Penalties of June

by John Brandon

The millennium is drawing to a close. Pratt, a young Floridian who’s just finished a prison sentence he both did and didn't deserve, is looking to start a new life. But will he be able to shake his shady past? Brimming with tension, action, wry dialogue, and unexpected pathos, Penalties of June is John Brandon’s sixth book published by McSweeney’s. With his distinct feel for the underbelly of his home state of Florida, Brandon takes readers into the forbidding corners of the Tampa Bay area—unsavory motels, secondhand shops, no-frills diners, and dubious used-car lots. Pratt navigates crime bosses and drug dealers on a perilous mission, his steed a trusty (if creaky) Chrysler LeBaron. Faced with an impossible choice, and the prospect of finally finding love after years behind bars, Pratt risks it all for a chance at making things right.

250 pages, Hardcover

Published November 26, 2024

About the author

Although John Brandon is an MFA graduate of the writing program at Washington University in St. Louis, while drafting the novel Arkansas, he "worked at a lumber mill, a windshield warehouse, a Coca-Cola distributor, and several small factories producing goods made of rubber and plastic." In his spare time, he obsesses over Florida Gators football.

Reviews

[Becky Loader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a twister of a story: told from the criminal side, not the law side.
Pratt is an appealing character even if he is just getting out of prison. How did he get into such a mess?
Lots of intrigue and puzzles, and a lot of slang. I had to look up a lot of words.
Great ending, though.

[Jonathan Hawpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Brandon gets my vote for most shamefully overlooked contemporary author. In previous novels he's tackled coming-of-age, historical Americana, magical realism, and dark comedy with superb results. Penalties Of June is his jump into the deep end of Southern crime and redemption with the cheeky elan of an Elmore Leonard and gothic heart of a Flannery O'Connor. Darkness and light in a perfect slow dance.

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

🌟🌟🌟
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John Brandon writes about characters down on their luck who are attempting to make a path forward out of the consequences of their choices. Penalties is his newest that takes place in a low-income Florida community, following Pratt who’s just out of jail and trying to make amends. I like Brandon’s storytelling and McSweeney’s can always be counted on for an artistic publication.

[Micah Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

From an author whose through-line is setting and atmosphere rather than genre or style, this is Brandon’s most accessible and safe novel yet. It’s a slow-burn southern-gothic crime story with few surprises, but the last fifty pages still pull together just the right balance of violence, sadness, sentimentality and charm to make the story feel whole and satisfying.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very entertaining! Moved right along with just the right amount of humor, tension, and atmosphere.