Redemption

by Chet Hagan

Returning to his native Mountain County, Tennessee, to oversee the disposal of his late father's belongings, a Chicago police lieutenant is thrown into a fringe society where a smart and stubborn cast of characters--including moonshiners, prostitutes, and sadists--have their own brutal brand of law

Genres: Horror

278 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1989

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting thriller set primarily in Eastern Tennessee, which is why I decided to read it. Our main protagonist, Lieutenant Casey Ballard, worked for the Chicago PD before he was forced to retire after 29 years due to his killing of a perp. Just about the same time that is going down, he receives an odd mail from a lawyer in Tennessee, informing him that his granddad passed away and left him his estate. Casey never met his granddad K.C.; in fact, his father never really discussed his father much at all, let alone the rest of his family, before he was killed 20 years ago. So, with time on his hands, he heads down to Mountain County, Tennessee to check things out.

Casey quickly discovers that what he inherited is basically a 'road house'- a brothel with slot machines, other types of gambling, and even chicken and dog fights. He was informed by the probate lawyer that the current manager of the road house offered him 40k for the property and is basically pressured to sell quickly, but his cop sense smells something. He meets the manager (the 'madam') and her 5 sons and is not impressed. While in town, he also meets the bank manager that held his granddad's accounts (what little there were) and the local sheriff. Everyone wants him to sell up and just leave, but he is determined to sort out what exactly is going on. How can such a brothel exist in the open? The local sheriff tells him there are laws, and then there are laws; people want and like the brothel, so what is the harm? The local sheriff also tries to blackmail him, telling him that his father killed a man before he fled to Chicago, and if he does not just sell up, he will make this public...

So, this rapidly turns into a multigenerational murder mystery and Casey tries to uncover just what happened with his father, but the more he digs, the more ugly he finds. Who was his granddad? A moonshiner who ran a brothel for 70 years, but why? What is the connection between him and the rest of the town, the sheriff and so forth? Hagan knows the area for sure, and the attitudes, making the story come alive. A fun read, but not one I would really recommend unless you are into Tennessee culture. Often brutal and at times very engaging, yet I had a hard time identifying with the protagonist, who seemed to make choices just to move the plot along. Plus, the writing is marginal. 3 hillbillies!

[Jordan West · Rating 2 out of 5]

Went in expecting the paperback pulp version of Shotgun Stories and got the Cannon Films production of Road House as a Chuck Norris vehicle instead; not unentertaining but thoroughly undemanding.