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First In Flight
When itinerant lawman Ray Tatum's quick visit to the North Carolina Outer Banks is complicated by a homicide, Ray gets hired to help track down the killer and finds himself locked into a winter at the shore. Fortunately for Ray, the seaside desolation suits him right down to the ground. First In Flight is one of six Ray Tatum novels. They were written to be read in no particular order.
- GenresFiction
Audible Audio
Published January 10, 2024
32 people are currently reading
25 people want to read
About the author
T.R. Pearson
34 books273 followersThomas Reid Pearson is an American novelist born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is the author of seventeen novels and four works of non-fiction under his own name, including A Short History of a Small Place, Cry Me A River, Jerusalem Gap, and Seaworthy, and has written three additional novels -- Ranchero, Beluga, and Nowhere Nice -- under the pseudonym Rick Gavin. Pearson has also ghostwritten several other books, both fiction and nonfiction, and has written or co-written various feature film and TV scripts.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 15, 2017
This is my fourth consecutive T.R. Pearson murder mystery. I don't understand why I've never heard of him. He's really good. The blurbs attracted me because the stories are set in Virginia, the tidewater area, the Blue Ridge mountains, Afton, Crozet, Greenwood, places I know well. His sparse prose captures the scenery and people accurately, although he sometimes is a little too dismissive of hill people as crackers, for my taste. The plots are action packed; the mysteries are intriguing; the murders and murderers are fascinating and unique, although you need a strong stomach; all told with exceptional humor and wit. This one takes place on the Outer Banks of N.C. and advances the peripatetic career of lawman Ray Tatum. It's my favorite of the four, but Warwolf is a close second. Kate, an FBI agent in that novel, is among the most interesting characters I've encountered in all my reading. My recommendation: Anything by T.R. Pearson is well worth the read, with one caveat. He needs a much better proofreader. Although the typos are distracting, you'll power through them because the stories are so good.
April 26, 2023
Almost never a five, but this one you must read
I have read upwards of 6000 books in my life. Take it from me, this one is worth it. The dialogue is so real, exactly the way people really talk and think, especially folks in the south. Pay attention, the shorthand can be hard to follow. If you've ever been in law enforcement or know someone who is, it will all make perfect sense. This story has all the basic elements of excellent crime fiction with the down home feel we've come to expect from Pearson.
I have read upwards of 6000 books in my life. Take it from me, this one is worth it. The dialogue is so real, exactly the way people really talk and think, especially folks in the south. Pay attention, the shorthand can be hard to follow. If you've ever been in law enforcement or know someone who is, it will all make perfect sense. This story has all the basic elements of excellent crime fiction with the down home feel we've come to expect from Pearson.
February 22, 2018
First off, I love T.R. Pearson. Even a tale of mayhem and really gruesome murders is palatable with his originality and humor. This tale brought back Ray Tatum, a favorite character. There are two things evident after reading it. One, Mr. Pearson remains a favorite writer. Two, his editor has either retired on his royalties or gone to Jesus. So many small errors interrupted the flow of the story.
September 25, 2019
First in Flight
Kinda gruesome and took me a while to get in to it but the story pulls you right a long and it's hard to quit reading. Liked old Ray and Meeker. Good combination there.
Kinda gruesome and took me a while to get in to it but the story pulls you right a long and it's hard to quit reading. Liked old Ray and Meeker. Good combination there.
July 22, 2017
Average mystery. Not bad but not great. I chose this book because I liked "Polar" but this book wasn't as good.
October 9, 2019
new favorite
wow. this book cost me a lot of time and nothing else. great plot with lots of offbeat characters that I hope show up again. I recommend this book and author.
wow. this book cost me a lot of time and nothing else. great plot with lots of offbeat characters that I hope show up again. I recommend this book and author.
February 6, 2022
Conchs?
A page turner for real. So realistic what with real towns and places. But, I think the shells had to be shells, no conchs in NC!
A page turner for real. So realistic what with real towns and places. But, I think the shells had to be shells, no conchs in NC!
October 8, 2019
The story was entertaining enough, but (and this is never something that has bothered me in any other book) the editing was terrible! I'm pretty sure the font size changed halfway through. And lots of punctuation errors, missed paragraphs, and a healthy handful of spelling errors. Copy editor needed!
January 25, 2016
Ray Tatum, ex-cop, would like to have nothing to do with serial murders, policing, drug dealers, or female military officers who knock on your bedroom door in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, he just is not in control of the situation.
T.R.Pearson, national writing treasure and author of classic stories about the American South is obviously enjoying describing Tatum's predicaments.
...."The Sheriff called Cutler ‘buddy’, and Cutler called the Sheriff ‘sport’ because neither one, apparently, could quite remember the other’s name."....
The story starts out strange, the gets strange from there. Off-season beach territory should be quite and calm, without inexplicable murders committed by someone who is not only deranged, but begins to toy with the authorities... Should be.
...."She liked what she’d done there. She smiled to the extent her skin would allow it."......
Pearson's dialog is a joy to read. Sometimes I would read a line out loud, just to hear it.
....""What did ya’ll hit him with?” the larger one asked as the smaller one squatted to examine the damage. Cutler left it to me. I told her, “Enthusiasm.”"....
Characters like Ray Tatum are a rare find, and this fast moving mystery is funny and frightening - Ray handles events as they come, as if placed in a Hitchcock thriller that has gone terribly wrong.
...."Our waitress was blonde and leathery. She looked like a Dot or a Madge, equal parts mentholated cigarette stink, treacly perfume, and phlegm ."....
Download this book now- if you enjoy it half as much as I did, you will be delighted.
T.R.Pearson, national writing treasure and author of classic stories about the American South is obviously enjoying describing Tatum's predicaments.
...."The Sheriff called Cutler ‘buddy’, and Cutler called the Sheriff ‘sport’ because neither one, apparently, could quite remember the other’s name."....
The story starts out strange, the gets strange from there. Off-season beach territory should be quite and calm, without inexplicable murders committed by someone who is not only deranged, but begins to toy with the authorities... Should be.
...."She liked what she’d done there. She smiled to the extent her skin would allow it."......
Pearson's dialog is a joy to read. Sometimes I would read a line out loud, just to hear it.
....""What did ya’ll hit him with?” the larger one asked as the smaller one squatted to examine the damage. Cutler left it to me. I told her, “Enthusiasm.”"....
Characters like Ray Tatum are a rare find, and this fast moving mystery is funny and frightening - Ray handles events as they come, as if placed in a Hitchcock thriller that has gone terribly wrong.
...."Our waitress was blonde and leathery. She looked like a Dot or a Madge, equal parts mentholated cigarette stink, treacly perfume, and phlegm ."....
Download this book now- if you enjoy it half as much as I did, you will be delighted.
August 22, 2016
As always with T. R. Pearson's books, the good old boys are real. They are people I know. I am always amazed at Mr. Pearson's ability to capture their cadence, speech and piss-poor attitude. I hear them, I see them. As always with T. R. Pearson books, Ray Tatum is a decent man who is likeable and not likeable at the same time. He seems to fall back into police work even when trying not to. He has seen it all, and it all has damaged him, but he can't escape who he is. Police work found him again, this time when he stumbled on a murder and became deputized. Smart, wry, sarcastic, restless, shiftless, he tries to escape his decency, but just can't quite make that happen. As always with TR Pearson books, I laughed on almost every page, even the gruesome parts. The man can write elegant sentences, even in the hollers and hills, or in this case, the beach. Make no mistake, there is a whole lot of gruesome and there is funny at the same time. It is a gruesome read.
The only issue I found was typos; while not too frequent, it was an unusual number for a Pearson book, and in one sentence, he used the word "waste" instead of "waist". When I run across grammar and typos in a book, it drops me out of the story, suddenly and unceremoniously. I don't love that.
The only issue I found was typos; while not too frequent, it was an unusual number for a Pearson book, and in one sentence, he used the word "waste" instead of "waist". When I run across grammar and typos in a book, it drops me out of the story, suddenly and unceremoniously. I don't love that.
November 19, 2015
I was reading this book in the same time period as I was binge-watching the last episodes of the TV series, Fargo, first season. Probably not a good idea, as that is too much black humor, even for someone like me, who enjoys it. As a result, I am feeling depressed and cynical at the moment.
Fans of T. R. Pearson will be familiar with his wandering and rich sentences – the opening sentence of Off for the Sweet Hereafter is a memorable example. That is not what we have here: sentences are truncated in the extreme, often fragments or single words. But it works. I had to spend some time with my friend Google, looking up terms that were not familiar to me (OBX, sliders, MMA, BOLO are a few examples), and also some time with a maps application to get my bearings straight. The story keeps the pages turning, but as usual with Pearson, it is the local color and characters that are main thing.
Fans of T. R. Pearson will be familiar with his wandering and rich sentences – the opening sentence of Off for the Sweet Hereafter is a memorable example. That is not what we have here: sentences are truncated in the extreme, often fragments or single words. But it works. I had to spend some time with my friend Google, looking up terms that were not familiar to me (OBX, sliders, MMA, BOLO are a few examples), and also some time with a maps application to get my bearings straight. The story keeps the pages turning, but as usual with Pearson, it is the local color and characters that are main thing.
June 13, 2022
The plot is complex and proceeds apace, but what kept me turning the pages of this book was the character development, the local atmosphere, the dialog. I almost felt like I was intruding on occasion, my sense of immersion was so strong.
Ray is the kind of guy we'd all like to know and to be--competent and likable (once you get past his gruff exterior) and he's got a heart of gold.
Here's one way I judge a book: was I glad to finally finish it, or was I was sad when I turn the last page? With this book, I was definitely sad that the experience was over. I'm looking forward to learning more about Ray, and I hope, his new-found colleagues on the Outer Banks.
Ray is the kind of guy we'd all like to know and to be--competent and likable (once you get past his gruff exterior) and he's got a heart of gold.
Here's one way I judge a book: was I glad to finally finish it, or was I was sad when I turn the last page? With this book, I was definitely sad that the experience was over. I'm looking forward to learning more about Ray, and I hope, his new-found colleagues on the Outer Banks.
February 12, 2016
I love his writing; it's a delight! The descriptive tangents never cease to bring a chuckle. I'm not saying this book is a comedy but you will laugh. I have highlighted so many passages (I read on a Kindle) so that I can go back and enjoy them again and again. Also, I can find them easily to read to others because I like to turn others on to a great author. I got a list of T.R. Pearson's books and read them all. (Try "Gospel Hour"...it's a hoot! His unique style is really highlighted in this book.)
December 31, 2016
Clever mystery set on the off-season NC coast. Pearson is a gifted storyteller and a master of local idiom.
Few are as good as Pearson at local color and vivid, if trenchant detail. Murder and mayhem as slightly comic, through the eyes of a world-weary cop, who tries to conceal his humanity and literacy. Large cast,deftly drawn. Over-intricate plotting perhaps, but will certainly seek out his other mystery novels. A 4 1/2.
Few are as good as Pearson at local color and vivid, if trenchant detail. Murder and mayhem as slightly comic, through the eyes of a world-weary cop, who tries to conceal his humanity and literacy. Large cast,deftly drawn. Over-intricate plotting perhaps, but will certainly seek out his other mystery novels. A 4 1/2.
October 22, 2024
Nobody writes like Pearson. I devoured this book in two big gulps, alternately wincing and laughing. <3
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews