Old Anger

by Phillip Thompson

The long-awaited return of Colt Harper, a lawman in the tradition of Jesse Stone and Walt LongmireSheriff Colt Harper believes he's colorblind in his enforcement of the law. But is he? When a black man is murdered, it ignites age-old anger in the African-American community over the injustices they've endured and forces Harper to confront his own personal demons. Harper's single-minded pursuit of justice for the dead man thrusts him between two volatile groups -- furious blacks who don't know if they can trust him and racist whites who want to use the controversy to spark a bloody race war."Old Anger has some sweet echoes of the past while being something modern at the same time. Pacing is outstanding and the story is engaging. It has a western rash under it's skin. Recommended." Joe R. Lansdale"Phillip Thompson combines the visceral verbal skills of Craig Johnson with the white knuckle tension of Stephen Hunter. Old Anger will leave you soaked in sweat and gasping for air" S.A. Cosby author of Blacktop Wasteland."Old Anger is a modern Southern novel in the best sense—exploring issues of race, privilege, and generational mistrust with candor and grace. It’s also a fiercely engaging mystery. Thompson’s lawman, Colt Harper, is a man of honor in a world that could use more of ’em. Consider me a fan." Chris Holm, Anthony Award winning author of The Killing Kind"In Thompson’s well-wrought third crime novel featuring Mississippi sheriff Colt Harper. Thoughtful prose is matched by solid characterizations. Thompson delivers a timely tale of racial violence." Publishers Weekly

281 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2020

About the author

Phillip Thompson grew up near the East Mississippi town of Columbus, birthplace of Tennessee Williams. He received a bachelor's degree in journalism from Ole Miss before serving in the Marine Corps for 12 years. As a Marine, he served in California and Hawaii, aboard the USS Missouri, and in combat during the Persian Gulf War with the 1st Marine Division. He also spent the better part of two years traversing the island nations of the South Pacific as the lead planner for the 50th Anniversary of World War II in the Pacific.

Since leaving the service, he has worked as a reporter and editor at newspapers in Mississippi and Virginia, and his journalistic work has been featured in newspapers across the Deep South and the East Coast. He wrote as a freelancer for Civil War magazine and The Washington Times and worked as a staff cartoonist for 10 years at Marine Corps Times. He has also worked as a defense analyst; media spokesman; consultant; speechwriter and Senate aide.
Phillip Thompson is the author of novels, "Enemy Within," "A Simple Murder" and "Deep Blood." His short fiction has appeared in "O-Dark-Thirty" the literary journal of the Veterans Writing Project; "Thrills, Kills 'N' Chaos," "Out of the Gutter Online," "The Shamus Sampler II" and "The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature." He attended the Bread Loaf Writer's Conference as a fiction writer in 2003.

He also authored the non-fiction account of his Gulf War experience "Into the Storm: A U.S. Marine in the Persian Gulf War."

He lives in Virginia. Find him online at http://kudzucorner.wordpress.com.

Reviews

[John McKenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel takes place in present day rural Mississippi and features a white, small town sheriff named Colt Harper. He’s a local man who grew up on the area; joined the US Marine Corps. after high school; served in the war in Iraq and returned to his hometown, where he eventually became the County Sheriff. He knows everyone in the area—and along with his friend and main deputy, John Carver, a black man and fellow marine who saw combat with Harper in the Middle East—Colt assumes that he knows all that’s happening in the county where he was born and raised. But the truth is . . . he doesn’t.
The novel begins when the body of a black man named Lucius Wallace is discovered in a gravel pit. He’s been murdered, and his death sets off a chain of events that are reminiscent of the vicious kind of racial episodes which took place in the south during the 1950s and earlier . . . turning Sheriff Colt Harper’s world upside down and shattering his belief in harmony between the blacks and whites who live in the community.
When the first arrest in the case turns out to be a well-respected black minister and local leader with motive, means and opportunity, the black community goes into mass demonstrations and protests, accusing the beleaguered sheriff of racism, and causing him to examine his long-held beliefs. After new and further evidence exonerates the man . . . the white community believes Harper has let a murderer loose in their midst. But when two other murders of black men take place in quick succession, the seething racial resentment is near the boiling point. Sheriff Harper and Deputy Carver battle to keep the peace, catch the killer, and bring justice to both races, while outside forces try to start a race war and burn it all down in this thought provoking and easy reading whodunit whose pages are smoking with drama and oozing with irony!

[Hope Pellegrene · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colt Harper

Sheriff Harper is tough, rugged, interesting but has a reflective side too. This series is good with interesting characters and plot that hold your attention. Keep writing Mr Thompson.

[Jay Lamborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thrilling ride

Thompson just keeps getting better. I lost track of time reading this, risking a letter of reprimand at work.

It would have been worth it. One heck of a good yarn.

[Ames Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. Here Phillip Thompson delivers what he does exceedingly well, which is to steer us through his trademark new/old rural Mississippi crime universe with Colt Harper at the wheel, only this time Thompson ups the ante by grabbing the hot-wire topic of different perspectives on race, and holding it to the last. Obvious Spoiler Alert: the Black characters have a different view of racism’s hold in the town than the white characters do. This makes for some searing passages, particularly those between Colt and his African-American deputy (and former foxhole buddy) John Carver, who learn some things about each other that they hadn’t been called on to learn before. Their relationship stays with you, but make no mistake: this new layer comes at no expense to yet another riveting story of the enforcers desperately trying to solve a crime (and maintain the peace in their fractious town) while detestable bad guys get away with their nasty trade for longer than we want them to. This is a Phillip Thompson book, which means at its center is a collision course – with Evil approaching from one direction and What Passes for Good picking up speed from the other – and the dramatic climax more than satisfies. Which is not to say that by the end all the problems are solved in Colt’s county. We expect more trouble. If we’re lucky, Phillip Thompson will bring us back to see it.

[John Rumery · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not a five star book but I gave it five stars. Really liked the main characters. Molly, Clay and John are decent and flawed people. The Mississippi setting was perfectly humid and swampy. And most importantly-. I really hate White supremacists and red neck nationalists. So add those together and it was an enjoyable and easy read.

The overall story was fine but boy howdy....are all crackers this dumb? It did not take much detective work to solve this crime.

[DENNIS g BRUNSWICK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read

A good fast read, easy to follow but still kept me interested. I will definitely look into his other books and I would recommend this book.

[Charles Bowman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

This book makes you think and forces you to look at life from some different prospectives. Well worth reading and entertaining too.

[Vickie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure

Not sure why I keep reading his books other than he is a Southern writer. I am always interested in what Southern writers write and the different perspectives.

[David Pulliam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to put down

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and can't wait to choose another one . Philip Thompson is another great addition to my library