Flamingo Lane: A Novel of Southern Noir

by Tim Applegate

Chance is a hitman with hippie roots and deep emotional wounds, disillusioned by life and stung by love―and his next target is the woman who rejected him. But taking on such a job is not without complications. As he closes in on his victim, Chance struggles to rediscover the competitive edge that normally makes him so deadly.

Faye Lindstrom escaped a life of captivity and addiction in Quintana Roo, but she can’t flee the woman she has become. For now, she holes up in a house in Crooked River owned by an old friend, the reclusive novelist William Dieter. But that safe haven will only last until the end of the summer, assuming that the violence in her past doesn’t catch up to her first.

For lovers of Southern noir, Flamingo Lane is a gritty cat-and-mouse pursuit that launches from an island off the Yucatan Peninsula through the cornfields of Indiana to a small town on the Florida panhandle. A standalone sequel, Flamingo Lane ventures even further into the haunted territories of revenge and redemption first chronicled in Fever Tree.

Kindle Edition

First published February 12, 2019

About the author

Tim Applegate was born in Fort Benning, Georgia and grew up in Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1978 he obtained a B.A. degree in journalism and literature from Indiana University. Tim has lived in Boston, Sarasota, Florida, and for the last twenty-three years on two acres in the foothills of the coastal range of western Oregon. He is married and has two daughters. He grows wine grapes on his acreage, is an avid hiker, and travels extensively. Tim's poetry, essays, and short fiction have been published in The Florida Review, The South Dakota Review, Lake Effect, and many other literary journals. He is the author of the poetry collections At the End of Day (Traprock Books) and Blueprints (Turnstone Books of Oregon), the chapbook Drydock (and other poems) (Blue Cubicle Press), and the novels Fever Tree (Amberjack Publishing) and Flamingo Lane (forthcoming from Amberjack Publishing December 2018).

Reviews

[Jypsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A former sex slave, a drug lord and a hit man walk into a bar.....Just joking. Flamingo Lane does have all 3 of those characters in the story. I didn't realize that this book was second in a series. I recommend reading the first book because I felt like a piece was missing. It's still a good read overall. The characters are complex and engaging and fun to read. The story line is tense and dramatic. I enjoyed it. Thanks to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me a while to read Flamingo Lane. The author was so effective at building suspense and dread that I had to read during the daylight hours only so that I could get to sleep! I enjoyed the way the author alluded to his own writing process through the character, Dieter, who is writing a novel with the same name. This device was secondary to the plot but added an unexpected dimension which kept me from predicting the thriller’s ending before it concluded.

The heroine is recovering from a horrendous ordeal as kidnapped sex slave/addict for the leader of a drug cartel in Mexico. Her escape, debriefing, recovery, and return to hometown is fraught with an intense feeling of disconnection and potentially triggering events which drive her to depart for the anticipated solitude and anonymity at the seasonal residence of her writer friend in Florida. While Dieter is up north struggling to write the sequel to his first novel which is her story, she is living it. Dieter’s friend and police detective ventures to ally himself with her though she is skittish. Meanwhile, the drug cartel’s assassin, who knows “Angelina” personally, is coerced into hunting her down. All the sweetness and innocence of her life along the coast is contrasted with the dark menace of a man trapped into targeting her in order to insure his own survival.

[Raya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Faye Lindstorm was kept as a sex slave by a man she fell in love with in Mexico. Turns out he was a dangerous kingpin. She somehow managed to escape that dark life but can't escape her changed self. She decides to move to Florida to house-sit for a friend Dieter who is also an author in midst of writing a book of his own - Flamingo Lane - after his previous successful Fever Tree.

Unknown to Faye, an old acquaintance from Mexico - Chance has been assigned to kill her by none other than the Mexican overlord. Chance also happens to be someone who had an unrequited love for Faye back in their hippie days. But she had rejected him as she only ever saw him as a friend.

Then there's Dave, the detective friend of Dieter who Faye meets and befriends in Florida. He is investigating an old case connected to Chance too. So, we have Faye trying to recover from her trauma with the help of Dave. They're in an equally adorable and awkward initial stage of dating. But Chance has followed Faye here too. What follows is a wonderful study of characters and a cat-mouse chase.

The characterization was spot-on. Chance, although a killer, had his own vulnerabilities and emotional hurt that appealed to me. I found myself feeling sorry for him. I rooted for Faye. She's a mixture of vulnerable and strong that I always find welcoming in female characters. Dave, Dieter, Maggie and all the characters had interesting shades and made the read even more engaging.

The setting of the book made for a perfect Southern noir. I absolutely love the environment that the author created. Flamingo Lane was a pleasant surprise!

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mexico was once a haven for Faye Lindstrom but turned into a nightmare when her lover, a high ranking drug lord, decided she was of more use in front of a camera.

Recently reunited with her family in Indiana after several years, Faye is trying to get her life back together. She accepts an offer to house sit for her friend, famed author William Dieter, who is attempting to repair his marriage and finish a new novel titled Flamingo Lane.
Faye travels to Florida and settles in to a comfortable routine under the protective eye of local police officer Dave Kershaw. Leaving her past behind can’t be so simple, not when her ex wants revenge and his reach extends far beyond Mexico.

Chance is a hit man hired to kill Faye, but this isn’t another job for him — there is a personal score to settle.

I realized when I started reading Flamingo Lane that it had to be a continuation of a story and learned that it’s actually the second novel in a quartet. The first novel, Fever Tree (which is mentioned in this book), covered Dieter’s story from Mexico to his arrival in Florida.

While Applegate does offer enough back story that readers will not feel completely lost reading Flamingo Lane as a stand alone, I think I would’ve enjoyed this more had I read Fever Tree first. The plot held my attention but I never felt invested in the characters, possibly because of the introduction I missed. Overall, this is a decent southern noir novel with a predictable plot.

Thanks to Amberjack Publishing and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Flamingo Lane is scheduled for release on December 4, 2018.

For more full reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com

[Shay Tibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

At times I found the book a bit confusing, wether we were in Deiter's story, a dream or real life, but overall I enjoyed the characters and plot,

Thanks Netgalley for the chance to read this title in exchange for a review!

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Southern Noir that Sizzles

The joy of reading an Applegate novel is the complete brilliant escape into the land, the atmosphere, the minds and motives of his characters, their history together, and their desire to escape the past, something that many of us can relate to.

I could almost repeat my five-star review of Tim Applegate’s first novel Fever Tree for his new southern noir Flamingo Lane—except he’s upped the ante for atmosphere, intricately woven storylines, and high stakes for his characters. The author also adds a dash of metafiction into this hot literary stew.

But let’s start with Chance. I love this guy. He’s the first character to be introduced. He reminds me of a character out of a Tarantino film—a killer who practices Zen Buddhism. (Remember “Pulp Fiction” and Samuel L. Jackson character who talked about hamburgers and quoted Ezekiel before offing a person he was assigned to kill?)

Chance’s chapter sets the atmosphere, tone, and some of the back story in this deliciously-written suspenseful noir. Who wouldn’t want to know what the hell will happen after reading this first sentence?

“At sunrise Chance wakes from a night of patchy sleep in a room he doesn’t recognize, a room he can’t recall.”

We soon learn he’s in the US and is out to kill Angelina who escaped to a small town and knows a lot about Pablo Mestival, head of a Mexican cabal.

Each chapter from there introduces us to the rest of the cast, weaves in and out of time, and uses the old Hitchcock rule of letting us in on what’s going to happen while keeping the characters ignorant.

I wrote down descriptive gems (“quaint as love beads”), but gave up after page 22. Details popped like scenes from a movie. Every chapter grew in intensity. And the characters come alive.

For those who enjoy and appreciate metafiction (if not, skip):

Dieter, a novelist in this novel and former druggie, was a character in Applegate’s Fever Tree. In this novel, he became famous for writing a book titled Fever Tree, and now he’s working on Flamingo Lane. Throughout the novel, Dieter bares his soul—only to us—about what it’s like being a novelist and wonders whether his marriage to Maggie can endure the life.

But if you love suspense, thrillers, noir, and crime, read Flamingo Lane. I couldn’t put it down. I was totally lost in the story. ‘Nuff said.

[Heidi Mastrogiovanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well, if I have dark circles under my eyes, which I do, I'll be blaming Tim Applegate for that. I hate to go with the cliche, but I must... I couldn't put this book down. I stayed up way too late for the past three nights reading this fabulous book. It is terrifying, funny, charming, heartbreaking, mesmerizing.

I just now finished reading it, and I'm left somewhat speechless. I am so involved with these characters. I miss them already. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

[Doug Yonce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not long after I started reading, I realized this book was the second in a series. There was enough background for me to continue reading. Sharing the plot of a hit man chasing Faye to fulfill a contract doesn’t do the story justice. The characters carry this story, and these characters are characters, and some even have character. I received an advanced digital copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Susan Clayton-Goldner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. And it is lingering in my heart and mind days after I turned the final page. The characters are so fresh, quirky and well-developed that you feel as if you know them. My favorite was Mr. Gold and his red bowtie.

The book is part southern noir, mystery, thriller and literary novel--all rolled into one delicious read. The setting, mostly the Florida Panhandle, is done with the brush of both an artist and a poet. You'll hear the screech of the gulls, smell the salty air, and feel the damp breeze off the Gulf. As the novel progressed, I found it difficult to put down. I so wanted to find out what happened to Faye.

One of my favorite writing teachers says you should give your characters the ending they deserve. Mr. Applegate did that. I highly recommend this book, along with Fever Tree, the first book in the series. But don't worry if you pick this one up first. It stands along. I'm anxiously awaiting Applegate's next novel.

[patrick Lorelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me some time to get into this book. First there is a book before this one that for me might have been helpful if I read that one. I always felt a little behind in the story even up to the ending. I had gotten that Faye Lindstrom escape from Mexico and now her captor has sent a hit-man after her. The hit-man follows her and you realize that when they were much younger, they knew each other and he, the hit-man had a crush on her. Now in between there a sheriff realizes what is happening and follows where she is going to save her hopefully. The different things that happen to the hit-man on his way following did add to this story and keep it moving along or it really would have been slow for me. Never read this author but was expecting more from this kind of story. I received this book from Netgalley.com I gave it 3 stars. Follow us at www.1rad-readerreviews.com

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must be challenging for a character in a novel to also be the author of that novel! That's the situation for William Dieter, the main character of the prequel "Fever Tree" and also the author of that book! In the "Flamingo" novel, Dieter is also trying to save his marriage and help a friend who has escaped from sexual slavery by a drug lord in Mexico. The plot becomes complicated when Chance, another friend of Dieter's from their hippie days in a commune in Mexico, turns out to be working for the drug lord and is charged with "eliminating" the female friend, Faye, who casts a spell of infatuation on all the men in this story. Dieter keeps busy participating in the plot and writing it at the same time. The action has him flying back and forth between Indiana and Florida.

Dieter's writing style shows his sense of unrest. Action in the present is often interrupted with back story and mental asides without indicating a break in the narrative. Dialog is not highlighted with quote marks, so sometimes it is difficult to interpret between talk and thought, backstory and action. But the cat-and-mouse adventure as Chase tracks Faye's movements from place to place under protection of Dieter and handsome detective Kershaw kept me interested enough to untangle and focus. Plot twists are enhanced by a nosy hotelier who is suspicious of Chance and uncovers some of his secrets, a hard-to-convince police captain, and Dieter's personal stresses.

In the end, the reader can take a breath but also wonder what's coming in the next novel in this series of "The Yucatan Quartet."

[Johnny Vic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book. I'm glad it is a series. The characters are great to get to know. It is a very interesting read