Turkeyfoot

by Rick Childers

Lucy Perley is nine-years-old and as far as she can tell her world is solid as packed dirt. She spends her summers jumping on the trampoline, visiting her Mamaw, and wading in the creek. Her mother and father aren’t perfect, but she loves them with all of her heart. Her family’s strange friends often visit, but one familiar face brings her candy and cream soda. The only problem is he’s also fueling her parents’ painkiller addiction.

The Eastern Kentucky community of Turkeyfoot is ravaged by the opioid epidemic and Sweetie Goodins has played no small part in feeding his neighbors’ bad habits. Having spent his life peddling painkillers, Sweetie struggles between accepting responsibility for his actions versus blaming the will of the addicts around him.

As his pill-pushing partner begins selling fentanyl for more profit, Sweetie’s attempts to justify his business dealings crumble. Sweetie witnesses the unraveling life of Lucy as her parents fall deeper into the pit of addiction. The Perleys, like so many others on Turkeyfoot Mountain, become willing to do whatever it takes to get their daily fix. Their bad company leaves Lucy vulnerable to a type of evil she has yet to encounter.

Before Sweetie can atone for any of his wrongdoings, he must either acknowledge his role in the lives ruined or continue paving a path of destruction.

What folks are saying...“This harrowing debut is equal parts grit and empathy. Turkeyfoot is full of complex characters, pitch-perfect dialogue, and a sense of place so vibrant you can hear the birds singing, see the mist-shrouded hills, and smell the smoke of the off-brand cigarettes. Rick Childers is a writer who cares as deeply about language as he does about action, whose love for Appalachia shows clearly in his insistence on showing its joys, sorrows, and complications.”

—Silas House, New York Times Bestselling novelist and Kentucky Poet Laureate

“A story of place richly imagined, Turkeyfoot ties together a cast of characters fully fleshed and deeply scarred. Where Childers shines is in his understanding of the intimacy demanded by such places. Here, no one is ever more than one person removed. All are linked like bloodkin.”

—David Joy, author of Those We Thought We Knew , winner of the Willie Morris Award and the Thomas Wolfe Literary Award

“Rick Childers brings to Turkeyfoot an ear for language, an eye for detail, and a feel for the structure of story that will keep the human face of the opioid epidemic before us.”

—Michael Henson, author of Maggie Boylan

Genres: Fiction

292 pages, Paperback

Published September 10, 2024

Reviews

[Raelyn Willman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! Childers descriptions were so vivid. I was incredibly immersed in the hills of Turkeyfoot. The novel highlights the beautiful and not so beautiful aspects of Eastern Kentucky in such an impactful way. I was genuinely hooked from start to finish.

[Thomas Trang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to believe this is a debut novel. Rick Childers writes with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. This is a book of rough-hewn Appalachian lyricism and a gut punch to the soul. Sentences come freighted with dread and mysticism.

Specific to its place but the themes of guilt, addiction, and community are universal. Highly recommend this for fans of rural crime fiction, grit lit, and all points in between.

[Devin Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

TurkeyfootRick Childers’ debut novel immerses your heart, mind, and soul in the fictional town of Turkeyfoot in Eastern Kentucky. His vivid depiction of Turkeyfoot feels deeply personal, evoking familiar stories and landscapes, both good and bad. I would be teary eyed reading some passages while others had me capturing photos of the story's pages as reminders of my own memories.

It's a brilliant tale of loss, greed, addiction, guilt, and all the beauty in between. My difficulties in reading such a gritty and heart-wrenching tale were only exceeded by my love for the book and its nature.

A phenomenal debut book, I have never been so overwhelmed by a novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it and it's definitely a new favorite of mine.

[Lew Clifton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Time and time again, Shotgun Honey delivers and this release by Kentucky author Rick Childers is no exception. In Turkeyfoot, Childers' shines as a storyteller and his gritty, authentic imagery is perhaps this novel's greatest strength. I can't wait to read more of Childers' work.

[Andrew Monge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since the finale of Stephen King’s Revival has a book affected me as much as #Turkeyfoot by @RA_Childers. I finished it a couple days back, then sat with it for a while to work through my feelings. This story tormented me in so many ways both during and after reading.

Part of me wants to hate this book for the considerable pain it brought me, but that’s silly. It’s a brilliantly told tale of sadness, loss, addiction, and the various ways we stay in bondage to a person or place, no matter how hard we fight against it.

I feel like I went 15 rounds with a world-class boxer after flipping the final page. This book is relentless, and not an easy read whatsoever…but it’s one of those stories you really need to experience. As powerful as anything you’ll find out there on the shelves.

[Denessa McPherson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading Turkeyfoot and found the raw and honest nature of the drug epidemic in Eastern Kentucky to be authentic without stereotyping. If you are looking for a “feel-good” story, pass this one by. There is very little light at the end, but the empathy felt for the very realistic characters can -and should- bring you to your knees. Childers’ poetic description of the mountains, trees, creeks, weather patterns, and people proves his real-life intimacy with the Appalachian region. Turkeyfoot is not like my usual choice for fiction, but I put it in the same must-read Appalachian books as Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.

[G.A. Rivers · Rating 5 out of 5]

TURKEYFOOT by Rick Childers is a story of lost souls and the innocents unable to escape their destructive orbit; a story set amidst the melancholic beauty of today's Appalachia. A story to humanize the damage and destruction the opioid epidemic has dealt to rural communities across the country. Such a description may echo with familiarity, but make no mistake, TURKEYFOOT, the eponymous tale, quickly and firmly finds its footing in the small Appalachian town where its people have sought joy and sustenance in a place that offers little of either and few of life’s modern comforts—and that’s without the corrosive force of widespread addiction.

Two characters are key to the story: Sweetie Goodins, 73 years old and sensing his own mortality and young Lucy Perley, the 4th grade daughter of two addicts. Sweetie provides the pills to those who must have them—whether they can pay or not—while young Lucy observes helplessly as her parents, two of Sweetie’s many customers, spiral endlessly downward. The story pulls you in immediately; the writing is heartfelt and at times lyrical. The sense of place is the tale’s beating heart as Appalachia, like any worthwhile character, shows its true self as it suffers changes wrought by darkness.

The ending arrives as simply as it begins and in a moment of bleakness but as your breath hitches and your reading slows you realize that amends are being made. Childers is subtle here, choosing not to embellish the moment before he closes the story with a sense of hope, showing us that beauty and goodwill remains within reach of those determined to see it in Turkeyfoot.

This is a striking and worthy debut from an author who is surely someone to watch. Be sure to read it.

[Seamus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is well written novel about a well-trod subject, the destruction wreaked on rural American people and places, specifically Appalachia and her people, by prescription opioids, fentanyl, meth, and other prescription and non-prescription drugs.

There's nothing overly original here and you know by this stage that there's going to be no happy endings, it's just a matter of how sad, bad, and tragic things turn out. Maybe the fact that the main character - Sweetie - is a drug peddler (and an older one at that) is different than many of the other depictions we've read and seen on the screen. We get to see the worsening impact of the drugs on individuals and the community through the eyes of a person who's central to its progression and who has complex feelings on the matter. More familiar are the tales of families destroyed, children abused and abandoned, family support abused and strained, addicts attempting to straighten out, and no support from 'official America.'

The author is very obviously someone who's close physically and emotionally to everything that's going on in the book as mirrored in/from the real world and you can sense this in the writing. He loves the place and the people and hurts to see what's happening. The use of words and the closeness to the subject elevates this for me.

Congratulations to Rick Childers and his publisher.

[Wes Hutcheson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Childers’ debut is a timely book that deserves to be read. Given the current political climate, in tandem with the opioid epidemic tearing this nation apart, Turkeyfoot will hit home for many readers.

“ The Eastern Kentucky community of Turkeyfoot is ravaged by the opioid epidemic and Sweetie Goodins has played no small part in feeding his neighbors’ bad habits. Having spent his life peddling painkillers, Sweetie struggles between accepting responsibility for his actions versus blaming the will of the addicts around him.”

This book is so much more than its description. It certainly does not read like a debut, or even a sophomore effort for that matter. It’s clear that the author has lived and breathed the environment, as the description and dialogue are spot on.

If you’re a fan of gritty literature, this is the book for you.

[Bryanna Moreno · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've met Rick about two or three times, amazing guy. Thankful he gifted me his book so that I can read it. I've attended his book event last year about his book would be. After I worked for his book event for my college this year, Rick and I had a conversation about how I would like to read his book. A couple days after, after class, I went to his office and picked up the book and I wanted to read it after the book I was currently reading at that time. Loved the book. One thing that was on my mind: What happened to Sweetie? Is he alive, dead, still on the ground, or the hospital? I guess we didn't know about Sweetie because of what happened to Lucy and the barriers John made between them and Sweetie. His writing is immaculate, and I can't wait to talk to Rick again about how much I liked reading the book.

[Amy Richardson · Rating 5 out of 5]

These characters capture the nuances of this place and how beautiful and complicated living here is. A truly haunting story because of its roots in the every day lives of folks facing addiction, those affected by addition, and its deep roots running beyond the small communities within these hills. Even if I didn’t already know these people and this place, I would after reading this book. Excellent.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhere in the hills of Kentucky, a town decays as the people there succumb to the drugs all around them. Dealers, users are both trapped in cycle of searching for money or drugs. A little girl presents the only ray of hope. Childers does a nice job of finding the balance between desperation and hope, violence and survival.

[TJ Buck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Childers' debut novel, Turkeyfoot, is an honest, brutal, savage portrait of people and a town ravaged by drugs. It's bleak and powerful with just enough hope to hang on to.

[Rachel Myers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully described tragedies. Growing up in eastern Kentucky is not for the weak. This book reminded me of my roots, the good and the bad.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 I really liked the beginning of the book and I’d like to read what he writes next. The subject matter of opioid addiction in a small KY town is very sad and I’m sure accurately told. I feel the same way I did watching Tom Holland in Cherry - just so bleak. The last 100 pages could have been stronger- I wasn’t quite sure where it was going. It probably was more like a memoir of drug addiction with back & forth and most days looking the same - I probably would have preferred a bit more plot or direction in the back half. I think he really has a gift for writing about Ky!

[Tess Perdue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm afraid I can't give this book more than 2 stars. A sincere effort at telling a mature and complicated story, the end result is more meandering and confused. It seems to want to be several things and then cuts itself off - a family drama, but doesn't spend enough time in those moments; a cops-and-robbers story, but without bringing that line to its logical conclusion. To Mr. Childers's credit, some of the individual lines are quite good, and most of these mistakes can honestly be chalked up to its being a first novel. However, what I can't forgive is the litany of grammatical mistakes not caught by a competent editor. Gone over a few more times, with both structural and line-level edits, this novel could have been much more satisfying. As it stands, I was just disappointed.

[Michael Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Turkeyfoot, Rick Childers provides readers with a rich portrait of impoverished lives — lives of turbulent desperation.

[Donna A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed!