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Down In The Devil Hole
A storm is coming and it's leaving a swathe of devastation in its wake. From out past dismal rock to down in Devil Hole people are battening down the hatches and preparing for the worst.
Against this terrifying back drop David Jaggers sets his exciting tales. The storm is a malevolent, ever present, living entity throughout this crime collection. Murders are commited, robberies, lies, cheating and deceit whilst the storm searches for its next victim.
Close To The Bone Publishing is proud to bring you Down in the Devil Hole by David Jaggers.
Against this terrifying back drop David Jaggers sets his exciting tales. The storm is a malevolent, ever present, living entity throughout this crime collection. Murders are commited, robberies, lies, cheating and deceit whilst the storm searches for its next victim.
Close To The Bone Publishing is proud to bring you Down in the Devil Hole by David Jaggers.
143 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 17, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 3, 2016
In this brilliant collection of interconnected short stories, David Jaggers casts a beady eye over the broken, brutal lives of the citizens of Bronson, Kentucky as a storm approaches. Each story is a sharp slice of the hard life and the sum of the parts is even greater than the whole. Down In The Devil Hole is powerful stuff, like a combination of Donald Ray Pollock’s Knockemstiff and Jim Thompson’s The Kill Off. Highly recommended
December 23, 2015
So for the weekend read, I treated myself to ‘Down in the Devil Hole’ by J. David Jaggers.
I had seen this one coming for the last couple of weeks and looked forward to it. I’ve ran across Jaggers before as we frequent the same places. The fellas at Near to the Knuckle did a good job of getting the word out in advance.
I liked this. I liked this one a lot.
Dave had me at the first reference to an Iron Maiden t-shirt and the Dodge Dart Swinger?
Dave Jaggers has hit on a segment of our population that I don’t see a lot written of. Fuck maybe there is and I just don’t see it sheltered as I am here in the meth capital of the world?
Chris Leek in England can write a good ‘White Trash’ story and Alec Cizac did a pretty good job this last year with his ‘Crooked Roads’, but Jaggers has done something here that I have never seen before.
All of the stories are somehow interconnected and take place over a two or three day period as a vicious storm approaches a small and very rural Appalachian (I think?) town. The stories are not extensions of each other as in chapters, but separate stories—each with a beginning, middle and end—told at times, from a different angle or another’s point of view?
The last story brings a sort of closure to the whole affair as it is the first story told from another characters point of view.
‘Down in the Devil Hole’ is chalked full of white trash characters in dirty white undershirts smoking meth or swilling cheap beer. The cars are rusty and the price of a bag of pot or crystal meth has just skyrocketed—due to supply and demand—leaving the tweakers scrambling. The gals that populate the pages are even rustier than the cars if that can be and I almost doubt that there is a full set of teeth to be found?
I read through the collection on my phone taking my time and enjoying each story as it presented itself (often going back and forth with the author between) I threatened to finish the stories in my underwear and drinking whiskey? (The author agreed)
If you like small town crime or maybe stuff written in a rural setting, give ‘Down in the Devil Hole’ by J. David Jaggers a read. At less than three bucks the thing is worth well more than the price of admission and I’d like to see something from Jaggers in a novella or even novel length with the same sort of characters in mind?
Until then…I’ll continued to sip Makers Mark on my front porch in my dirty ragged underwear while I listen to the latest Iron Maiden album (Book of Souls…which is also damned good by the way)
I had seen this one coming for the last couple of weeks and looked forward to it. I’ve ran across Jaggers before as we frequent the same places. The fellas at Near to the Knuckle did a good job of getting the word out in advance.
I liked this. I liked this one a lot.
Dave had me at the first reference to an Iron Maiden t-shirt and the Dodge Dart Swinger?
Dave Jaggers has hit on a segment of our population that I don’t see a lot written of. Fuck maybe there is and I just don’t see it sheltered as I am here in the meth capital of the world?
Chris Leek in England can write a good ‘White Trash’ story and Alec Cizac did a pretty good job this last year with his ‘Crooked Roads’, but Jaggers has done something here that I have never seen before.
All of the stories are somehow interconnected and take place over a two or three day period as a vicious storm approaches a small and very rural Appalachian (I think?) town. The stories are not extensions of each other as in chapters, but separate stories—each with a beginning, middle and end—told at times, from a different angle or another’s point of view?
The last story brings a sort of closure to the whole affair as it is the first story told from another characters point of view.
‘Down in the Devil Hole’ is chalked full of white trash characters in dirty white undershirts smoking meth or swilling cheap beer. The cars are rusty and the price of a bag of pot or crystal meth has just skyrocketed—due to supply and demand—leaving the tweakers scrambling. The gals that populate the pages are even rustier than the cars if that can be and I almost doubt that there is a full set of teeth to be found?
I read through the collection on my phone taking my time and enjoying each story as it presented itself (often going back and forth with the author between) I threatened to finish the stories in my underwear and drinking whiskey? (The author agreed)
If you like small town crime or maybe stuff written in a rural setting, give ‘Down in the Devil Hole’ by J. David Jaggers a read. At less than three bucks the thing is worth well more than the price of admission and I’d like to see something from Jaggers in a novella or even novel length with the same sort of characters in mind?
Until then…I’ll continued to sip Makers Mark on my front porch in my dirty ragged underwear while I listen to the latest Iron Maiden album (Book of Souls…which is also damned good by the way)
December 5, 2018
Sixteen separate stories in this edgy collection drag us into the nasty reality of poverty-line life in rural Kentucky. A major storm batters the backwoods, providing a menacing backdrop to these interconnected episodes.
The storm energises the town’s tweakers and thieves, its brutes and abusers, the pimps and pushers – and author David Jaggers gives us a ground-level guided tour of the murderous consequences.
Collections like this can be unremittingly miserable, and DITDH certainly bristles with enough grit and pity to threaten any middle-class comforts. But amid the misery and moral poverty, there are glimmers of honesty and compassion. The human spirit can be corrupt and cruel, but even hookers and trailer trash can have their moments of redemption. And revenge…
There are also moments of bitterly black humour when it’s hard not to laugh out loud, although you kinda know you shouldn’t be enjoying this so much. And Jaggers sneaks the odd instance of zen philosophy into the mix.
Unusually, each story is accompanied by an image to establish the scene – some of them truly unsettling. That’s a sophisticated touch, which sets DITDH apart from the usual short story anthology.
Not all of the chapters strike the right chord – it can be hard to distinguish between some of the no-hope, three-time losers who appear only briefly; cannon-fodder for the narrative. Yet just as you start to feel slightly overwhelmed by the relentless despair, so a hero rides into town as if this were an old-fashioned western.
If you survive the visceral violence and the emotional trauma of the first two acts then you’ll enjoy an admirable payoff in 'Peckerwood' at the end.
DITDH is an atmospheric collection of backwoods noir: short and sometimes very sharp fragments of shattered lives, with a killer conclusion.
8/10
There's more about this book - and many other crime / thrillers - over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
The storm energises the town’s tweakers and thieves, its brutes and abusers, the pimps and pushers – and author David Jaggers gives us a ground-level guided tour of the murderous consequences.
Collections like this can be unremittingly miserable, and DITDH certainly bristles with enough grit and pity to threaten any middle-class comforts. But amid the misery and moral poverty, there are glimmers of honesty and compassion. The human spirit can be corrupt and cruel, but even hookers and trailer trash can have their moments of redemption. And revenge…
There are also moments of bitterly black humour when it’s hard not to laugh out loud, although you kinda know you shouldn’t be enjoying this so much. And Jaggers sneaks the odd instance of zen philosophy into the mix.
Unusually, each story is accompanied by an image to establish the scene – some of them truly unsettling. That’s a sophisticated touch, which sets DITDH apart from the usual short story anthology.
Not all of the chapters strike the right chord – it can be hard to distinguish between some of the no-hope, three-time losers who appear only briefly; cannon-fodder for the narrative. Yet just as you start to feel slightly overwhelmed by the relentless despair, so a hero rides into town as if this were an old-fashioned western.
If you survive the visceral violence and the emotional trauma of the first two acts then you’ll enjoy an admirable payoff in 'Peckerwood' at the end.
DITDH is an atmospheric collection of backwoods noir: short and sometimes very sharp fragments of shattered lives, with a killer conclusion.
8/10
There's more about this book - and many other crime / thrillers - over at http://www.murdermayhemandmore.net
December 25, 2018
Down In The Devil Hole is an interconnected short storiea that happen around storm event in Bronson, Kentucky.
A very dark stories indeed. It capturing how in a manner of storm approaching, we can see there are lots more surface than just a storm. A murder, lies, betrayal and lots of crime happen. And it is comsuming more than the storm itself.
A great page turner, it keeping the reader on the edges. And wanting to know more. A great read for a crime fiction fans. The author picturing the situation in a way graphically and the illustrations giving a first impression about the stories.
A very dark stories indeed. It capturing how in a manner of storm approaching, we can see there are lots more surface than just a storm. A murder, lies, betrayal and lots of crime happen. And it is comsuming more than the storm itself.
A great page turner, it keeping the reader on the edges. And wanting to know more. A great read for a crime fiction fans. The author picturing the situation in a way graphically and the illustrations giving a first impression about the stories.
March 8, 2019
The author very craftily wove a series of vignettes into a powerful tale, capturing my attention and most importantly, I'm still thinking about this book weeks after finishing it. Sad, scary, intimidating, and at the end, eminently satisfying.
Well done!
Well done!
January 26, 2016
Awesome read gritty and dark Dave really brings his characters to life !
I've never been a crime fiction fan until I started reading Mr Jaggers work, if your looking to test the waters I highly recommend this book!
I've never been a crime fiction fan until I started reading Mr Jaggers work, if your looking to test the waters I highly recommend this book!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews