Follow You Down

by Geoff Hyatt

A missing shipment of drugs, an underground ring of camgirls, and the Knights of Satan motorcycle club are all caught in a tangle of deals gone bad with one thing in Bree Wells, a small-town teenager who recently vanished into the summer night. When Deputy Meg Shaw finds a connection between the missing girl and a murdered backwoods drug dealer, she fears the worst. As she follows Bree’s trail, she enters a web of exploitation and violence in a place where everyone has something to hide. Bree’s heartbroken boyfriend, Russ McCreech, is desperate to be the first to find her. The gentle, youngest son of an outlaw biker family, he won’t quit the search despite their ominous warnings. Soon, he discovers how dangerous it can be to ask the right questions of the wrong people. Meg and Russ come from different sides of town and different sides of the law. Their search for the same truth will make them either the greatest of allies or the worst of enemies…if they live long enough to find it. Praise for FOLLOW YOU “If James Crumley got lost and ended up in the ramshackle backwaters of rural Michigan he might have written a book like Follow You Down. Deputy Meg Shaw, navigating tattoo parlors, strip bars, and biker clubs in search of a missing teenage girl, is one of the most believable and compelling investigators I’ve read in contemporary crime fiction. Follow You Down is at turns funny and horrifying, and Hyatt’s prose is taut as piano wire, run through with an amphetamine hum that refuses to stop, even long after the book is finished.” —Augustus Rose, author of The Readymade Thief “Follow You Down is everything a crime novel should be—it’s grounded, it’s full of well-earned surprises, and it’s tough enough that it doesn’t need to read like a fantasy. More than that, it’s a story of well-drawn, carefully observed human behavior, lending real weight to the idea that average people can end up as participants in horrific crimes. Like the town of Pike Lake in which it’s set, Follow You Down has an edge that cuts deep. I cannot recommend it highly enough.” —David Peak, author of Corpsepaint

284 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 6, 2020

About the author

Geoff Hyatt is the author of the rural-noir crime novel Follow You Down. He has shown intermittent enthusiasm for electric guitars, Bronze Age comic books, and early 1970s black light posters.

Reviews

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teenager Bree Wells is missing and, while she may have gotten herself in over her head, there are plenty of unseen forces in the small Michigan town of Pike Lake pulling her down from all sides. Disappearing without a trace alongside semi-famous nu-metal hasbeen Ricky Hornween, she's left her boyfriend Russell McCreech, the lone artsy, contemplative member of his family of rural Michigan bikers, expecting the worst and trying to figure out what happened. To make matters more complicated a locket bearing her initials somehow made its way into the hands of Russell's cousin (a member of the family biker gang the Ironwolfs) who Russell discovered moments after he was shot dead.

At the Pike Lake PD, Deputy Meg Shaw is on the case. She's a military veteran who is no stranger to the darker side of life herself, and undertakes an investigation that opens up to the reader a busy world of small-town criminal intrigues and mid-tier hustles; of rival bikers gangs, burnt-out roustabouts, teens turned to criminality from hopelessness, youthful indifference, or just plain boredom, and numerous other characters living on the margins in the small Midwestern town. Many of these people she's known for too long, some of them she knows too well -- but maybe not well enough.

Fans of Law & Order and shows of its ilk will appreciate this tale of intertwining crimes, parallel investigations, and its police procedural element which grows as opaque as the crime itself. And those familiar with Netflix's Ozark will like the half-off-the-grid millieu of chop shops and strip clubs still reeking of previous decades' cigarette smoke. But the narrative is all Hyatt, who imbues the characters with thoughtful, fleshed-out motivations and the environment with memorable touches of Midwestern Gothic: A bonfire turned into a shakedown by one of the local grifter families. A house set back behind an interminable graveyard of discarded clown statues and other carnival gear, demonstrating a family's long legacy of criminality.

Follow You Down occasionally and effectively tilts in the direction of suspenseful, hard-edged horror, but is as character-focused as it is action-packed -- readers will connect with Meg's quest for justice for the overlooked, and with diamond-in-the-rough Russell, who is torn between the norms of his outlaw family and his romantic dreams of a life far away in the proverbial "somewhere else," with Bree by his side. Follow You Down is no fairy tale cop drama, though; old monsters give way to new ones -- if it is a coming of age story, it's one where the lesson learned is the axiom of inevitability that is the Ironwolf credo.

[April Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pike Lake. Shades of grey, deep point of view delves into seemingly disparate characters (Russ and Meg) who find themselves on either side of the law, questing to find Bree. I really liked this book! As a midwestern person, I found the gritty reality of the rural MI setting to be accurate and compelling, flipping between the little marvels, the loom of the trees, to the grime of the strip clubs and bars. It’s not written in a way that fetishizes a town’s fall into decay, but rather with insight; like the prose knows what it’s like have once loved something that ends up tarnished.

There's moments of levity and wit, Dan Hornween’s house alone a trash can marvel, meanwhile, the driving story is super compelling. What happened to Bree? Can Russ and Meg come out the other side intact through the process of finding her? What is happening with the new biker gang in town, with the beef between the Hornweens and McCreeches? Will we ever know what Sam is really up to? What’s the deal with the Feds? Lots of turns and engagement for readers; well-told writing from the brass tacks of the landscape, to the spirited dialog, complex characters, and torrent of a plot.

This was one of the good ones where you reach a tipping point and cannot turn away, having to read all night until it's over and your eyes are bleary. Then there’s some blinking and thinking in the darkness. Good stuff.

[djt · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very enjoyable read; kept my interest as I continued seeing the story unfold, without any early give-away to its conclusion. With the many characters playing out the mystery, each had their own, distinct voice and image. Yes...image, because I was able to keep a clear image of each of them in mind, given the subtle, yet thorough descriptions as they were introduced. I've read a previous novel written by this author ("Birch Hills at World's End") and was happy to find this book had the same inclusion of vivid, beautiful prose interspersed at appropriate moments, amid strong dialogue and action scenes. I found this to be a stark, compelling crime thriller that kept moving with its absorbing storyline, keeping the reader actively engaged, cover to cover. This is certainly a good read and I definitely recommend it to everyone, and most especially to avid readers of crime/mystery books. I'm sure you'll enjoy this one.

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

FOLLOW YOU DOWN is a gripping crime novel set in a small Michigan town. The cast of characters is not surprising for the genre (bikers, drug dealers, kids from broken homes, various law enforcement types) yet not derivative of any single work. The writing is clear and direct with occasional flashes of brilliance. Most importantly, the author never over-tells the story. Defining characteristics are introduced but not relied on to define actions; rather they serve to inform the reader of why the character takes those actions.

Ultimately, and most importantly, this novel succeeds in the most important way for the genre: the conclusion is simultaneously plausible yet not obvious. And as an extra bonus, it is an unflinchingly HUMAN story. As a reader, I really cared about the characters (except the ones I despised, of course).

[Abraham Thunderwolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not put this book down! All my favorite mysteries have quite a bit of seam, and Follow You Down doesn't skimp on it! I know a book is good when I can see the camera shots in my head and from the first page I knew this was going to be a ride. I really dug how the world seemed so lived in and true. Besides the vivid compelling prose, Follow You Down features turns that I totally did not see coming. I'm telling you, one of those books that quickly go from "1 more page, I have to start making dinner." to "I might as well finish this chapter, start the next one, and I'm sure there are leftovers." at a keen pace.

[Brenda Reeves · Rating 5 out of 5]

Follow You Down hooked my interest within the first few pages, and never let up. I particularly enjoyed the diverse cast of characters and I feel like several of them could have a novel all to themselves. The dual point-of-view from two of the main characters was well done and made it interesting as the reader to have two sides of the story and see how the characters worked within just their own set of facts, knowing they were missing out on key elements that would likely have taken them down a different path. Definitely a recommended read!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book! This was such a fun read - lots of thrills and mystery and darkness, but expertly balanced with dashes of humor and truly likable characters. One of the leads is a very well fleshed-out female character that I loved, but the author also manages to create incredibly realistic teenagers and small town thugs, which drew me right into the seedy small town drama. I won't say much more to avoid spoilers, but this book kept me guessing right to the end and I would strongly recommend this to anyone that loves a good book, even if noir or crime stories aren't your go-to books!

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the kind of book that I was sad when it ended. When I wasn't reading it, I was wondering what the characters were up to. The story was well paced - a lot going on, but not so much that your head was spinning, as sometimes happens in detective novels. The characters were all well developed and the writing style was clear, a little witty, but mostly focused on telling the story. Overall I enjoyed it a lot, even though though it's not normally the genre that I get into.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

After like two years I finally finished the book - no fault to the book itself, its because I lost it :p

This is a great read for anyone who likes classic crime novels. I love the main cop, i had the perfect vision of her in my mind. Also being from Michigan it was fun to feel like I understood the setting.

This is not like the popular "true crime murder" stories, but more of a realistic classic hometown crime story, full of likeable dirt bags, and truly horrible people.

[Chris Stephens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sons of Anarchy in Hicksville,
Very tame violence and sex for a book about a bunch of kids and 1%ers,
extremely readable, good style and well written,
you would have to have issues to find anything offensive
all around good read
keep them coming Hyatt.

[William Steffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing characters, scores of lush locations, and a plot that doesn't stop. Very happy I sidestepped my usual genres and gave this a read.

[Derek Harmening · Rating 5 out of 5]

You'd expect a novel centered around missing camgirls, shady drug deals, and rough-and-tumble motorcycle gangs to be grim and gritty enough to leave you cold and cynical by the end. Not so with Follow You Down, a story more interested in the deeply human characters at its core than in any kind of exploitation or salaciousness.

Two characters in particular stuck with me: Russ McCreech, the wayward boyfriend of Bree Wells (whose sudden disappearance is the event around which the central mystery revolves), and Meg Shaw, a tough, no-bullshit deputy tasked with strong-arming her way through a maze of lies and obfuscation to unravel the truth about Bree's disappearance. I felt deeply for both as they struggled to do right in a world more rewarding of immorality and self-conceit.

Ultimately, the answer to the mystery is complex, satisfying, and of the variety that almost demands an immediate re-read so that you can appreciate all the finely placed details and deftly interwoven storylines that paved the way. It leaves you feeling the way the best mysteries do: completely surprised while recognizing that the answer was inevitable.

It's a little Twin Peaks, a little Winter's Bone, a little Gone Baby Gone, all of which culminates into a compelling and affecting reading experience.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really solid mystery that kept me up later than I wanted each night I was reading it.