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Judah Cannon #1
Lightwood
Judah Cannon is the middle son of the notorious Cannon clan led by Sherwood, its unflinching and uncompromising patriarch. When Judah returns to his rural hometown of Silas, Florida after a stint in prison, he is determined to move forward and live it clean with his childhood best friend and newly discovered love, Ramey Barrow. Everything soon spirals out of control, though, when a phone call from Sherwood ensnares Judah and Ramey in a complicated web of thievery, brutality and betrayal.
Pressured by the unrelenting bonds of blood ties, Judah takes part in robbing the Scorpions, a group of small-time, meth-cooking bikers who are flying down the highway with the score of their lives. Unbeknownst to the Cannons, however, half of the stolen cash in the Harley saddlebags belongs to Sister Tulah, a megalomaniacal Pentecostal preacher who encourages her followers to drink poison and relinquish their bank accounts. When Sister Tulah learns of the robbery, she swears to make both the Cannons and the Scorpions pay, thus bringing all parties into mortal conflict rife with deception and unpredictable power shifts. When Judah's younger brother Benji becomes the unwitting victim in the melee, Judah takes it upon himself to exact revenge, no matter the damage inflicted upon himself and those around him. Judah becomes a driven man, blinded by his need for vengeance and questioning everything he thought he believed in. With Ramey at his side, Judah is forced to take on both the Scorpions and Sister Tulah as he struggles to do the right thing in a world full of wrongs.
Pressured by the unrelenting bonds of blood ties, Judah takes part in robbing the Scorpions, a group of small-time, meth-cooking bikers who are flying down the highway with the score of their lives. Unbeknownst to the Cannons, however, half of the stolen cash in the Harley saddlebags belongs to Sister Tulah, a megalomaniacal Pentecostal preacher who encourages her followers to drink poison and relinquish their bank accounts. When Sister Tulah learns of the robbery, she swears to make both the Cannons and the Scorpions pay, thus bringing all parties into mortal conflict rife with deception and unpredictable power shifts. When Judah's younger brother Benji becomes the unwitting victim in the melee, Judah takes it upon himself to exact revenge, no matter the damage inflicted upon himself and those around him. Judah becomes a driven man, blinded by his need for vengeance and questioning everything he thought he believed in. With Ramey at his side, Judah is forced to take on both the Scorpions and Sister Tulah as he struggles to do the right thing in a world full of wrongs.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 10, 2017
25 people are currently reading
815 people want to read
About the author
Steph Post
14 books254 followersSteph Post is the author of the novels A Tree Born Crooked, Lightwood, Walk in the Fire, Holding Smoke, Miraculum and Terra Incognita- winner of the 2024 Florida Book Award. She graduated from Davidson College as a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship for creative writing and a winner of the Vereen Bell writing award for fiction. She holds a Master’s degree in Graduate Liberal Studies from the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Her work has most recently appeared in Garden & Gun, Nonbinary Review, Saw Palm, Black Lily and the anthology Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics. She has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize, a Rhysling Award and was a semi-finalist for The Big Moose Prize. She lives in Florida.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 58 reviews
April 5, 2017
All things considered, Judah Cannon probably should have just stayed in prison. Instead, once released, he discovers that no one has come to pick him up, which should be the first clue as to where he ranks with his bottom-feeding family and his on-again, off-again wife. That notwithstanding, he makes his way home to the small rural town of Silas in northern Florida. His preference would be to make an honest life for himself and for the woman he has loved all his life, his childhood friend, Ramey Barrow.
Fat chance.
As soon as Judah arrives home, his low-life father and brothers rope him into another of their half-baked criminal schemes. It involves robbing a down-at-the-heels biker gang called the Scorpions of $150,000 in drug money. The bikers are in league with a charismatic preacher named Sister Tulah, and when the Cannons rip off the bikers, Sister Tulah determines to bring down the wrath of God--or at least the wrath of Sister Tulah--upon both the Cannons and the hapless bikers who lost her money.
What follows is a dark gritty tale that explores the bonds of family ties and the compelling desire for retribution. The Cannons, Sister Tulah and the Scorpions are thrown into a bloody Mixmaster of violence and revenge that will take a very heavy toll on the innocent and the guilty alike. The story brings to mind the backwoods noir of writers like Daniel Woodrell, and while it's hard to find any sympathetic characters in this tale, it's also impossible to look away.
Fat chance.
As soon as Judah arrives home, his low-life father and brothers rope him into another of their half-baked criminal schemes. It involves robbing a down-at-the-heels biker gang called the Scorpions of $150,000 in drug money. The bikers are in league with a charismatic preacher named Sister Tulah, and when the Cannons rip off the bikers, Sister Tulah determines to bring down the wrath of God--or at least the wrath of Sister Tulah--upon both the Cannons and the hapless bikers who lost her money.
What follows is a dark gritty tale that explores the bonds of family ties and the compelling desire for retribution. The Cannons, Sister Tulah and the Scorpions are thrown into a bloody Mixmaster of violence and revenge that will take a very heavy toll on the innocent and the guilty alike. The story brings to mind the backwoods noir of writers like Daniel Woodrell, and while it's hard to find any sympathetic characters in this tale, it's also impossible to look away.
February 3, 2017
When I read the plot for this upcoming novel by Steph Post, I was a little disappointed as it seemed very similar to her last novel,
A Tree Born Crooked
, and I was worried that it would simply be a rehash of the same ideas. But although there are similarities, where we follow a man returning to his small-town Florida home after time away, kindling a romantic flame and reluctantly reuniting with family knowing that it will only bring trouble, ultimately this book felt like a totally different beast and was even better than the first book in every way.
After getting released from the slammer after three years, Judah Cannon returns home, consummates his love for childhood friend Ramey, and is set on starting over on his own. But he feels like he has no choice but to help his outlaw family on one last robbery, leading to a nasty web of violence between his father Sherwood, his brothers Levi and Benji, a two-bit biker gang, and an intimidating fire-and-brimstone preacher named Sister Tulah.
And while there are some similar themes, A Tree Born Crooked is about a man accepting the fact that he can't escape family, and Lightwood is ultimately about Judah rejecting family. And while I enjoyed the first book, I felt like Post really stepped up the writing in this one, not only keeping a great pace, but also drawing vivid imagery and skillfully juggling multiple points of view. It was also pretty cool to see how she ratcheted up the tension as all of the players in the novel begin to converge. One of the most interesting things about the novel was also how each character underestimates everyone else, whether it's the Scorpions underestimating Sister Tulah, or Tulah underestimating the Cannons, or everyone underestimating Judah, it's a cool underlining theme and makes for some great drama.
If you're a fan of southern grit, check out Steph Post's work, especially this book.
After getting released from the slammer after three years, Judah Cannon returns home, consummates his love for childhood friend Ramey, and is set on starting over on his own. But he feels like he has no choice but to help his outlaw family on one last robbery, leading to a nasty web of violence between his father Sherwood, his brothers Levi and Benji, a two-bit biker gang, and an intimidating fire-and-brimstone preacher named Sister Tulah.
And while there are some similar themes, A Tree Born Crooked is about a man accepting the fact that he can't escape family, and Lightwood is ultimately about Judah rejecting family. And while I enjoyed the first book, I felt like Post really stepped up the writing in this one, not only keeping a great pace, but also drawing vivid imagery and skillfully juggling multiple points of view. It was also pretty cool to see how she ratcheted up the tension as all of the players in the novel begin to converge. One of the most interesting things about the novel was also how each character underestimates everyone else, whether it's the Scorpions underestimating Sister Tulah, or Tulah underestimating the Cannons, or everyone underestimating Judah, it's a cool underlining theme and makes for some great drama.
If you're a fan of southern grit, check out Steph Post's work, especially this book.
April 6, 2017
Steph Post's writing is a sawed-off shotgun full of double-ought buckshot, a Saturday night bar fight and a Sunday morning hallelujah. It's blood on pine needles and taking a rise in the road too fast on a Harley. She writes like the marriage of William Gay and Flannery O'Connor at a midnight crossroads.
January 10, 2026
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This is an ARC review. I appreciate receiving this copy from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.
This is an ARC review. I appreciate receiving this copy from NetGalley and the publisher in return for an honest review.
April 21, 2017
First of all, I'm not going to rehash the plot of this novel. Buy it and read it yourself, but I will tell you this:
Steph Post doesn't just write stories, she writes fables. With character names like Judah, and Ramses, you'd think a reader would pick up on that from the beginning, but you don't. Instead from the first few pages, you find yourself being drawn into a story that could be taking place right next door, involving real people, that everyone knows. I could be a chanter in a Post novel, and found it impossible not to care about these people as if they were my own kin. This novel solidifies Post as the official voice of working class literature in Florida, akin to what Woodrell has done for Missouri, or Rash for the Carolinas. Yes, she is that good. With a Tree Born Crooked, Post proved she could tell an engaging story of family and dysfunction, but with her bold new family drama, Lightwood, she expands her literary prowess, to include an almost timeless feeling, using stark prose like a razor sharp blade, cutting through the bleakness of struggling America, to expose the beauty behind that dysfunction, and lets her fans know that hope can be found in the darkest of places. I was already a huge fan of Ms.Post's work, but with Lightwood, I also became a student. Lightwood is the kind of novel that will make you hold your own family a little closer, and keeps you believing that the power of family is at the heart of everything. A brilliant read from one of the best fiction writers alive today.
Steph Post doesn't just write stories, she writes fables. With character names like Judah, and Ramses, you'd think a reader would pick up on that from the beginning, but you don't. Instead from the first few pages, you find yourself being drawn into a story that could be taking place right next door, involving real people, that everyone knows. I could be a chanter in a Post novel, and found it impossible not to care about these people as if they were my own kin. This novel solidifies Post as the official voice of working class literature in Florida, akin to what Woodrell has done for Missouri, or Rash for the Carolinas. Yes, she is that good. With a Tree Born Crooked, Post proved she could tell an engaging story of family and dysfunction, but with her bold new family drama, Lightwood, she expands her literary prowess, to include an almost timeless feeling, using stark prose like a razor sharp blade, cutting through the bleakness of struggling America, to expose the beauty behind that dysfunction, and lets her fans know that hope can be found in the darkest of places. I was already a huge fan of Ms.Post's work, but with Lightwood, I also became a student. Lightwood is the kind of novel that will make you hold your own family a little closer, and keeps you believing that the power of family is at the heart of everything. A brilliant read from one of the best fiction writers alive today.
October 19, 2017
You won't find a more cinematic opening and closing scene in a novel this year than the ones in this gritty Florida rural noir novel by Tampa author Steph Post. She kicks it off with Judah Cannon, a member of the mostly criminal family of Cannons in the small Florida town of Silas, getting out of prison after three years and discovering no one is waiting to meet him. He ends up walking 20 miles to his hometown -- and straight into a bar.
What I liked even better than that opening scene was what happened next, and after that, and after that. After years of reading thrillers, I can often predict the next step in a plot. I could not do that with "Lightwood," and that's quite an achievement.
Cannon hooks up with a childhood friend named Raney who has her own tragic backstory, and together they resolve to start a new life together. But Cannon's crooked father immediately ropes him into one more heist, and it sets off a series of reprisals, attacks and other ramifications that no one could have foreseen.
Post does two things very well. She does a great job of describing the woodsy North Florida setting, which is a far cry from the beaches and theme parks that most people associate with Florida. She also writes some mighty vivid characters, including a doomsday prepper whose hobby involves taxidermy. Raney, in particular, turns out to be quite the female badass, to the point where I liked her better than I did Judah.
Post even achieves the unheard of feat of making a reader feel sorry for a biker gang. The Scorpions get caught in the coils of this bizarre situation and their hapless orange-haired leader, known as Jack O'Lantern, can't quite figure out how to get them out of it.
I have two quibbles with "Lightwood," one of which I noticed while reading the book and one that didn't occur to me until afterward.
The one I noticed is that one of the major characters, a fire-and-brimstone preacher named Sister Tulah, while functioning well as a villain, isn't believable as a character. I've seen and known plenty of fiery Southern preachers over my life, and sat through my share of revival services, and never seen anyone like her. Some of her sermons sound awkward, as if the author were working in an unfamiliar language.
The second thing, the one that didn't occur to me until later, is that there are a couple of incidents involving retribution from Sister Tulah falling on the Scorpions, mysterious and frightening incidents that are quite dramatic. But we never get an explanation of how she did it. I figured someone in the biker gang was working for her, but if so he's still undercover.
Anyway, in spite of those flaws, the book is well worth reading, and I look forward to Post's sequel, "Walk in the Fire," which is slated for publication early next year.
What I liked even better than that opening scene was what happened next, and after that, and after that. After years of reading thrillers, I can often predict the next step in a plot. I could not do that with "Lightwood," and that's quite an achievement.
Cannon hooks up with a childhood friend named Raney who has her own tragic backstory, and together they resolve to start a new life together. But Cannon's crooked father immediately ropes him into one more heist, and it sets off a series of reprisals, attacks and other ramifications that no one could have foreseen.
Post does two things very well. She does a great job of describing the woodsy North Florida setting, which is a far cry from the beaches and theme parks that most people associate with Florida. She also writes some mighty vivid characters, including a doomsday prepper whose hobby involves taxidermy. Raney, in particular, turns out to be quite the female badass, to the point where I liked her better than I did Judah.
Post even achieves the unheard of feat of making a reader feel sorry for a biker gang. The Scorpions get caught in the coils of this bizarre situation and their hapless orange-haired leader, known as Jack O'Lantern, can't quite figure out how to get them out of it.
I have two quibbles with "Lightwood," one of which I noticed while reading the book and one that didn't occur to me until afterward.
The one I noticed is that one of the major characters, a fire-and-brimstone preacher named Sister Tulah, while functioning well as a villain, isn't believable as a character. I've seen and known plenty of fiery Southern preachers over my life, and sat through my share of revival services, and never seen anyone like her. Some of her sermons sound awkward, as if the author were working in an unfamiliar language.
The second thing, the one that didn't occur to me until later, is that there are a couple of incidents involving retribution from Sister Tulah falling on the Scorpions, mysterious and frightening incidents that are quite dramatic. But we never get an explanation of how she did it. I figured someone in the biker gang was working for her, but if so he's still undercover.
Anyway, in spite of those flaws, the book is well worth reading, and I look forward to Post's sequel, "Walk in the Fire," which is slated for publication early next year.
March 11, 2017
I have to confess right here that I did not finish this book. I could not finish it, but you need to know why. The writing was so good, I felt like I was there, which can be a good thing, but I didn't want to be in this particular place. The people made me uncomfortable. They reminded me of folks I knew a long time ago. It wasn't a good place to be then or now, even in my head through this book.
Kudos to this author for pulling me in and making it so real. So sorry it was too real that I had to leave before the show was over.
Kudos to this author for pulling me in and making it so real. So sorry it was too real that I had to leave before the show was over.
February 19, 2020
Florida grit lit. When you leave prison after serving a term because you wouldn't turn on your Crime Family, of course you'll be sucked back into doing another job with your Crime Dad and Crime Brother. Along with the expected big score, this book adds to that narrative the wrinkles of a hapless biker gang with an ineffectual leader, and a terrifying church lady with colorless eyes who tortures her nephew and her congregation in the name of the lord. I feel like I've read this book before, but it's a good jumping off point for someone who's not been exposed to a lot of grit lit, and I did enjoy the admirable job Post does with the sweltering scenery.
December 30, 2016
This is my first intro to Steph Post and her writing and I have to say I’m blown away. I heard great things about her debut novel A TREE BORN CROOKED so had high hopes for LIGHTWOOD. It’s a refreshing surprise when a book goes above and beyond my expectations which was exactly the case here. The story takes place in Silas, FL, a small rural town where you can feel the heat practically scorching through the pages. The story alternates POVs but centers mostly around Judah Cannon who just got out of prison. He’s immediately brought back into his criminal family despite his misgivings. His father, Sherwood, is a tough son of a bitch who doesn’t take no for an answer. The Cannons pull off a robbery which sets off a deadly domino effect involving terrifying Bible-thumper Sister Tulah, a motorcycle gang, and the implosion of the Cannon family. Post writes with such assuredness and her descriptions are both eloquent and gritty. Her characters are larger than life while also making me feel like I’ve met them somewhere before. A must-read for any fan of down and dirty Southern noir with an unexpected twist of elegance.
December 22, 2016
Post’s (A Tree Born Crooked) rural Florida is a place where one would not want to break down when passing through. Silas is a violent town with little apparent law enforcement and plenty of smoky, grimy bars patronized by motorcycle gang members and the criminal clan that controls the community. Money and meth are at stake here, where even the local preacher manages her followers through malevolent manipulation. Despite his determination to go straight, Judah, a son in the brutal Cannon family, falls straight from prison into his family’s latest scheme. By the time the conflagration among them is over, the Scorpion motorcycle gang, Sister Tulah, and the Cannons have left death, blood, and misery in their wake. None of the characters is particularly sympathetic, but Post reveals the inner doubts of enough of them to inspire interest in their stories.
Verdict A good choice for fans of grit lit that emphasizes blood ties and redneck justice; this will also attract readers who prefer their suspense very dark and filled with violence.
This review first appeared in Library Journal.
Verdict A good choice for fans of grit lit that emphasizes blood ties and redneck justice; this will also attract readers who prefer their suspense very dark and filled with violence.
This review first appeared in Library Journal.
April 21, 2017
This book is a real standout. Exciting action, great emotions and some of the most fascinating characters in recent crime fiction. Sister Tulah is an instant classic. The story moves but never feels rushed, the plots turns in unexpected ways. A total knockout from start to finish and destined to make a lot of best of lists this year.
December 28, 2017
This was a good thrill ride through rural Florida. It was done right. I have a nagging feeling that I have read or seen this plot on TV before and it bugged me all the way through reading the book. The ending was well done and I will read the next in the Judah Cannon series just to see how it goes with Judah and Ramey.
July 2, 2017
All my reviews can be found at davidnemeth.net.
If you think of Florida as the Holy Trinity of Tourism: Orlando, Miami and Key West, then Steph Post's Lightwood (Polis Books), a backwoods crime fiction novel set in northern Florida, will be a bit of a surprise.
Lightwood begins with Judah Cannon released from prison and no one is there to pick him up, not his on-again-off-again wife or his cohorts in crime — his father and brother. As Judah begins the long walk to his hometown, it is time for that "first cigarette as a newly released man" that he would hopefully find as "remarkable."
Judah is immediately brought back into the family business with a simple job of robbing the motorcycle gang, the Scorpions. As with any good crime story, things go pear-shaped from there. As Lightwood progresses, we are introduced to the preacher Sister Tulah and the Last Steps of Deliverance Church of God as well as the members of the dilapidated motorcycle gang, the Scorpions. Post develops all her characters fully whether it is from Judah to his life-long friend, Ramey, or the sinister Sister Tulah to her tortoise-collecting idiot nephew, and even the president of the Scorpions, Jack O' Lantern, with his rather large orange head.
As one would expect from a novel set in Florida, the weather has a strong presence throughout Lightwood.
Lightwood is great noir filled ravaged dreams and brutish crime. If you are a fan of crime fiction, you should do yourself a favor and read Lightwood — you'll be recommending it to your friends soon enough.
If you think of Florida as the Holy Trinity of Tourism: Orlando, Miami and Key West, then Steph Post's Lightwood (Polis Books), a backwoods crime fiction novel set in northern Florida, will be a bit of a surprise.
Lightwood begins with Judah Cannon released from prison and no one is there to pick him up, not his on-again-off-again wife or his cohorts in crime — his father and brother. As Judah begins the long walk to his hometown, it is time for that "first cigarette as a newly released man" that he would hopefully find as "remarkable."
Nothing. It didn’t burn. The world didn’t appear clearer, didn’t make any more sense. A pickup truck with a bed full of teenagers screamed past him. An empty Coors tallboy landed on the pavement five feet ahead of him accompanied by an insult to his mother. Judah exhaled. The cigarette tasted the same as the last one he had just smoked standing out in the prison yard. As the last one he had smoked before walking into the courthouse for sentencing. The last one he had smoked after his daughter was born. After he had won his first midnight drag race. Lost his virginity. Kissed a girl. Stolen his first pack of cigarettes. It was the same. It was the same. His brother had been right. Getting out of prison was just another day of getting on with life.
Judah is immediately brought back into the family business with a simple job of robbing the motorcycle gang, the Scorpions. As with any good crime story, things go pear-shaped from there. As Lightwood progresses, we are introduced to the preacher Sister Tulah and the Last Steps of Deliverance Church of God as well as the members of the dilapidated motorcycle gang, the Scorpions. Post develops all her characters fully whether it is from Judah to his life-long friend, Ramey, or the sinister Sister Tulah to her tortoise-collecting idiot nephew, and even the president of the Scorpions, Jack O' Lantern, with his rather large orange head.
As one would expect from a novel set in Florida, the weather has a strong presence throughout Lightwood.
The air conditioner in Ramey’s Cutlass had been broken since last summer. Even with all four windows rolled down, it was sweltering inside the car. The sun seemed to radiate off the black vinyl interior and dash, intensifying the stifling heat. They were driving down Highway 18, taking the back way up to Kentsville, and Judah had cautioned Ramey not to exceed the 35 mile an hour speed limit. The last thing they needed was to be pulled over by the police on their way to stake out the Scorpions’ clubhouse. Consequently, however, there wasn’t much of a breeze.
Lightwood is great noir filled ravaged dreams and brutish crime. If you are a fan of crime fiction, you should do yourself a favor and read Lightwood — you'll be recommending it to your friends soon enough.
March 8, 2017
You will be propelled from the start.
More - http://www.changeyourlifethiswill.com...
More - http://www.changeyourlifethiswill.com...
January 27, 2017
2017 is barely a month old and LIGHTWOOD by Steph Post has already set the bar mighty high for any other books scheduled to be released this year. LIGHTWOOD explores family dynamics, both in the families we’re born in to and the ones we choose.
How far will you go to protect your family?
Steph Post does an excellent job balancing the concurrent story lines. While Judah Cannon is the driving force of LIGHTWOOD, Post gives equal time to both Sister Tulah and the Scorpions. The tension between the three groups continues to grow throughout the book. The book’s climax moves seamlessly from Judah’s point of view, then to the Scorpions, and then to Sister Tulah’s.
Post packs a lot of character development into each chapter. None of the characters in LIGHTWOOD are without flaws: a self-righteous preacher, drug dealing bikers, and a family out to get what they think the world owes them. The reader understands why the characters behave as they do. You almost begin to sympathize for some of them, like when you learn why Sister Tulah’s brother came to live with her. But then they do something that reminds you that these are all people choosing to live outside of the law, or who believe that they can live apart from society on their own rules, and you realize that their story can only end in tragedy.
There has been a lot of buzz around LIGHTWOOD and Steph Post, and it is well deserved. She weaves a strong story about families and what people will do for theirs. Pay attention to Post. She’s going places.
How far will you go to protect your family?
Steph Post does an excellent job balancing the concurrent story lines. While Judah Cannon is the driving force of LIGHTWOOD, Post gives equal time to both Sister Tulah and the Scorpions. The tension between the three groups continues to grow throughout the book. The book’s climax moves seamlessly from Judah’s point of view, then to the Scorpions, and then to Sister Tulah’s.
Post packs a lot of character development into each chapter. None of the characters in LIGHTWOOD are without flaws: a self-righteous preacher, drug dealing bikers, and a family out to get what they think the world owes them. The reader understands why the characters behave as they do. You almost begin to sympathize for some of them, like when you learn why Sister Tulah’s brother came to live with her. But then they do something that reminds you that these are all people choosing to live outside of the law, or who believe that they can live apart from society on their own rules, and you realize that their story can only end in tragedy.
There has been a lot of buzz around LIGHTWOOD and Steph Post, and it is well deserved. She weaves a strong story about families and what people will do for theirs. Pay attention to Post. She’s going places.
December 28, 2017
Short Summary: When Judah Cannon is released from prison and returns to his hometown of Silas, Florida, he finds himself swiftly wrapped up in the troublesome workings of his family once again except this time may not result in prison, but death.
Thoughts: Steph Post has written a riveting noir-style story about revenge and betrayal that switches up the typical Appalachian setting of most Southern Gothic novels and gives us a peek at the dynamic and dangerous world of Florida scrub country.
Verdict: Daniel Woodrell, Donald Ray Pollock, and Cormac McCarthy are all big names of the often lurid genre but Steph Post proves with Lightwood that her name is just as deserving to be listed amongst them.
I received this book free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Thoughts: Steph Post has written a riveting noir-style story about revenge and betrayal that switches up the typical Appalachian setting of most Southern Gothic novels and gives us a peek at the dynamic and dangerous world of Florida scrub country.
Verdict: Daniel Woodrell, Donald Ray Pollock, and Cormac McCarthy are all big names of the often lurid genre but Steph Post proves with Lightwood that her name is just as deserving to be listed amongst them.
I received this book free from the Author in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
August 7, 2020
The Cannon clan effectively runs the town of Silas, Florida, though it would be going too far to call them welcome in most establishments. They’ve all done time; prison is considered a rite of passage. They’ve extorted, intimidated, stolen, trafficked, and pretty much squeezed the citizens of Silas for what little they have. Which isn’t much. So when the huge and ruthless Sherwood hears of a biker gang coming through town with a hundred and fifty grand in drug money, he enlists every Cannon available—including son Judah, who’s trying his best to stay straight after his latest stretch in the county jail. Sherwood talks a lot about family loyalty and what it means to be a Cannon, but it’s all part of his manipulations and menacing to get what he wants, for himself alone. A terrific back-country thriller; I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.
June 3, 2017
Fast paced southern literary crime fiction at its finest. It is very easy to become completely immersed within the world created by the author. Characters are well developed, believable, and sometimes terrifying, pacing is great, and entire work has a very cinematic feel. It's not difficult to see this novel becoming a new mini-series.
February 2, 2017
Kept me hooked throughout the entire ride! Well done!
April 7, 2017
A powerful, unflinching family tale that serves up a memorable dose of killer Florida crime fiction. Post is in fine form with this one, and I'm eager to read whatever she does next.
April 24, 2017
Man. Florida. Who'da thought?
Well, I mean, once the man ate the other man's face down in Florida, we all knew it was a weird place, right? A place where reality often meets....something else. Something bizarre. Something not entirely explainable.
That's what happens in Steph Post's Lightwood. Reality meets...something else in a couple of small, backwater Florida towns, populated with biker dudes and small-time-crime-lords and, well, a church that isn't...quite...normal.
This is crime fiction at its gnarliest. People blow up. People get shot. No one is anyone I'd like to meet on the side of the road (excepting maybe Ramey, although I'm certain she could kick my ass), but somehow you wind up rooting for a few of these ne'er do wells. Each has stolen something from someone else, and no one is innocent, but when a preacher with a penchant for evil-doing almost gets her just desserts...I might have cheered a little.
So. Crime fiction. Gnarly injuries. Really solid action. And the heat of sunny Florida. What could go wrong, am I right?
Well, I mean, once the man ate the other man's face down in Florida, we all knew it was a weird place, right? A place where reality often meets....something else. Something bizarre. Something not entirely explainable.
That's what happens in Steph Post's Lightwood. Reality meets...something else in a couple of small, backwater Florida towns, populated with biker dudes and small-time-crime-lords and, well, a church that isn't...quite...normal.
This is crime fiction at its gnarliest. People blow up. People get shot. No one is anyone I'd like to meet on the side of the road (excepting maybe Ramey, although I'm certain she could kick my ass), but somehow you wind up rooting for a few of these ne'er do wells. Each has stolen something from someone else, and no one is innocent, but when a preacher with a penchant for evil-doing almost gets her just desserts...I might have cheered a little.
So. Crime fiction. Gnarly injuries. Really solid action. And the heat of sunny Florida. What could go wrong, am I right?
March 28, 2018
This was so much fun, and dark and sad too. Characters you can sink your teeth into, and a plot that kept me guessing and blew up in all the right ways. Sister Tulah is one of a kind (and so well-written–she never becomes a caricature), and Ramey and Judah are two of my favorite heroes in a long while. Also enjoyed Ramey's weird coffee mug collection, it's very similar to mine.
April 25, 2017
Steph Post writes in the great Florida tradition of heat and chaos. She's a natural descendant of MacDonald and a hard boiled Hiaasen. Lightwood will leave you sweating on tenterhooks with every turn of the page. I highly recommend.
June 19, 2021
Rounding up from 3.5 stars because I liked the descriptions, I like dirty Florida and the characters and small towns she wrote were vivid and memorable. Post also has a great sense of humor that comes through subtly (mostly in asides about minor characters — the squirrel taxidermy seriously won me over). I just was not 100 percent on board with the plot. I liked the way the three stories overlapped, and the changing perspectives was handled well. But I would have liked a few more twists along the way.
May 23, 2017
This book is pure Southern Grit-Lit that you light up with a dynamite stick and throw in the belly of a meth-fueled trailer only to watch the flames and chemical fumes going at you faster than a shotgun bullet. Y
Not so long ago, I promised myself I would stop giving 5-star ratings so easily, just because I liked a character or a passage in the novel and this might seem like my words aren't worth a damn, but good lord this book was a fun ride !
And it is definitely worth a 5-star rating in its genre.
I truly hope that if the author reads this, she will take it as a huge compliment, but for those of you who aren't familiar with the work of Steph Post, Lightwood could be described as The Quinn Colson Series of Florida. Her prose is very much like Ace Atkins' and she owns Florida like Atkins owns North Mississippi, like Connelly owns L.A. and like Stephen King owns Maine.
With Lightwood, Post did much more than just write a great novel that reads itself. She created a universe where she could dig deep and easily offer us a few more installements.
Steph Post has a refreshing prose and emerges as a very strong voice of Southern Lit. She is one of the few at work on the page who will manage to make you feel like you know a great deal about who her characters are just by paying attention to their names (see : Judah, Sherwood, Jack O'Lantern). A detail you don't see very much often and that I could get a lot more of in many novels.
Read it and ask for more !!
Not so long ago, I promised myself I would stop giving 5-star ratings so easily, just because I liked a character or a passage in the novel and this might seem like my words aren't worth a damn, but good lord this book was a fun ride !
And it is definitely worth a 5-star rating in its genre.
I truly hope that if the author reads this, she will take it as a huge compliment, but for those of you who aren't familiar with the work of Steph Post, Lightwood could be described as The Quinn Colson Series of Florida. Her prose is very much like Ace Atkins' and she owns Florida like Atkins owns North Mississippi, like Connelly owns L.A. and like Stephen King owns Maine.
With Lightwood, Post did much more than just write a great novel that reads itself. She created a universe where she could dig deep and easily offer us a few more installements.
Steph Post has a refreshing prose and emerges as a very strong voice of Southern Lit. She is one of the few at work on the page who will manage to make you feel like you know a great deal about who her characters are just by paying attention to their names (see : Judah, Sherwood, Jack O'Lantern). A detail you don't see very much often and that I could get a lot more of in many novels.
Read it and ask for more !!
May 27, 2017
In the best possible way, Steph Post’s Lightwood is reminiscent of Wiley Cash’s A Land More Kind than Home and Brian Panowich’s Bull Mountain: there is family drama, stolen cash, a meth-cooking biker gang, a gun-hoarding prepper, and a terrifying preacher who doles out punishment through “baptism by fire.” However, Post’s novel is unmistakably feminist, in the sense that it’s strongest and most memorable characters are women. The main antagonist is not a dude, but a menacing, larger-than-life woman preacher who can make a fierce member of a motorcycle gang piss his pants while in her presence; and while the main character of the novel is a man named Judah, it’s his tenacious girlfriend, Ramey, who steals every scene with her strength and will. The result is a kind of country-noir crime novel that is both satisfying and original.
January 16, 2018
A great premise but the execution is wanting. Our protagonist's adversaries are either cartoonish villains (Sister Tulah) or comically inept (the sad sack Scorpion motorcycle gang) which undermine the suspense and, ultimately, result in a most unsatisfying (narratively unearned) conclusion.
February 6, 2017
Review forthcoming at Alternating Current!
September 19, 2017
If you like your like your Florida souvenir shops a little trashy, your bars a little dive-y, and prefer the ramshackle charms of U.S. 441 over the speedy commute of I-75, then there should be a place in your heart for the seedy intrigue of Steph Post’s second novel.
Post’s noir-crime misadventure follows ex-con Judah Cannon to one of those Gainesville-to-Jacksonville towns, just after his release from the clink in Starke, Fla. He hitches a ride to his hometown; hooks up with his first true love and childhood friend; and regretfully assists his belligerent father and older brothers in a heist that unravels into a melee of revenge, betrayal and violence — all the while incurring the wrath of a spooky holy roller.
From “the gaudy neon light of The Ace in the Hole” tavern to the “Last Steps of Deliverance Church of God,” Post’s flair for description becomes downright cinematic. I could all but picture the film adaptation — Norman Reedus as Judah with his signature simmering stare (and dyed black hair, of course).
Some of her best lines paint a picture of the fictitious northern Florida town where the story takes place: “Silas was the type of town that would only be useful when the zombie apocalypse hit and the survivors needed an abandoned Save-A-Lot to loot and empty store fronts to hide in. And a Mr. Omelet, of course. ”
Lightwood, a name inspired the incendiary pulp of Florida pine trees, stokes fiction lovers’ yearning to feel immersed in a world we wouldn’t otherwise choose to inhabit. The story feels overwhelmingly dismal at first, but Post’s luminous prose draws us in, plunging us in a subculture of petty criminals and chaos. For those of us who haven’t lived a life involving drug deals and robberies, Lightwood recalls those unsettling feelings mixed with the curiosity experienced during a late-night after-party in the run-down home of a friend of a friend. Post, in turn, brings to life the sketchy people in the shadows who may or may not cut you for spilling their beer.
And as uncomfortable as we may feel with the Cannons and the bikers et al., we can’t help but keep reading on thanks to Post’s knack for balancing action, dialogue, character development and scene-setting.
Amidst the turmoil Judah feels toward his family, Post effectively calls into question the notion of family loyalty at all costs. When is the influence of family self-affirming and validating and when do family members’ influence become a toxic detriment to our well-being? And why can’t we just come to terms with one or the other and be done with it? It’s never that simple.
I myself couldn’t help but wonder who Judah would have been if he weren’t a Cannon. There’s a nobility to him, but his allegiances get him in trouble and ingrain a tacit acceptance of misery and dysfunction. Thankfully, all is not dark in the tall pine forests of Silas. Judah’s love interest, Ramey, teaches him there’s more to life and acts as the moral compass of the story, as Post explains once in an online interview. She isn’t perfect, she has some skeletons of her own, but she’s got grit and moxie, and is hopelessly devoted to Judah. Ramey and Sister Tulah, the aforementioned loony but scarily evil preacher, are two of the book’s strongest forces for good and evil, respectively.
From botched schemes to baptisms by fire, Lightwood reaches an explosive climax that is exciting and satisfying, but with some questions unanswered. Thankfully, Post is writing a sequel, which she plans to complete next year.
Post’s first novel, A Tree Born Crooked, released in 2014. Post is a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship for creative writing from Davidson College and the Vereen Bell writing award. She has been included in the anthology Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics and many other literary outlets. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was a finalist for The Big Moose Prize.
Post’s noir-crime misadventure follows ex-con Judah Cannon to one of those Gainesville-to-Jacksonville towns, just after his release from the clink in Starke, Fla. He hitches a ride to his hometown; hooks up with his first true love and childhood friend; and regretfully assists his belligerent father and older brothers in a heist that unravels into a melee of revenge, betrayal and violence — all the while incurring the wrath of a spooky holy roller.
From “the gaudy neon light of The Ace in the Hole” tavern to the “Last Steps of Deliverance Church of God,” Post’s flair for description becomes downright cinematic. I could all but picture the film adaptation — Norman Reedus as Judah with his signature simmering stare (and dyed black hair, of course).
Some of her best lines paint a picture of the fictitious northern Florida town where the story takes place: “Silas was the type of town that would only be useful when the zombie apocalypse hit and the survivors needed an abandoned Save-A-Lot to loot and empty store fronts to hide in. And a Mr. Omelet, of course. ”
Lightwood, a name inspired the incendiary pulp of Florida pine trees, stokes fiction lovers’ yearning to feel immersed in a world we wouldn’t otherwise choose to inhabit. The story feels overwhelmingly dismal at first, but Post’s luminous prose draws us in, plunging us in a subculture of petty criminals and chaos. For those of us who haven’t lived a life involving drug deals and robberies, Lightwood recalls those unsettling feelings mixed with the curiosity experienced during a late-night after-party in the run-down home of a friend of a friend. Post, in turn, brings to life the sketchy people in the shadows who may or may not cut you for spilling their beer.
And as uncomfortable as we may feel with the Cannons and the bikers et al., we can’t help but keep reading on thanks to Post’s knack for balancing action, dialogue, character development and scene-setting.
Amidst the turmoil Judah feels toward his family, Post effectively calls into question the notion of family loyalty at all costs. When is the influence of family self-affirming and validating and when do family members’ influence become a toxic detriment to our well-being? And why can’t we just come to terms with one or the other and be done with it? It’s never that simple.
I myself couldn’t help but wonder who Judah would have been if he weren’t a Cannon. There’s a nobility to him, but his allegiances get him in trouble and ingrain a tacit acceptance of misery and dysfunction. Thankfully, all is not dark in the tall pine forests of Silas. Judah’s love interest, Ramey, teaches him there’s more to life and acts as the moral compass of the story, as Post explains once in an online interview. She isn’t perfect, she has some skeletons of her own, but she’s got grit and moxie, and is hopelessly devoted to Judah. Ramey and Sister Tulah, the aforementioned loony but scarily evil preacher, are two of the book’s strongest forces for good and evil, respectively.
From botched schemes to baptisms by fire, Lightwood reaches an explosive climax that is exciting and satisfying, but with some questions unanswered. Thankfully, Post is writing a sequel, which she plans to complete next year.
Post’s first novel, A Tree Born Crooked, released in 2014. Post is a recipient of the Patricia Cornwell Scholarship for creative writing from Davidson College and the Vereen Bell writing award. She has been included in the anthology Stephen King’s Contemporary Classics and many other literary outlets. She has also been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and was a finalist for The Big Moose Prize.
October 29, 2020
Reading Steph Post's debut novel, A TREE BORN CROOKED, I knew I was in the confident hands of a major talent who opened a whole new window into Florida Noir—depicting the rough-hewn communities of north-central Florida with the complicated, painful love of a native who's shed its zip code but never fully its snake-like skin. Where other Florida writers play the state's non-coastal towns for cheap-shot laughs about toothless rednecks and drug-addled Walmart shoppers, Post digs deep into the complicated circumstances that makes the residents of rundown church-revival towns dig deep for hope in the midst of daily hopelessness.
The abundant promise of A TREE BORN CROOKED comes to full fruition in Post's second novel, LIGHTWOOD. The one way I felt the first novel fell short—a lack of well-developed antagonists—is more than atoned for in LIGHTWOOD, which features three distinct embodiments of evil: Sherwood Cannon, the career-criminal chief of a family that has held sway in the town of Silas through a variety of scams and small-time scores; Jack O'Lantern, the in-over-his-head leader of a local outlaw motorcycle gang who seems as unable to make the right decisions as he to admit when he's wrong; and Sister Tulah Atwell, the terrifyingly charismatic head of a Christian fundamentalist church (but "we don't handle snakes," she says) who has built her power base through intimidation, terror and criminal ambition.
Coming into their crosshairs is Judah Cannon, middle son of the clan, fresh off a stint in prison just up the road. When he reconnects with Ramey Barrow, his first love, he starts to see a better life for himself, one that doesn't involve crime. But he needs money to start fresh, and Sherwood (and brutish brother Levi) are the most obvious sources of it. But their first job as a reunited family — the heist of drug-sale money, from Jack O'Lantern's club, ticketed for Sister Tulah — has near-deadly consequences for a family member. It sets in motion a chain reaction of reprisals between the three antagonists that threaten to ruin any chance Judah and Ramey have for a fresh start. Unless they take the unthinkable step of turning everyone against everyone else and hoping they don't get caught up in increasingly heavy crossfire.
Steph Post knows these people. She has affection for them, between the lines written by an unsparing eye, and yet she has the distance from them to keep from rendering them in overly sentimental hues. They dream, they strive, they do stupid things, they undermine themselves. She knows how they drink, what they do in their parked pickup trucks, what dark things await them beyond the borders of piney woods.
And in inbuing her watertight thriller plot with such a richly developed sense of place, Steph Post is joining a number of fine hardboiled crime writers in staking out her own territory. As Arkansas is to Jake Hinkson, or New Jersey is to Thomas Pluck, or the Virginia-North Carolina border is to Eryk Pruitt, or East Texas is to Joe R. Lansdale, or mountaintop Georgia is to Brian Panowich, north-central Florida is to Steph Post. And IS Steph Post. And as such, Steph Post deserves mention in their ranks. She's going to be big, folks.
The abundant promise of A TREE BORN CROOKED comes to full fruition in Post's second novel, LIGHTWOOD. The one way I felt the first novel fell short—a lack of well-developed antagonists—is more than atoned for in LIGHTWOOD, which features three distinct embodiments of evil: Sherwood Cannon, the career-criminal chief of a family that has held sway in the town of Silas through a variety of scams and small-time scores; Jack O'Lantern, the in-over-his-head leader of a local outlaw motorcycle gang who seems as unable to make the right decisions as he to admit when he's wrong; and Sister Tulah Atwell, the terrifyingly charismatic head of a Christian fundamentalist church (but "we don't handle snakes," she says) who has built her power base through intimidation, terror and criminal ambition.
Coming into their crosshairs is Judah Cannon, middle son of the clan, fresh off a stint in prison just up the road. When he reconnects with Ramey Barrow, his first love, he starts to see a better life for himself, one that doesn't involve crime. But he needs money to start fresh, and Sherwood (and brutish brother Levi) are the most obvious sources of it. But their first job as a reunited family — the heist of drug-sale money, from Jack O'Lantern's club, ticketed for Sister Tulah — has near-deadly consequences for a family member. It sets in motion a chain reaction of reprisals between the three antagonists that threaten to ruin any chance Judah and Ramey have for a fresh start. Unless they take the unthinkable step of turning everyone against everyone else and hoping they don't get caught up in increasingly heavy crossfire.
Steph Post knows these people. She has affection for them, between the lines written by an unsparing eye, and yet she has the distance from them to keep from rendering them in overly sentimental hues. They dream, they strive, they do stupid things, they undermine themselves. She knows how they drink, what they do in their parked pickup trucks, what dark things await them beyond the borders of piney woods.
And in inbuing her watertight thriller plot with such a richly developed sense of place, Steph Post is joining a number of fine hardboiled crime writers in staking out her own territory. As Arkansas is to Jake Hinkson, or New Jersey is to Thomas Pluck, or the Virginia-North Carolina border is to Eryk Pruitt, or East Texas is to Joe R. Lansdale, or mountaintop Georgia is to Brian Panowich, north-central Florida is to Steph Post. And IS Steph Post. And as such, Steph Post deserves mention in their ranks. She's going to be big, folks.
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