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Quinn Colson #2
The Lost Ones
Fans of Justified and James Lee Burke will love Mississippi lawman Quinn Colson in this Edgar® Award Nominee for Best Novel from the author of The Ranger...
When Army Ranger Quinn Colson, the new sheriff of Tibbehah County, is called out to investigate a child abuse case, what he finds is a horrifying scene of neglect, thirteen empty cribs, and a shoe box full of money. Janet and Ramon Torres seem to have skipped town—but Colson’s sure they’ll come back for the cash.
Meanwhile, Colson’s sister has returned—clean and sober for good, she says. His friend Boom has been drinking himself into oblivion and picking fights at the local bar. And his old flame is pregnant. But Colson can’t focus on his personal problems. He and Deputy Lillie Virgil are convinced that Janet and Ramon have a taste for guns, drugs, and human trafficking. Soon Colson and Virgil find a link between the fugitive couple and a drug cartel that controls most of the Texas border, taking their investigation far beyond the rough hills of northeast Mississippi...
When Army Ranger Quinn Colson, the new sheriff of Tibbehah County, is called out to investigate a child abuse case, what he finds is a horrifying scene of neglect, thirteen empty cribs, and a shoe box full of money. Janet and Ramon Torres seem to have skipped town—but Colson’s sure they’ll come back for the cash.
Meanwhile, Colson’s sister has returned—clean and sober for good, she says. His friend Boom has been drinking himself into oblivion and picking fights at the local bar. And his old flame is pregnant. But Colson can’t focus on his personal problems. He and Deputy Lillie Virgil are convinced that Janet and Ramon have a taste for guns, drugs, and human trafficking. Soon Colson and Virgil find a link between the fugitive couple and a drug cartel that controls most of the Texas border, taking their investigation far beyond the rough hills of northeast Mississippi...
416 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2012
789 people are currently reading
2419 people want to read
About the author
Ace Atkins
71 books1,559 followersAce Atkins is the author of twenty-eight books, including eleven Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). He is the author of nine New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times and a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and he played defensive end for Auburn University football.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 390 reviews
August 10, 2016
A fine book for a cold.
Let me 'splain.
I am referring to the summer head cold, a totally inappropriate, out-of-season malaise that bears absolutely no resemblance to the not-really-sick-cold one might use in a feeble attempt to get out of reading a book with grandfather. Those not-really-sick colds can be charmed out of existence by a book with fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love and miracles.
This was not that kind of cold, but that was o.k., as this was not that kind of book. Instead an idyllic farmyard, it opens at a traveling fair where Donnie Varner is looking to connect with a gun buyer. He is is back from Afghanistan and trying to make a buck. Turns out the middleman is a particularly attractive woman. Meanwhile, Ranger is back in Jericho, retired from the Army and fresh from winning his campaign for county sheriff. How? I don't know; perhaps there is a book between. Ranger is busy twisting the tail ofBoss Hogg Johnny Stagg and the County Board when a badly wounded child is dropped off on the doctor's doorstep, surely a victim of child abuse. When Ranger goes to the isolated trailer, he finds the owners have scampered, leaving behind thirteen cribs and a number of pens of half-dead dogs. This sets off a bit of a woman-hunt as Ranger and Lillie attempt to track down the woman and the rumors of foster kids from Mexico.
The plot is brisk, serviceable enough for a Robutussin-addled brain. The narrative moves back and forth between Donnie and Ranger, Donnie still living life on the edge post deployment and Ranger supporting Boomer and making amends with his sister Caddy. There's some back-country politics and quite honestly, if you replace 'moonshiners' with 'gun-runners,' what the series most reminds me of is Dukes of Hazzard. Just the good ol' boys, never really meanin' no harm. There is some rather interesting twists to the plot later on that elevated it above the mundane. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why the woman left the abused kid, setting this all off in the first place.
In another mood, this might irritate, as it has a plethora of genre tropes, particularly those involving women and people of color. Like Robert Parker's Hawk, Boom is the loyal African-American sidekick with amazing physical prowess and who sometimes operates outside the law. Of course in this one, Lillie also has his back, except for a girlish mistake or two involving babies. (Babies! Of course!) And a kind of double-cross involving a beautiful woman, even though she didn't say 'I do.'
It didn't have Rodents of Unusual Size, pirates or swordfights, but it did have a generally likeable feeling. I also appreciated there were minimal demands on the reader, because I wasn't up to thinking or tunes on the heartstrings. On the cold distraction scale (somewhat like the airplane scale), it is a solid 3/5. I'll wait til this cold passes before I try for something really engaging, but right now, that's inconceivable.
Let me 'splain.
I am referring to the summer head cold, a totally inappropriate, out-of-season malaise that bears absolutely no resemblance to the not-really-sick-cold one might use in a feeble attempt to get out of reading a book with grandfather. Those not-really-sick colds can be charmed out of existence by a book with fencing, fighting, torture, revenge, giants, monsters, chases, escapes, true love and miracles.
This was not that kind of cold, but that was o.k., as this was not that kind of book. Instead an idyllic farmyard, it opens at a traveling fair where Donnie Varner is looking to connect with a gun buyer. He is is back from Afghanistan and trying to make a buck. Turns out the middleman is a particularly attractive woman. Meanwhile, Ranger is back in Jericho, retired from the Army and fresh from winning his campaign for county sheriff. How? I don't know; perhaps there is a book between. Ranger is busy twisting the tail of
The plot is brisk, serviceable enough for a Robutussin-addled brain. The narrative moves back and forth between Donnie and Ranger, Donnie still living life on the edge post deployment and Ranger supporting Boomer and making amends with his sister Caddy. There's some back-country politics and quite honestly, if you replace 'moonshiners' with 'gun-runners,' what the series most reminds me of is Dukes of Hazzard. Just the good ol' boys, never really meanin' no harm. There is some rather interesting twists to the plot later on that elevated it above the mundane. Still, I couldn't help but wonder why the woman left the abused kid, setting this all off in the first place.
In another mood, this might irritate, as it has a plethora of genre tropes, particularly those involving women and people of color. Like Robert Parker's Hawk, Boom is the loyal African-American sidekick with amazing physical prowess and who sometimes operates outside the law. Of course in this one, Lillie also has his back, except for a girlish mistake or two involving babies. (Babies! Of course!) And a kind of double-cross involving a beautiful woman, even though she didn't say 'I do.'
It didn't have Rodents of Unusual Size, pirates or swordfights, but it did have a generally likeable feeling. I also appreciated there were minimal demands on the reader, because I wasn't up to thinking or tunes on the heartstrings. On the cold distraction scale (somewhat like the airplane scale), it is a solid 3/5. I'll wait til this cold passes before I try for something really engaging, but right now, that's inconceivable.
April 3, 2013
In Tibbehah County, Mississippi, a newly elected sheriff tries to track down a couple who were abusing and neglecting a pack of infants before selling them on the black market, and there’s a Mexican drug gang in the area looking to do a bulk gun deal.
And yet some people think that country life is boring.
This terrific follow-up to Ace Atkins' The Ranger finds Quinn Colson retired from the Army and trying to adjust to life as a lawman. If he wasn’t busy enough dealing with baby sellers and illegal arms deals, his ne’er -do-well sister has breezed back into his life with a heart full of Jesus, and there’s a red-headed female ATF agent who has gotten his attention in ways that go beyond the call of duty.
If this was just a straight-ahead action thriller, that’s a pretty good set-up right there. But what moves this up a notch and gets it an Edgar Award nomination for best novel is the way that Atkins has created a believable cast of characters in a small town setting and uses the connections between them and Quinn to give the story some depth.
Quinn’s relationship with his sister Caddy, including a dark secret the two share, adds some history. Childhood buddy and gun dealer Donnie Avery is a fellow veteran who wants to live life to the fullest after getting blown up overseas, and he‘s willing to do a huge arms deal to impress a beautiful Mexican woman. Donnie reminds Quinn of his hell-raising past and what he could have become.
Then there’s a fight with the corrupt local politician Johnny Stagg to save the county some money and maybe help out another old friend and veteran in the process. The high school sweetheart who once broke his heart is married to someone else and pregnant, but there’s some unfinished business between the two that Quinn doesn’t fully understand. His mother has been raising his nephew during his sister’s frequent absences, and Quinn tries to be a father figure and limit the damage done to the kid by Caddy’s infrequent appearances. His chief deputy is one tough lady, and their relationship is another one that could get extremely complicated if Quinn isn’t careful.
It’s the details of a crowded life of a guy who returned to the small town he meant to leave forever and has begun to enjoy the things he once tried to escape that set this apart from others in the genre. Add in some wild criminal plots and an ex-Ranger sheriff who is still getting used to the idea of driving up to a trailer and serving a search warrant rather than sniping everyone there from the trees, and you get one great rural crime novel.
And yet some people think that country life is boring.
This terrific follow-up to Ace Atkins' The Ranger finds Quinn Colson retired from the Army and trying to adjust to life as a lawman. If he wasn’t busy enough dealing with baby sellers and illegal arms deals, his ne’er -do-well sister has breezed back into his life with a heart full of Jesus, and there’s a red-headed female ATF agent who has gotten his attention in ways that go beyond the call of duty.
If this was just a straight-ahead action thriller, that’s a pretty good set-up right there. But what moves this up a notch and gets it an Edgar Award nomination for best novel is the way that Atkins has created a believable cast of characters in a small town setting and uses the connections between them and Quinn to give the story some depth.
Quinn’s relationship with his sister Caddy, including a dark secret the two share, adds some history. Childhood buddy and gun dealer Donnie Avery is a fellow veteran who wants to live life to the fullest after getting blown up overseas, and he‘s willing to do a huge arms deal to impress a beautiful Mexican woman. Donnie reminds Quinn of his hell-raising past and what he could have become.
Then there’s a fight with the corrupt local politician Johnny Stagg to save the county some money and maybe help out another old friend and veteran in the process. The high school sweetheart who once broke his heart is married to someone else and pregnant, but there’s some unfinished business between the two that Quinn doesn’t fully understand. His mother has been raising his nephew during his sister’s frequent absences, and Quinn tries to be a father figure and limit the damage done to the kid by Caddy’s infrequent appearances. His chief deputy is one tough lady, and their relationship is another one that could get extremely complicated if Quinn isn’t careful.
It’s the details of a crowded life of a guy who returned to the small town he meant to leave forever and has begun to enjoy the things he once tried to escape that set this apart from others in the genre. Add in some wild criminal plots and an ex-Ranger sheriff who is still getting used to the idea of driving up to a trailer and serving a search warrant rather than sniping everyone there from the trees, and you get one great rural crime novel.
December 10, 2024
This is turning into a great series. The location and characters are really growing and becoming much more fleshed out. I’m really looking forward to the next one.
July 12, 2013
Ace Atkins is rapidly becoming one of my favorite writers. In this, the second novel to feature former Army Ranger Quinn Colson, Atkins weaves a compelling story with fully-developed and genuinely interesting characters.
In The Ranger, the first Quinn Colson novel, Colson returned home from his Army duty to attend the funeral of his uncle, the local sheriff of Tibbehah County in Mississippi. He found both his family and his town in crisis, and moved to deal with these problems as best he could. As this second installment opens, Quinn has now been elected sheriff of the county himself and is still trying to settle in.
Quinn and his principal deputy, a woman named Lillie Virgil, investigate a case of child abuse after a badly injured baby is delivered to the local hospital. On arriving at the home where the baby lived, they find a horrendous scene. The couple living in the house has apparently been running a baby mill, bringing in babies from Latin America and then selling them in the U.S. The couple and their remaining children have fled, and Quinn and Lillie find thirteen empty cribs in the midst of indescribable filth and squalor.
As Quinn and Lillie attempt to track down the couple and rescue the remaining children, an old friend of Quinn's, also recently back from the Army, becomes involved in a scheme to supply large numbers of weapons to some particularly nasty Mexican drug dealers. Quinn must deal with the complications of this situation as well, which will bring federal authorities into the County.
On the personal front, Quinn's irresponsible sister, Caddy, has returned home again, claiming that she has sobered up, that she has her life in order and that she wants to be a part of her young son's life again. Quinn sincerely doubts that his sister is on the straight and narrow for keeps and must deal with the resulting family issues as well.
The result is a gripping story that will appeal to large numbers of readers. Atkins creates believable characters and puts them into a beautifully-drawn setting. Tibbehah County is a rural area that in many ways has remained untouched by the outside world for a long time. But the outside world can no longer be held at bay and this will have significant consequences for Quinn Colson and for everyone else in the county. Atkins explores those consequences with great insight and more than a little sympathy. I can hardly wait for the third Quinn Colson book.
In The Ranger, the first Quinn Colson novel, Colson returned home from his Army duty to attend the funeral of his uncle, the local sheriff of Tibbehah County in Mississippi. He found both his family and his town in crisis, and moved to deal with these problems as best he could. As this second installment opens, Quinn has now been elected sheriff of the county himself and is still trying to settle in.
Quinn and his principal deputy, a woman named Lillie Virgil, investigate a case of child abuse after a badly injured baby is delivered to the local hospital. On arriving at the home where the baby lived, they find a horrendous scene. The couple living in the house has apparently been running a baby mill, bringing in babies from Latin America and then selling them in the U.S. The couple and their remaining children have fled, and Quinn and Lillie find thirteen empty cribs in the midst of indescribable filth and squalor.
As Quinn and Lillie attempt to track down the couple and rescue the remaining children, an old friend of Quinn's, also recently back from the Army, becomes involved in a scheme to supply large numbers of weapons to some particularly nasty Mexican drug dealers. Quinn must deal with the complications of this situation as well, which will bring federal authorities into the County.
On the personal front, Quinn's irresponsible sister, Caddy, has returned home again, claiming that she has sobered up, that she has her life in order and that she wants to be a part of her young son's life again. Quinn sincerely doubts that his sister is on the straight and narrow for keeps and must deal with the resulting family issues as well.
The result is a gripping story that will appeal to large numbers of readers. Atkins creates believable characters and puts them into a beautifully-drawn setting. Tibbehah County is a rural area that in many ways has remained untouched by the outside world for a long time. But the outside world can no longer be held at bay and this will have significant consequences for Quinn Colson and for everyone else in the county. Atkins explores those consequences with great insight and more than a little sympathy. I can hardly wait for the third Quinn Colson book.
February 25, 2016
So I just reviewed the first in this series. This one picks up where that one left off. Now do I assume that if you're reading this you have already read the first book or not? No I better try not to leave any spoilers.
At least on purpose.
Quinn is now facing an entirely new set of problems and frankly he reacts in a somewhat short sighted and annoying way a great deal of the time.
However since that's his character I wasn't all that surprised..annoyed yes, but surprised no. Quinn's interaction with the characters new and old simply work. Now don't get me wrong. Quinn while I think I understand some of his "issues" and think we'd get along can be...well annoying (did I say that before?) He's by no means infallible.
I like this and so far I like these. Recommended and enjoy.
At least on purpose.
Quinn is now facing an entirely new set of problems and frankly he reacts in a somewhat short sighted and annoying way a great deal of the time.
However since that's his character I wasn't all that surprised..annoyed yes, but surprised no. Quinn's interaction with the characters new and old simply work. Now don't get me wrong. Quinn while I think I understand some of his "issues" and think we'd get along can be...well annoying (did I say that before?) He's by no means infallible.
I like this and so far I like these. Recommended and enjoy.
December 31, 2024
Easy reading
July 7, 2021
In book number two of the Quinn Colson series, Quinn has retired from the Rangers and returned home to Jericho, Mississippi. He has been elected sheriff of Tibbehah County and may have bitten off more than he can chew. He’s trying to adjust to civilian life and come to grips with old history between him and his sister.
This book was just as good as the first if not better. As he and Lillie are hunting a couple accused of killing a toddler and selling infants on the black market, the FBI comes to town. It seems that a Mexican drug cartel has infiltrated the area and is trying to broker a gun deal. On top of that he still has to deal with Johnny Stagg, the sleazy corrupt politician who can’t be trusted. There’s a lot of action and body count in this book and it is starting to remind me of one of my favorite television shows, Justified. What would Raylan Givens do?
I grew up in a small town and I don’t remember stuff like this going on so hopefully this only happens in fiction. I gave this book four stars!
This book was just as good as the first if not better. As he and Lillie are hunting a couple accused of killing a toddler and selling infants on the black market, the FBI comes to town. It seems that a Mexican drug cartel has infiltrated the area and is trying to broker a gun deal. On top of that he still has to deal with Johnny Stagg, the sleazy corrupt politician who can’t be trusted. There’s a lot of action and body count in this book and it is starting to remind me of one of my favorite television shows, Justified. What would Raylan Givens do?
I grew up in a small town and I don’t remember stuff like this going on so hopefully this only happens in fiction. I gave this book four stars!
July 3, 2013
While I really enjoyed the first book in this series, The Ranger (review), Atkins really seems to hit his stride in the second book in the series. The cast of Tibbehah County characters returns -- new sheriff Quinn Colson, deputy Lillie Virgil, one-armed army vet Boom, Quinn's troubled sister Caddy and her son Jason, and sleazier than ever Johnny Stagg. Add to that illegal baby sellers, Mexican gunrunners, a redheaded vixen ATF agent, and a childhood friend of Quinn's headed down the wrong path, and you have a recipe for a compelling read. Highly recommended.
November 5, 2020
I have started a lot of new series this year, but the Quinn Colson series is quickly becoming a favorite. Atkins is my kind of writer, with a great sense of humor and a slight wicked streak. I am enjoying getting to know these characters and see where they are going. It has some similarities to the Peter Ash series, which is a compliment.
May 11, 2019
A good crime fiction story as small county sheriff must investigate child abuse and gun runners and the cases wind up overlapping. Atkins is still working on the relationship between Colson & Virgil. This is going to be a good series to stay in touch with. Recommended.
January 4, 2018
Ace Atkins is a rock star! The second book in the Quinn Colson series is absolutely brilliant. Written like an HBO screenplay, with a host of brilliant and believable characters, this is one of the best thrillers I have read in ages. Atkin's writing is super sharp and this is one of those books you can truly get lost in. I can't wait to read the third book in the series!
August 12, 2018
I'm officially addicted to this series. Very Justified-esque. Can't wait to see what's next for Quinn, Lillie and the quirky cast of support characters.
August 23, 2018
This is quite good. Like other Atkins novels that I have read it seems best at its beginning and end as Atkins concentrates on his characters, and not as strong in the middle when he is working out the plot. Those middle sections could be cut back in favor of more on the characters. Plusses here include love scenes that actually have some relationship to what real people might do, and the developing sense of family and community that make these books more than run-of-the-mill shoot-em-ups. The shoot-em-up aspect is maybe a little overdone. Protagonist Quinn Colson was an Army Ranger in the series back story, and Atkins goes with that background for exciting sequences. I doubt any actual Mississippi sheriff spends as much time in combat-like situations, or kills as many bad guys.
As in a previous novel, there is a moment when a character improbably survives a situation he stupidly has gotten himself into--in which in real life he certainly would die. Atkins should cut that out.
Finally, Atkins is adding to his adaptation of Faulkner characters and situations the use of an unfinished Ernest Hemingway novel, "The Last Good Country," in which the protagonist and his sister as children flee from an evil game warden. Hemingway never finished his novel, probably because he realized how simplistic and juvenile it was. Atkins finishes it for him, but it's not much better. However, he does use it to motivate one character's emotional problems, so I am willing to go along.
As with others of his novels I just want Atkins to do what he does best--character and setting--and avoid the formulaic mystery stuff as much as possible. Again, over all, this is a good book.
As in a previous novel, there is a moment when a character improbably survives a situation he stupidly has gotten himself into--in which in real life he certainly would die. Atkins should cut that out.
Finally, Atkins is adding to his adaptation of Faulkner characters and situations the use of an unfinished Ernest Hemingway novel, "The Last Good Country," in which the protagonist and his sister as children flee from an evil game warden. Hemingway never finished his novel, probably because he realized how simplistic and juvenile it was. Atkins finishes it for him, but it's not much better. However, he does use it to motivate one character's emotional problems, so I am willing to go along.
As with others of his novels I just want Atkins to do what he does best--character and setting--and avoid the formulaic mystery stuff as much as possible. Again, over all, this is a good book.
August 29, 2018
Solid storytelling
Maybe it is because I am a veteran myself, but Mr Atkins gets many of the situations right. Those quiet Moments When you find yourself standing there, eyes towards the horizon, and lost in thought. I know he isn't a veteran but he must talk to the right people to understand this way.
As for the story, it's a solid telling of a buddy in trouble who refuses to see the error of his ways, despite many attempts by friends and family to set him straight. It's kind of sad in its own way and without a positive resolution, but much like life this is probably the best we're going to get. This story delve into much of the backstory between Quinn and Cady and I felt the story was stronger for it.
If you enjoyed the first novel, then this one is a no-brainer, I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys something along the lines of the Longmire stories.
Maybe it is because I am a veteran myself, but Mr Atkins gets many of the situations right. Those quiet Moments When you find yourself standing there, eyes towards the horizon, and lost in thought. I know he isn't a veteran but he must talk to the right people to understand this way.
As for the story, it's a solid telling of a buddy in trouble who refuses to see the error of his ways, despite many attempts by friends and family to set him straight. It's kind of sad in its own way and without a positive resolution, but much like life this is probably the best we're going to get. This story delve into much of the backstory between Quinn and Cady and I felt the story was stronger for it.
If you enjoyed the first novel, then this one is a no-brainer, I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys something along the lines of the Longmire stories.
September 7, 2019
There's a Mexican cartel operating in Tibbehah County, and a local gun dealer is supplying guns to them--while falling in love with a Mexican Girl. (We all know how that turned out in the song El Paso, don't we?) Meanwhile, a couple attached to the cartel has been running a baby ring, and one of the babies is killed.
Quinn and Company lumber around until the final shoot out.
Not bad, but not one of the best in the series.
Quinn and Company lumber around until the final shoot out.
Not bad, but not one of the best in the series.
August 17, 2017
A very good piece of crime writing with a rock solid cast of characters and a terrific sense of place. It's a little reminiscent of the TV show 'Justified', but that's no bad thing...
October 29, 2021
4.5 Stars
rounded up to 5 Stars.
January 21, 2020
Atkins second book in this series follows Quinn Colson as he settles into his job as Sheriff. After the events of book 1, Quinn finds himself now required to navigate the politics, much of it underhanded, of his new position while working with the FBI on a case that affects his jurisdiction. There's a nice slow, tense build to a well done minor but still important plot twist that makes for a very satisfying read. I'm not sure why I put this one off for so long, but I'm now much more eager to read book 3.
May 26, 2021
"Business men from Tupelo would bring a cooler of beer and shoot AK-47's into targets of Osama Bin Laden and President Obama. Not that Donnie was political, that's just what seemed to be selling that year." I enjoy Southern writers because they introduce me to people and places I will probably never see. This book reminded me a lot of the Longmire series which I love. Although not as comfortable as Longmire, the bad sort are more unlikeable, The dialogues, character descriptions, and action sequences are very engaging. I listened to Ry Cooder, and other southern slide players while reading this. It seemed to help the mood.
July 2, 2018
Second in the Quinn Colson action thriller series and revolving around a newly elected sheriff fresh out of the Rangers and based in Jericho, Mississippi.
My Take
Atkins caught me right off with that hook, surprising me with the combination of county fair rides and gunrunning. I gotta love it. It's such a guy story with succinct descriptions and that male-male relationship that rings so true throughout with Atkins using a third person protagonist point-of-view from Quinn's perspective.
It's a mixture of the horrors from war, what Quinn remembers of his uncle when he was a boy, the truth behind his uncle's searching for him for five days…jesus, and then that homey feeling about a guy putting up preserves, even as he's filling his freezer with meat he's shot, having breakfast and holding office hours at the diner, and appreciates (and can work with) an assertive woman with a big gun, lol.
Jericho itself is small town where most everyone knows everyone else, and they celebrate events like Dinner on the Grounds, a picnic in the cemetery where they tell stories about those who've gone on.
That Donnie. You can't help but like him, even as lazily ambitious and denigrating as he is. He's got a good heart, and he'll do his best in both directions: getting whatever thievin' he can and accepting when he's licked. That attitude of his when he was digging that hole…whew… He's something of a white knight in gray armor. As for Johnny Stagg. Well, he's a confusing mess who does not understand conflict of interest. He simply doesn't get it that he'll never be accepted by the class he wants to join, and it doesn't help that he's such a jerkwad. He does all sorts of illegal things and tries to shine himself up with teaching Sunday school, throwing barbecues, hanging with celebrities, and getting on the supervisory board.
If anything, I gotta read this series to find out what Anna Lee is up to. She may blow hot and cold like Luz, but hers is a much more subtle version.
There are several turning points in this: Boom is sick and tired of being owned by this shit; Bobby gets his — as does Lillie and Kenny; and, Caddy has come to Jesus.
I do wonder, though, what the fallout was with that shiny new Ford? Nor did I ever figure out what the deal was with ATF. Were they corrupt or aiming for something bigger?
There is no lack of action in this. Thankfully it wasn't the "I don't dare open the book out of fear!" kind, *grin*. And I've already ordered up The Broken Places .
The Story
Quinn Colson couldn't face being deskbound, and the troubles in his hometown were calling out to him. Part of that trouble is that Johnny Stagg and having to make nice at his Annual Good Ole Boy party.
It starts out simple when Quinn and Deputy Lillie Virgil are led into the heart of a bootleg baby racket and a trail of darkness and death that collide in beatings and shootouts.
Nope, Quinn won't have any time at all to miss being in the Rangers…
The Characters
Quinn Colson, the former town bad boy, quit the Rangers after ten years and four Purple Hearts and is the newly elected sheriff of Jericho with all its pains and excitement. In The Ranger , 1, Quinn inherited his uncle Hamp's farmhouse, land that had been in his family since 1895, and his cattle dog, Hondo. Aunt Halley had been Hamp's wife. Jean Colson is his mama with an obsession with Elvis, and she's always looking after Jason, Caddy's mixed-race son. Caddy, well, that sister of Quinn's has her issues: drugs, sex, and abandoning her son over and over. Uncle Van used to buy the boys whiskey and beer. His father, Jason, is an over-the-hill Hollywood stuntman who used to double for Burt Reynolds and who ran off years ago.
Boom Kimbrough is Quinn's best friend who lost his arm and drinks too much. He farms the family's five hundred acres of cotton but has to split the cut with his father and eight brothers and sisters.
Tibbehah County Sheriff's Department
Chief Deputy Lillie Virgil is more man than woman and does what's right; she's got the most law enforcement experience of all of 'em. Quinn fired all the old deputies and took on eight new ones including Ike McCaslin, Chris Smith, Art Watts, Dave Cullison, Chris Smith, and Kenny. Mary Alice, Hamp's secretary, is still there. She did want to burn all the files. The County Barn is the maintenance shed for all county vehicles, but Stagg shut it down.
Special Agents Dinah Brand, Willis, and Caruthers are with ATF.
Union County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Drake and Deputy Virgil have a warrant they'll serve for Quinn.
The Tibbeha County Supervisors includes…
…Johnny T. Stagg as the board president, white trash who made his millions ripping off the elderly, trashing the countryside via his development company, enjoying a good bit of profit from the Rebel Truck Stop and strip joint, The Booby Trap. Britney and Dara are some of the strippers. Fat Leonard used to be a deputy and now works openly for Stagg as security. Bobby Campo is big in Atlanta and has helped Stagg make some of those millions.
The District Four supervisor is DuPuy, a black slumlord who runs Sugar Ditch; the short, fat supervisor from the northwest party of the county, MacDougal, is a yes-man; Sam Bishop, Jr, runs the county co-op; and, Bobby Pickens is a wildcard redneck.
Betty Jo Mize runs the weekly Tibbehah Monitor and loves to shoot down the politicos. The pregnant Anna Lee Amsden, er, Stevens, is Quinn's old girlfriend now married to Dr Luke Stevens, an old classmate of Quinn's. Javier owns the El Dorado restaurant, a good guy. Jess Colley is the veterinarian. The Jericho VFW Hall serves up a mean catfish fry-up on Thursdays. Mr Hill has the pull-a-part junkyard. Mary is a tired waitress at the Fillin' Station Diner who had been Hamp's girlfriend. Joe Burney has a daughter. Sam Bishop, Sr, is the county clerk. Club Disco 9000 is located in Sugar Ditch, and Spam is the bartender and owner. The Southern Star Bar has been open for the past two years. Dwana is the preacher's daughter. Alma Jane used to put the kegs in the creek at the field parties. The Reverend Rebecca White tells a good sermon. Mr Davis, he'd been with 82nd Airborne, is taken by the Lord and thinks he's Gabriel. The owner of Pap's Place, a restaurant that serves up catfish, is a friend of Jean's and a fellow believer in Elvis. Mrs Shelton runs the ABC Learning Center. Mr. Jim, a veteran of Patton's 3rd Army, runs the town barbershop. Judge Blanton gets a mention. Luther Varner is a Marine sniper who served in Vietnam; he's Donnie's dad and runs a convenience store, the Quick Mart where Miss Peaches is the cook.
Donnie Varner is done with the National Guard, all that shrapnel they pulled out made sure of that. Now he's running a gunshop and range in a cluster of three trailers, one of which he rents out to Tiny. He and Shane are his friends, having served together in the 223rd, and watching his back.
Janet Torres, née Sanders, is a clerk at the Dollar General who's selling babies and seems to be running a puppy mill. She used to operate Little Angels Daycare in the city. *shudder* Janet's with Ramón Torres these days. Mara is her psychologically stunted daughter; Fred Black, a welder, is Mara's father. Mara's public defender is really young. Gabriela is the baby who died.
Kay Bain is a spitfire in her seventies who fronts a country band from Tupelo. The Tiffin family had cut a record and used to play in Jericho frequently.
Los Zetas are…
…a Mexican drug cell led by Tony the Tiger, Luz's boyfriend and Alejandro's boss. Ramón's brother is high up in the cartel. Luz, a.k.a., Laura Zuniga, leads Javier; Luis; and, "Junior", the son of the woman who used to care for Luz as a child, and can he ever shoot. Alejandro "Tattoo Boy" Ramírez Umana is an MS-13 gangbanger out of Texas and in charge of the cell working at Lone Star Amusements. Francisco Quevedo Sanchez used to be one of them.
In Quinn's childhood
Porter is the park ranger and a youth pastor furious with Quinn's "pranks". And he's as bigoted as Ronnie Hankins.
The Cover and Title
The cover is grim and lonely all in grays with a wee bright sun and its orange aura attempting to provide hope over this lonely landscape, a farmhouse tucked into a swale with only the roof visible over a dried-out field and leafed-out and bare tree branches partially lost in the mist. A testimonial is set about one-fourth of the way down in a sunny orange with the title in an embossed white partially lost in the gray. The author's name is below that in an embossed black. At the bottom right is the series info in the same sunny orange.
The title is applies to a number of characters in different situations, for there are so many of The Lost Ones.
My Take
Atkins caught me right off with that hook, surprising me with the combination of county fair rides and gunrunning. I gotta love it. It's such a guy story with succinct descriptions and that male-male relationship that rings so true throughout with Atkins using a third person protagonist point-of-view from Quinn's perspective.
It's a mixture of the horrors from war, what Quinn remembers of his uncle when he was a boy, the truth behind his uncle's searching for him for five days…jesus, and then that homey feeling about a guy putting up preserves, even as he's filling his freezer with meat he's shot, having breakfast and holding office hours at the diner, and appreciates (and can work with) an assertive woman with a big gun, lol.
Jericho itself is small town where most everyone knows everyone else, and they celebrate events like Dinner on the Grounds, a picnic in the cemetery where they tell stories about those who've gone on.
That Donnie. You can't help but like him, even as lazily ambitious and denigrating as he is. He's got a good heart, and he'll do his best in both directions: getting whatever thievin' he can and accepting when he's licked. That attitude of his when he was digging that hole…whew… He's something of a white knight in gray armor. As for Johnny Stagg. Well, he's a confusing mess who does not understand conflict of interest. He simply doesn't get it that he'll never be accepted by the class he wants to join, and it doesn't help that he's such a jerkwad. He does all sorts of illegal things and tries to shine himself up with teaching Sunday school, throwing barbecues, hanging with celebrities, and getting on the supervisory board.
If anything, I gotta read this series to find out what Anna Lee is up to. She may blow hot and cold like Luz, but hers is a much more subtle version.
There are several turning points in this: Boom is sick and tired of being owned by this shit; Bobby gets his — as does Lillie and Kenny; and, Caddy has come to Jesus.
I do wonder, though, what the fallout was with that shiny new Ford? Nor did I ever figure out what the deal was with ATF. Were they corrupt or aiming for something bigger?
There is no lack of action in this. Thankfully it wasn't the "I don't dare open the book out of fear!" kind, *grin*. And I've already ordered up The Broken Places .
The Story
Quinn Colson couldn't face being deskbound, and the troubles in his hometown were calling out to him. Part of that trouble is that Johnny Stagg and having to make nice at his Annual Good Ole Boy party.
It starts out simple when Quinn and Deputy Lillie Virgil are led into the heart of a bootleg baby racket and a trail of darkness and death that collide in beatings and shootouts.
Nope, Quinn won't have any time at all to miss being in the Rangers…
The Characters
Quinn Colson, the former town bad boy, quit the Rangers after ten years and four Purple Hearts and is the newly elected sheriff of Jericho with all its pains and excitement. In The Ranger , 1, Quinn inherited his uncle Hamp's farmhouse, land that had been in his family since 1895, and his cattle dog, Hondo. Aunt Halley had been Hamp's wife. Jean Colson is his mama with an obsession with Elvis, and she's always looking after Jason, Caddy's mixed-race son. Caddy, well, that sister of Quinn's has her issues: drugs, sex, and abandoning her son over and over. Uncle Van used to buy the boys whiskey and beer. His father, Jason, is an over-the-hill Hollywood stuntman who used to double for Burt Reynolds and who ran off years ago.
Boom Kimbrough is Quinn's best friend who lost his arm and drinks too much. He farms the family's five hundred acres of cotton but has to split the cut with his father and eight brothers and sisters.
Tibbehah County Sheriff's Department
Chief Deputy Lillie Virgil is more man than woman and does what's right; she's got the most law enforcement experience of all of 'em. Quinn fired all the old deputies and took on eight new ones including Ike McCaslin, Chris Smith, Art Watts, Dave Cullison, Chris Smith, and Kenny. Mary Alice, Hamp's secretary, is still there. She did want to burn all the files. The County Barn is the maintenance shed for all county vehicles, but Stagg shut it down.
Special Agents Dinah Brand, Willis, and Caruthers are with ATF.
Union County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff Drake and Deputy Virgil have a warrant they'll serve for Quinn.
The Tibbeha County Supervisors includes…
…Johnny T. Stagg as the board president, white trash who made his millions ripping off the elderly, trashing the countryside via his development company, enjoying a good bit of profit from the Rebel Truck Stop and strip joint, The Booby Trap. Britney and Dara are some of the strippers. Fat Leonard used to be a deputy and now works openly for Stagg as security. Bobby Campo is big in Atlanta and has helped Stagg make some of those millions.
The District Four supervisor is DuPuy, a black slumlord who runs Sugar Ditch; the short, fat supervisor from the northwest party of the county, MacDougal, is a yes-man; Sam Bishop, Jr, runs the county co-op; and, Bobby Pickens is a wildcard redneck.
Betty Jo Mize runs the weekly Tibbehah Monitor and loves to shoot down the politicos. The pregnant Anna Lee Amsden, er, Stevens, is Quinn's old girlfriend now married to Dr Luke Stevens, an old classmate of Quinn's. Javier owns the El Dorado restaurant, a good guy. Jess Colley is the veterinarian. The Jericho VFW Hall serves up a mean catfish fry-up on Thursdays. Mr Hill has the pull-a-part junkyard. Mary is a tired waitress at the Fillin' Station Diner who had been Hamp's girlfriend. Joe Burney has a daughter. Sam Bishop, Sr, is the county clerk. Club Disco 9000 is located in Sugar Ditch, and Spam is the bartender and owner. The Southern Star Bar has been open for the past two years. Dwana is the preacher's daughter. Alma Jane used to put the kegs in the creek at the field parties. The Reverend Rebecca White tells a good sermon. Mr Davis, he'd been with 82nd Airborne, is taken by the Lord and thinks he's Gabriel. The owner of Pap's Place, a restaurant that serves up catfish, is a friend of Jean's and a fellow believer in Elvis. Mrs Shelton runs the ABC Learning Center. Mr. Jim, a veteran of Patton's 3rd Army, runs the town barbershop. Judge Blanton gets a mention. Luther Varner is a Marine sniper who served in Vietnam; he's Donnie's dad and runs a convenience store, the Quick Mart where Miss Peaches is the cook.
Donnie Varner is done with the National Guard, all that shrapnel they pulled out made sure of that. Now he's running a gunshop and range in a cluster of three trailers, one of which he rents out to Tiny. He and Shane are his friends, having served together in the 223rd, and watching his back.
Janet Torres, née Sanders, is a clerk at the Dollar General who's selling babies and seems to be running a puppy mill. She used to operate Little Angels Daycare in the city. *shudder* Janet's with Ramón Torres these days. Mara is her psychologically stunted daughter; Fred Black, a welder, is Mara's father. Mara's public defender is really young. Gabriela is the baby who died.
Kay Bain is a spitfire in her seventies who fronts a country band from Tupelo. The Tiffin family had cut a record and used to play in Jericho frequently.
Los Zetas are…
…a Mexican drug cell led by Tony the Tiger, Luz's boyfriend and Alejandro's boss. Ramón's brother is high up in the cartel. Luz, a.k.a., Laura Zuniga, leads Javier; Luis; and, "Junior", the son of the woman who used to care for Luz as a child, and can he ever shoot. Alejandro "Tattoo Boy" Ramírez Umana is an MS-13 gangbanger out of Texas and in charge of the cell working at Lone Star Amusements. Francisco Quevedo Sanchez used to be one of them.
In Quinn's childhood
Porter is the park ranger and a youth pastor furious with Quinn's "pranks". And he's as bigoted as Ronnie Hankins.
The Cover and Title
The cover is grim and lonely all in grays with a wee bright sun and its orange aura attempting to provide hope over this lonely landscape, a farmhouse tucked into a swale with only the roof visible over a dried-out field and leafed-out and bare tree branches partially lost in the mist. A testimonial is set about one-fourth of the way down in a sunny orange with the title in an embossed white partially lost in the gray. The author's name is below that in an embossed black. At the bottom right is the series info in the same sunny orange.
The title is applies to a number of characters in different situations, for there are so many of The Lost Ones.
July 6, 2012
For me, some of my favorite summer reading is what I like to think of as "regional" fiction, in which an author's familiarity with a place in the U.S. fleshes out the character of a location along with the characters who live there. Ace Atkins is an author who does this beautifully. His place is rural Mississippi, where opportunities for work and personal fulfillment are, to say the least, limited. Want to see the world? Join the army. Which is what more than a few of the characters dwelling in this novel have done. They're not better off for it, but use their grit and wits to survive in the ravished landscape they returned to from other ravished worlds. Which lends a bittersweet kind of humor to life in the small towns of Tibbehah County, where veteran Quinn Colson is trying to maintain law and order. I found myself growing quite fond of this homegrown bunch of struggling souls toting handguns, chain smoking, and chowing down on fried food. Here's a place where a 10 year resident is described as a newcomer, where children grow up fast, and life expectancy isn't the highest on the planet. There's a lot of shady dealing going on. Quinn either knows or suspects who's up to no good. Some acts are forgivable, some aren't, and some are so mixed up with a little bit of good, a little bit of bad that it's hard to know what's right and what's wrong. Sometimes it's a matter of justice, and sometimes that justice isn't quite within the scope of the law.
I look forward to reading more in this series. The characters have a lot of living to do (Quinn and his deputy are in their late 20s) and some interesting things could happen.
I look forward to reading more in this series. The characters have a lot of living to do (Quinn and his deputy are in their late 20s) and some interesting things could happen.
June 14, 2012
“The Lost Ones” by Ace Atkins, published by G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Category – Mystery/Thriller
This is the second book in the Quinn Colson series. One does not have to read the first book to enjoy “The Lost Ones”, however, after reading it you will want to go back and read the first one, “The Ranger”.
Quinn Colson was an Army Ranger who has returned to his home town in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, and finds himself being elected Sheriff.
Colson is informed of a possible child abuse case that leads him to the home of Janet Sanders and Ramon Torres. The house is abandoned and in a state of absolute filth. He finds several baby cribs and discovers that Janet is running an illegal “child for pay” operation.
While investigating this crime he finds that Ramon may have ties to a dangerous drug cartel. The situation worsens when he discovers that his high school friend, Donnie Varner, may be running drugs for the cartel. Varner has befriended a young lady who is working for the cartel but seems to have a different agenda.
A very fast and entertaining mystery that will keep the reader turning the pages and has enough surprises to whet your appetite.
Category – Mystery/Thriller
This is the second book in the Quinn Colson series. One does not have to read the first book to enjoy “The Lost Ones”, however, after reading it you will want to go back and read the first one, “The Ranger”.
Quinn Colson was an Army Ranger who has returned to his home town in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, and finds himself being elected Sheriff.
Colson is informed of a possible child abuse case that leads him to the home of Janet Sanders and Ramon Torres. The house is abandoned and in a state of absolute filth. He finds several baby cribs and discovers that Janet is running an illegal “child for pay” operation.
While investigating this crime he finds that Ramon may have ties to a dangerous drug cartel. The situation worsens when he discovers that his high school friend, Donnie Varner, may be running drugs for the cartel. Varner has befriended a young lady who is working for the cartel but seems to have a different agenda.
A very fast and entertaining mystery that will keep the reader turning the pages and has enough surprises to whet your appetite.
August 18, 2012
Book number 2 in the Quinn Colson series by Ace Atkins - 3.5 stars. Since the end of book one, Quinn has moved back to his home town in Tibbehah County, Mississippi where he has been elected Sheriff. He becomes involved in a case involving child abuse and baby selling when an investigator for the ATF comes to town seeking information about weapons sales - and, of course, the two stories turn out to be intertwined. Of course, there were the requisite gunfights and deaths, but it was just enough action to keep me interested.
I liked this story better than the first Quinn Colson story - there was something less oppressive about his portrayal of life in Mississippi, although the poverty, dirt, and corruption were still present at every turn. This time out though, all that negative weight was displaced (a little bit) by Quinn's friends and family - even the dysfunctional sister who seemed to be getting some grip on her life by the end of the book.
It felt like Ace Atkins was starting to get a feel for his characters and places, and bodes well for future stories.
I liked this story better than the first Quinn Colson story - there was something less oppressive about his portrayal of life in Mississippi, although the poverty, dirt, and corruption were still present at every turn. This time out though, all that negative weight was displaced (a little bit) by Quinn's friends and family - even the dysfunctional sister who seemed to be getting some grip on her life by the end of the book.
It felt like Ace Atkins was starting to get a feel for his characters and places, and bodes well for future stories.
November 12, 2013
This is great. The denizens of Tibbehah County, "Miss-ippi," from the wretchedly corrupt owner-of-everything Johnny Stagg to the good-hearted gun-runner Donnie Varner keep you smiling from sheer pleasure throughout. Quinn Colson is now a former Ranger and the Sheriff. He and his side-kick chief deputy Lillie Virgil contend with a baby selling ring and the local cell of Los Zetas, helped and/or hindered by the ATF. Everything builds very nicely to a full-on gun battle. If you enjoy a lot of family story even if it does not contribute to the plot you will love this. Quinn's sister Caddy is home again, maybe for good this time, to help care for her son Jason and a fair amount of the book covers the key incident in Quinn and Cadddy's childhood. Altogether well-told and with dialogue that never falters from sharp and intelligent, this is highly recommended.
April 19, 2013
This book is basically about veterans and a small town that is very corrupt. I did not foresee this book being about a drug war. I really didn't like it that much, but it's not something that I would just throw out the window. It was good enough to finish it...but I wouldn't read it again. That being said, I also found out that this is the second book, and I have never read the first one? Maybe that's why this didn't appeal to me...but it really just didn't impress me. Maybe the first one will open my eyes a little better. I guess I'll be trying to get my hands on "The Ranger" to see what all the fuss is about. For now, I will give this book only a two star rating, because I really didn't enjoy it much.
I won this book on Goodreads First Reads.
I won this book on Goodreads First Reads.
October 5, 2013
God almighty - another book abandoned due to my low patience threshold. Authors ( American in particular ) , don't assume we know what ( or where ) Biloxi is , for example. Take the time to consider that the world outside of the US ( or your country of origin) is very big , and some people (me) may be irritated by your assumptions that we all speak the American lingo and know the slang. This book has stars coming put of its ears but the first few paragraphs irritated me and I couldn't get past 5%. Sigh.
October 30, 2014
What a great story! I really enjoyed this book, No. 2 in the saga of Quinn Colson, former Army Ranger turned sheriff in his hometown in rural Mississippi. This one features a Mexican drug gang into smuggling guns and selling babies, plus the usual greedy locals. Colson gets involved when a severely injured baby is brought to a local hospital and he goes out to check on the family home. His personal/professional boundaries get tested on two fronts--when he learns an old buddy is dealing in guns and when the federal agent who shows up is an attractive red head.
December 3, 2018
The second Quinn Colson crime novel hits all the right notes with compelling characters, smart plotting, and rich setting. The main characters gain more depth from the first book. Secondary characters are rounded out as well, with new people expanding the storyline without confusion. All in all, a winning series.
December 26, 2021
The second in the series of Quinn Colson, the lost ones were eleven children and infants that were missing as part of a human trafficking gang. Lilly finds one, names her Rose, after her mother, and adopts her. Evil Mexican cartels, Boom, Kenny, Caddy comes home, maybe for good this time. Quinn falls for a redheaded FDA agent but, to no avail.
February 23, 2018
4.5⭐️ Love this series. Southern, small town America; ex-Ranger sheriff. Multiple story lines, great character development just very REAL.
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