Brigade

by T.R. Pearson

Ray Tatum tangles with the rural Virginia MAGA crowd in a collision of homespun charity and bigoted villainy. He's more than the blood and soil set can handle.

Genres: Fiction

295 pages, Paperback

Published October 5, 2018

About the author

Thomas Reid Pearson is an American novelist born in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He is the author of seventeen novels and four works of non-fiction under his own name, including A Short History of a Small Place, Cry Me A River, Jerusalem Gap, and Seaworthy, and has written three additional novels -- Ranchero, Beluga, and Nowhere Nice -- under the pseudonym Rick Gavin. Pearson has also ghostwritten several other books, both fiction and nonfiction, and has written or co-written various feature film and TV scripts.

Reviews

[Ralph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do NOT start this book at 9:30 at night unless you intend to stay up until the wee hours, because, if you're like me, you won't be able to put it down until there isn't any more to read. Then you'll glance over at the clock and be surprised to see that it's 1 a.m. Then you'll groan because your alarm will go off in 4 hours and that's not really enough sleep for you. Then you'll give serious thought to turning back to page 1 and reading the whole thing again.

That's how good this book is.

[Jim Gilroy · Rating 5 out of 5]

At some point after A Short History of a Small Place it seems folks stopped reading T. R. Pearson. I'm guessing the next two, Call & Response and The Last of How it Was required more concentration than most were willing to put forth? Maybe. Whatever the reason, you need to get back on board. So much good stuff continues to come out of his most interesting mind.

Brigade is another in a solid list of Ray Tatum mysteries. Ray, a sometimes small town cop, sometimes former cop, always solving unusual crimes usually in rural Virginia. What differentiates Brigade from the other Tatum stories is the style. A T.R. Pearson meets Elizabeth Strout approach with chapters by each of the main characters, from each of whom we get a picture of Ray, and then, of course, Ray's own chapter. All trying to make sense of what people will do and why they will do it.

This and all the Tatum books are hard to put down. I've read Most of Henning Mankel, and Michael Connelly, both terrific crime fiction writers, but whose books always tend leave me a bit depressed. Pearson can write about the same sort of shake your head, doesn't make sense mayhem, but you don't want the book to end. Good stuff.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ray Tatum, the laconic detective, returns to solve another rash of baffling small-town murders, and it's as twisty, hilarious and unforgettable as TR Pearson's books always are. The story is told through a number of narrators, which adds an interesting depth to the story, and the subject matter is strikingly timely with the anti-foreign, anti-dark, anti-different ideals on the rise. Pearson's characters are impossible to forget, and this is one of those books you keep thinking about long after it's over.

[Bruce · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had just finished the second book in Faulkner's Snopes trilogy when it occurred to me to see whether I was caught up on the T.R. Pearson canon. I was pleased to find that I was not, and I have spent a breathless couple of days on this little gem of a book. If you've read both Faulkner and Pearson you'll know my train of thought was not happenstance.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am deeply in love with Ray Tatum. I can't help it. This is a dark story and, as I always do, I laughed all the way through it. Great story, in a gruesome kind of way. As always, I know these people. Mr. Pearson has an odd affinity for them, and expresses them as no one else can do. I almost read this in one sitting.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

TR Pearson's books are always a treat. This one is no exception.

[allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

I absolutely love, love, love Pearson’s writing; which is why I gave this book 3stars - I’ve read four of his books so far, but I had a difficult time keeping track of the new characters introduced throughout the story with very little development. I found characters that were mentioned in passing became very central later on and I had to go back to where they were introduced in order to connect the dots. I also felt in the end that the motives/timeline for the crimes being investigated were not fleshed out.

[LeastTorque · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just a so-so outing from TR. Some of the humor and wonderful turns of phrase and a good final chapter didn’t quite rescue it for me.

[Tommy Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

the best of the ray series

This was the best of the ray series to me. TR is a unique gift in life. His mastery of language always leaves me wishing for more!

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another delightfully witty story.

T R Pearson does not disappoint with this Ray Tatum mystery. Full of twists & turns & local color. I am looking forward to his next story.