springs all hell bursts loose as the town is invaded by mobsters, there's a murder, attacks by feral dogs, a bank robbery and a dirty law officer, otherwise things are normal in the small Texas town.

[Janet Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice addition to the East Texas literary scene. Appealing characters, plots that twist and coverge, and a fine sense of place.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best book I have read in a long time. The characters are real, the story is well done. It was worth my time to read. Excellent book.

I won this book through FirstReads giveaways.

[Lisa Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story opens in Vegas with a mob hit man and his boss. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I hadn't been too crazy about the last book in the series and I thought this might be it for me. I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

A hitman decides to leave the business and heads out toward a little town a couple of newlyweds he ran into at the casino one night had been talking about. Along the way he picks up a gorgeous blonde, who just happens to be his new ex-bosses' daughter, and a safe full of cash that should stake him anywhere.

Wouldn't you know, Constable Cody Parker isn't the only man in Center Springs that he knows.

What I love about these books is the nostalgia. Set in the 60's in rural Oklahoma I'm reminded of a lot of the little things that happened when I was growing up. How things used to be, at least in my memory. It's a different world, one we've passed by. These books are kind of a "thanks for the memories" and this one hit right on the head again.

You have to suspend belief a bit for the plot set up. The chances of these people all landing together the way they do is right there with playing the lottery, but it makes for a good story that's all about the characters anyway. The story ended the way it should, although I would have liked to see it end just a tad different for a bit more of a HEA. These books aren't about happy endings though.

[Bill Krieger · Rating 2 out of 5]

 

Vengeance is Mine didn't quite cut it for me: 2 bill-stars.

This book isn't terrible, but I never really got into it. The writing style and pace of the book is slow...until the free-for-all ending. There's a lot of caricature in the book's characters, from the local yokels in rural Texas to Tommy-gun toting Vegas mobsters. Alas, there is little to no humor. That would have helped. (shrug)

QOTD

Not a soul in the world ever met that old lady that didn’t love her. The soft voice, her love for people, and her dedication to the Lord and her church, all defined that little old full-blood Choctaw woman. She gently and unconsciously shaped the lives of all those near her, and could always be relied on to remain calm in a crisis.

- Vengeance is Mine

Anywho, not a good read. thanks...yow, bill

 

[Doug Sundseth · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the plot of this story strains credulity ... severely, the characters and sense of time and place are still excellent. And though it lacks believability, the action of the story is entertainingly written.

It must be said, though, that there are continuity problems and the story ends on a cliffhanger, both of which were distracting.

[Libby · Rating 3 out of 5]

These books are always entertaining and fast paced. I cannot help but love the characters of Top and his family. It is an idealized version of life in East Texas, but I know there were/ are some people like these….law men with ethics who take their responsibility seriously. The Las Vegas gangster brought destruction to the town, but the Sheriff who lived there was the REAL bad guy.

[Tim Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

#4 in “The Red River Mystery Series.” The continuing saga of the Parker family in North Texas, near the Oklahoma border. The same excellent writing of life in the late 1960s as times are changing in a small Texas community.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

One good book after another!

I'm on a roll reading this series. Don't know what I'll do when I'm caught up. I've grown used to spending so much time with the Parkers, I feel like a member of the family! Love this series!!

[Myrna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t love it. There were too many coincidences, and most of the time I felt like I was reading a Shakespearean comedy. It was more farcical than anything. I will try another by Wortham, but if it happens again, I will be done with the series.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining. Really enjoyed this one. Think it might be the best in the series so far.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read and series.

[Bill Lents · Rating 5 out of 5]

Down home flavor......

The down home flavor carried through the story. The comfortable feeling as the characters move through their lives. The openness and warmth carry me along.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vengeance Is Mine is the fifth book in Wortham’s Red River Mystery Series. It opens with a hit man getting an assignment in Las Vegas 1967. Anthony Agrioli has not gone soft, but when he sees a couple of kids on the list, something begins to stir inside him. After deciding to double-cross his gangster boss and get out of the killing business, he picks up a hot babe and heads out of town. They set out on a path that may lead them to their own destruction.

The couple ends up in a small town in northeast Texas, hoping to lead a quiet, unassuming life far away from the glitz, glamour and guns that defined their previous life. They quickly find small towns are friendly, but a bit wary of newcomers. The town might be tiny, but it has more than its share of quirky characters and all of them are interested in finding out what makes the city slickers tick.

Top Parker and his cousin Pepper are barely into their teens and both of them are too curious for their own good. Their uncle Cody is the constable, who tries to keep a handle on them, but it is not easy. The teens are not especially defiant, but feel they know better than the grown-ups in their lives do when it comes to dangerous situations.

The teens have a starring role, and this part of the story is masterfully understated, but forever present. Pepper is chafing against the constraints of small town life, complaining she wants to move to California where rock & roll and freedom can become her new way of life. Top has challenges of his own. He must act like a man when his dog is mauled by a pack of wild dogs, even if it means doing something he does not want to do. Both of them are maturing, but still need guidance and nurturing. Their close family and network of friends and neighbors in this tiny community fill that need.

Their Uncle Cody is hindered by working under a sheriff with questionable morals and dealings. The real trouble begins when gangsters roll into town looking for Agrioli. A storm is brewing both figuratively and literally. Unfortunately, bullets will fly and someone will die.

Top’s grandmother is a Choctaw who has experienced racism, and teaches others by example that acceptance of others is necessary. She invites an African American family into her home when others would not, not thinking twice about what others may think. There is an interesting twist that involves her native language that I will let you discover yourselves.

This novel moves faster than a sidewinder, and you might want to speed through it to see what is going to happen next. Try to slow down a bit and savor the layers and intricate connections with all of the subplots and the main plot. Wortham addresses many social and personal issues with his interesting and complicated characters. He combines unlikely elements including a dead body, a group of gangsters, raging hormones, a bank robbery and a young man whose dreams are premonitions to draw readers in and hold them until the very last page.

This is the first Red River Mystery I have read. It worked fine as a stand-alone novel, but there were references to things that happened in earlier novels that I would have liked to know a bit more about. I guess I will read the previous books in the series to find out.

Copyright © 2014 Laura Hartman
DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy that I can keep for consideration in preparing to write this content. I was not expected to return this item after my review.

[Wicked Smart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vengeance is Mine: A Red River Mystery, by Reavis Wortham, was selected as the June feature in my book club. As is my nature, I dove in, last minute, without even a perusal of the jacket summary. Okay, I admit, I'm ASSUMING there is a hard cover with a jacket summary out there somewhere. I downloaded the book in a moment of, "Holy sheep shizzle the author is COMING to our meeting and I need to start reading!" Exactly seven seconds after the Kindle download completed, my thought shifted to, "Awe crap bag, the author is COMING to our meeting! I could have had a SIGNED copy!"

The point is, I had no expectations of this book being a winner. Indeed, I had been avoiding the book in deference to several others I deemed more attractive. Knowing our hostess had met Reavis at a local event, I assumed that Vengeance is Mine was Reavis' first publication. I discerned that our member's selection was compelled by her desire to support an inexperienced local author. I felt the book likely to be poorly written and moderately entertaining; begrudgingly, I began reading.

Turns out, I was wrong. On all counts... Further support of the idiom, “When you assume, you make an ass out of you and me.” - Although, in this case, I'm the only ass. I digress...

Reavis writes a damn good book. Evidently, this is not his first rodeo... (Yes... I did that on purpose. Thanks for noticing). The structure of the written word and the plot line is well done. The characters feel real, (likely because many are based on people Reavis grew up around). The players propelled me forward with desire to connect the dots between seemingly unrelated plot lines.

The setting also resonates as genuine . The novel begins in early gangster Vegas,(a place Reavis admits to harboring a fascination with, but never having visited). However, the story-line unfolds in a small north Texas town; a town that Reavis spent childhood weekends and summers enjoying. Having recently relocated from New England to North Texas; reading this book was like gaining insight into the childhood of a new friend.

When asked what Reavis most wanted Vengeance is Mine readers to come away with, he indicated that he hopes to realistically portray the tone of small town Texas. Job well done sir.

Note: THIS IS THE FOURTH NOVEL IN A SERIES... I had literally NO IDEA. The book stands alone. Yet, I'm pretty damn excited that I am now able to go back and gain some insights into the characters I've become invested in. The first in the series, The Rock Hole: A Red River Mystery, is sitting on my bedside table, (signed... because I learn from my mistakes y'all).

Review as published on http://wickedsexysmart.com/

[Cathy Cole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wortham has completely won me over with his blend of humor and seriousness. With one word, he can have me reliving my youth in my own central Illinois version of Center Springs. Last time in The Right Side of Wrong, that one word was "bobwire" (barbed wire). In Vengeance Is Mine, it's "worsh" (wash). Even if you didn't grow up in a small town in the 1960s, you're certainly going to know what it was like by reading Wortham.

There's a seriousness to Wortham: big city problems moving into small towns, the effects a new dam is going to have on the area, the fact that white adults always have to think of the consequences if they or their children are seen mixing with black people. Drugs, technology, violence, racism. Pretty important-- and serious-- stuff, but Wortham is an expert at leavening the grim with laugh-out-loud humor. In this book the author taught me about some of the lyrics to a Little Richard song, city slicker Tony walking into a country store and quizzically eyeing a tin of Bag Balm, and Top being told a few facts of life by Pepper and two other young girls.

There's usually a scene towards the end when all Hades breaks loose, and Vengeance Is Mine is no exception. What makes it one of my favorites in this series is its "Witness"- like quality. (Remember the movie where Harrison Ford lives among the Amish for a while?) Yes, bad things happen in small towns, but folks there still know that they're all in this together. And it's the working together that makes things better.

These Red River mysteries have turned into one of my favorite series-- for the spot-on setting, for one of the best casts of characters going, for the humor, and for some high-octane action scenes that make my socks roll up and down. Each book does well as a standalone, but don't deny yourself one second of enjoyment. Begin at the beginning with The Rock Hole. You'll be glad you did!

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads Win

It is October 1967 when Las Vegas gangster Anthony Agrioli decides to hide out in the Center Springs a small town in Texas with his blond girlfriend. Trying to keep a low profile and blend in with the community.

We meet thirteen-year-old Top Parker has what his grandmother, Miss Becky, calls a Poisoned Gift. Top dreams are usually random and disconnected but they manage to come true. This time it is about a wagon hub with spokes converging from all directions. The spokes symbolize that something is coming, but he doesn’t know that their community will soon become a battle zone when the gangsters arrive. Not they’re only after Agrioli but something else.

Nothing is what it seems as the sheriff is corrupt, an solved murder, counterfeit money and a bank robbery thrown in as well. Center Springs is a place full of corruption and even secret pass ways.

An entertaining read that flows quickly.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wortham's writing can make your skin crawl - it is just that good. This one was not disappointing - we enjoyed it - in spite of the foul language.
A suitable, satisfying ending; worth the tense moments and excessive use of tommy guns.

[Jonathan Senior · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!!! One of my favorite in the collection...up there with the first two...love this series!!!!

[Kamini Madansingh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, part of a thrilling series.

[Harry Addington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked it and will read the short series (5 books or so) from the beginning.

[Tiffinie Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love everything about these books.