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It Dies with You
Scott Blackburn’s searing literary debut explores the dangerous world of secrets threatening to upend a rural Southern town, perfect for fans of David Joy and Brian Panowich.
For nearly a decade, twenty-nine-year-old Hudson Miller has made his living in the boxing ring, but a post-fight brawl threatens to derail his career. Desperate for money, Hudson takes a gig as a bouncer at a dive bar. That’s when life delivers him another hook to the jaw: his estranged father, Leland, has been murdered in what appears to be a robbery-gone-bad at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part.
Soon after his father’s funeral, Hudson learns he’s inherited the salvage yard, and he returns to his Bible-belt hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina, to run the business. But the business is far more than junk cars and scrap metal. It was the site of an illegal gun-running ring. And the secrets don’t end there; a grisly discovery is made at the yard that thrusts Hudson into the fight of his life.
Reeling for answers, Hudson joins forces with his father’s former employee, 71-year-old, beer-guzzling Vietnam vet Charlie Shoaf, and a feisty teenage girl, Lucy Reyes, who’s fiercely seeking justice for her own family tragedy. With a murderer on the loose and no answers from the local cops, the trio of outcasts launch an investigation. The shocking truth they uncover will shake Flint Creek to its very core.
For nearly a decade, twenty-nine-year-old Hudson Miller has made his living in the boxing ring, but a post-fight brawl threatens to derail his career. Desperate for money, Hudson takes a gig as a bouncer at a dive bar. That’s when life delivers him another hook to the jaw: his estranged father, Leland, has been murdered in what appears to be a robbery-gone-bad at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part.
Soon after his father’s funeral, Hudson learns he’s inherited the salvage yard, and he returns to his Bible-belt hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina, to run the business. But the business is far more than junk cars and scrap metal. It was the site of an illegal gun-running ring. And the secrets don’t end there; a grisly discovery is made at the yard that thrusts Hudson into the fight of his life.
Reeling for answers, Hudson joins forces with his father’s former employee, 71-year-old, beer-guzzling Vietnam vet Charlie Shoaf, and a feisty teenage girl, Lucy Reyes, who’s fiercely seeking justice for her own family tragedy. With a murderer on the loose and no answers from the local cops, the trio of outcasts launch an investigation. The shocking truth they uncover will shake Flint Creek to its very core.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 7, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 138 reviews
June 19, 2022
After his father is found murdered in his junkyard, Hudson returns to his home town to try to make a living from the business. After another body is discovered, Hudson, his employee Charlie and teenaged Lucy (the sister of the second victim) start investigating the murders.
I am going to quote from the blurb for this book: “…searing literary debut explores the dangerous world of secrets threatening to upend a rural Southern town, perfect for fans of David Joy and Brian Panowich”. If you are a fan of David Joy or Brian Panowich, I suggest that you run very far away from this book. If you are a fan of Nancy Drew or Murder She Wrote (or are stuck in an airport) you might like this. The author even compares Lucy to Nancy Drew, so even he knew what kind of book he wrote. There is nothing “searing” about anything in this book. It has no atmosphere, suspense or action. There is no depth to the characters. I would not have been so annoyed by this book if my expectations had not been raised by the description. You have now been warned so you can determine whether this is the sort of book you would like.
I am going to quote from the blurb for this book: “…searing literary debut explores the dangerous world of secrets threatening to upend a rural Southern town, perfect for fans of David Joy and Brian Panowich”. If you are a fan of David Joy or Brian Panowich, I suggest that you run very far away from this book. If you are a fan of Nancy Drew or Murder She Wrote (or are stuck in an airport) you might like this. The author even compares Lucy to Nancy Drew, so even he knew what kind of book he wrote. There is nothing “searing” about anything in this book. It has no atmosphere, suspense or action. There is no depth to the characters. I would not have been so annoyed by this book if my expectations had not been raised by the description. You have now been warned so you can determine whether this is the sort of book you would like.
April 9, 2022
I’ve got a thing for southern mysteries, especially those that are southern noir. This debut isn’t as dark as some, but it’s got a nice gritty feel to it.
Hudson Miller is dealing with a one year boxing suspension when his father is murdered, an apparent robbery gone wrong. They were never close, so he’s shocked to learn his dad has left him his salvage yard. But things keep going wrong as first guns and then a gruesome discovery are found on site.
Blackburn has created some great characters. Not just Hudson, but also Charlie and Lucy. And he definitely has the ability to put you right in the scene.
This isn’t fast paced, in fact, at times it almost seems to mosey. But it kept me drawn in and curious. I admit to figuring out who was behind the murder but not all the twists leading up to it.
I will definitely read whatever Blackburn serves up next. My thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books.
Hudson Miller is dealing with a one year boxing suspension when his father is murdered, an apparent robbery gone wrong. They were never close, so he’s shocked to learn his dad has left him his salvage yard. But things keep going wrong as first guns and then a gruesome discovery are found on site.
Blackburn has created some great characters. Not just Hudson, but also Charlie and Lucy. And he definitely has the ability to put you right in the scene.
This isn’t fast paced, in fact, at times it almost seems to mosey. But it kept me drawn in and curious. I admit to figuring out who was behind the murder but not all the twists leading up to it.
I will definitely read whatever Blackburn serves up next. My thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books.
June 3, 2022
Set in a rural Southern town, It Dies With You by Scott Blackburn is his literary debut. Working in a bar as his boxing licence is suspended, Hudson Miller inherits a salvage yard from his estranged father. Returning to his home town of Flint Creek, North Carolina, he discovers his father’s business also included an illegal gun-running ring. Then a dead body turns up and the hunt is on for the killer. With only his elderly employee and a young Latino teenager to rely on, things escalate as the three investigate, given the Sherriff’s seeming indifference. With its wonderful characters, moody atmosphere and action and twists aplenty, makes for a four star read rating. With thanks to Crooked Lane Books and the author, for an uncorrected advanced reader copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.
April 23, 2023
So many contemporary novels in the crine/thriller genre are so stuffed with character surprises and plot twists that you can practically feel them quiver in your hands with the author’s anxiety that if they don’t throw cliffhangers and shockers at you on practically every page, the reader will wander off in search of a binge show, a cat video or some other cheap distraction. They’re not only wrong about that, they betray a cynicism about their audience that borders on contempt.
That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a novel like Scott Blackburn’s stellar debut, IT DIES WITH YOU, get some traction with crime/thriller audiences. It has the courage to confidently spin out a character-first story at its own deliberate pace, trusting the reader to hang in there while its hero, ex-boxer Hudson Miller, goes about the business of growing in his once-and-futures hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina after his father’s murder. Hud wants answers, but just as urgently, he wants a path forward in life after losing his way in the ring, and the universal relatability of that quiet struggle in a small town where everybody thinks they’ve got him pegged because they knew his dad or remembered him a kid before his parents’ divorce, and so he’s got their prejudices to deal with on top of his inheritance — a run-down salvage yard and some rental properties. That slow roll spins out with a steady hum of pleasurable uncertainty, and while it can be said that those passages aren’t chockablock with twists, they never fail to hold the attention of the reader inclined to relax and give this deceptively laconic stiry a go.
Soon enough, a body turns up in the salvage yard, new insinuations about Hudson’s father spill into the light, and the next thing he knows, he’s teaming up with the victim’s teenage sister and his father’s hired hand as a half-assed, three-legged truth squad fully prepared to make Flint Creek’s leading lights as uncomfortable as possible. It’s Grit Lit, but Grit Lit that doesn’t make a fetish of itself with nonstop Deddys and snakelike snake-handlers and constant classic-country-music callbacks and talk-to-the-camera homilies about time and place and the way things were and the way things are. Flint Creek is rural North Carolina, but it’s also a lot like any other place: full of mysterious power shifts, good people, bad people, and people in between. Sometimes such places need to be burned to the ground for everybody’s good, and sometimes there’s something worth saving and building from, and part of that steady pleasurable hum comes from finding out which place Hudson Miller will find Flint Creek to be.
There’s something to be said for the simple steadiness of a reading experience for those of us who like stories of crime without being shouted at nonstop or slapped constantly with steroidal plotting. IT DIES WITH YOU harks back to a time when such assured storytelling was more prevalent, and in doing so, signals hope for a future in which authors display not only chops but the confidence to trust readers to meet them where they live.
A final note: I’ve noticed that a number of recent crime novels I’ve admired in the last few years have come from Crooked Lane Books, and many of them, such as Ted Flanagan’s EVERY HIDDEN THING and Steven Tingle’s GRAVEYARD FIELDS, were brought across the finish line by editor Sara Henry. As an editor myself, I feel these unsung heroes should be sung about a little bit. If you liked this novel, look up the books Sara Henry has worked in, and I can all but guarantee you’ll find more books you’re likely to love.
That’s why it’s so refreshing to see a novel like Scott Blackburn’s stellar debut, IT DIES WITH YOU, get some traction with crime/thriller audiences. It has the courage to confidently spin out a character-first story at its own deliberate pace, trusting the reader to hang in there while its hero, ex-boxer Hudson Miller, goes about the business of growing in his once-and-futures hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina after his father’s murder. Hud wants answers, but just as urgently, he wants a path forward in life after losing his way in the ring, and the universal relatability of that quiet struggle in a small town where everybody thinks they’ve got him pegged because they knew his dad or remembered him a kid before his parents’ divorce, and so he’s got their prejudices to deal with on top of his inheritance — a run-down salvage yard and some rental properties. That slow roll spins out with a steady hum of pleasurable uncertainty, and while it can be said that those passages aren’t chockablock with twists, they never fail to hold the attention of the reader inclined to relax and give this deceptively laconic stiry a go.
Soon enough, a body turns up in the salvage yard, new insinuations about Hudson’s father spill into the light, and the next thing he knows, he’s teaming up with the victim’s teenage sister and his father’s hired hand as a half-assed, three-legged truth squad fully prepared to make Flint Creek’s leading lights as uncomfortable as possible. It’s Grit Lit, but Grit Lit that doesn’t make a fetish of itself with nonstop Deddys and snakelike snake-handlers and constant classic-country-music callbacks and talk-to-the-camera homilies about time and place and the way things were and the way things are. Flint Creek is rural North Carolina, but it’s also a lot like any other place: full of mysterious power shifts, good people, bad people, and people in between. Sometimes such places need to be burned to the ground for everybody’s good, and sometimes there’s something worth saving and building from, and part of that steady pleasurable hum comes from finding out which place Hudson Miller will find Flint Creek to be.
There’s something to be said for the simple steadiness of a reading experience for those of us who like stories of crime without being shouted at nonstop or slapped constantly with steroidal plotting. IT DIES WITH YOU harks back to a time when such assured storytelling was more prevalent, and in doing so, signals hope for a future in which authors display not only chops but the confidence to trust readers to meet them where they live.
A final note: I’ve noticed that a number of recent crime novels I’ve admired in the last few years have come from Crooked Lane Books, and many of them, such as Ted Flanagan’s EVERY HIDDEN THING and Steven Tingle’s GRAVEYARD FIELDS, were brought across the finish line by editor Sara Henry. As an editor myself, I feel these unsung heroes should be sung about a little bit. If you liked this novel, look up the books Sara Henry has worked in, and I can all but guarantee you’ll find more books you’re likely to love.
July 15, 2022
Ugh...my third DNF this month. I thought this was going to be Grit-Lit (think Winter's Bone), but it forgot to bring the grit. I gave up at 34%...if eventually there's a story here, I guess I'm going to miss it.
July 14, 2022
North Carolina author Scott Blackburn pulls rather a nifty feint with his gritty, character-centric rural noir tale IT DIES WITH YOU: although his bio says he’s a first-time novelist, if you didn’t know that you’d swear by the quality and little joys of this tale and you were in the hands of someone with plenty of books under their belt.
Hudson Miller is a boxer who can’t box, relegated to bouncing at a dive bar thanks to a post-fight brawl that threatens his living. The punches keep coming when Hudson learns his estranged father Leland has been shot in the back of the head at his scrapyard. The cops think it’s a robbery gone wrong. Having been arrested at his father’s wedding, Hudson is surprised to find he’s inherited some rental trailer homes and the scrapyard. Returning to his Bible-belt hometown of Flint Creek, he’s unprepared for all he’ll uncover. Was his father part of an illegal gun-running ring? Then, a grisly discovery in one of the mashed-up cars on the yard.
Hudson forms an unlikely investigative trio with his father’s crotchety former employee, Charlie, who’s closer to 80 than 60, and sparkplug teenager Lucy Reyes who’s seeking justice for a killing in her own family, Together, they peel the skin back from what’s really been going on in Flint Creek. How rotten is the core of the town?
Put simply, this is marvellous storytelling with terrific characters and a really strong voice. It begins as a bit of a slow-burn, but is well worth the ride. Settle in and enjoy the characters, sense of place, and storyline.
If you’re a reader who enjoys the ‘grit lit’ of authors like Wiley Cash, David Joy, Michael Farris Smith or Brian Panowich, then IT DIES WITH YOU is a must-have for your shelves. Hopefully we'll see plenty more from Scott Blackburn, who's quite a talent.
This is an expanded version of a review for Good Reading magazine in Australia
Hudson Miller is a boxer who can’t box, relegated to bouncing at a dive bar thanks to a post-fight brawl that threatens his living. The punches keep coming when Hudson learns his estranged father Leland has been shot in the back of the head at his scrapyard. The cops think it’s a robbery gone wrong. Having been arrested at his father’s wedding, Hudson is surprised to find he’s inherited some rental trailer homes and the scrapyard. Returning to his Bible-belt hometown of Flint Creek, he’s unprepared for all he’ll uncover. Was his father part of an illegal gun-running ring? Then, a grisly discovery in one of the mashed-up cars on the yard.
Hudson forms an unlikely investigative trio with his father’s crotchety former employee, Charlie, who’s closer to 80 than 60, and sparkplug teenager Lucy Reyes who’s seeking justice for a killing in her own family, Together, they peel the skin back from what’s really been going on in Flint Creek. How rotten is the core of the town?
Put simply, this is marvellous storytelling with terrific characters and a really strong voice. It begins as a bit of a slow-burn, but is well worth the ride. Settle in and enjoy the characters, sense of place, and storyline.
If you’re a reader who enjoys the ‘grit lit’ of authors like Wiley Cash, David Joy, Michael Farris Smith or Brian Panowich, then IT DIES WITH YOU is a must-have for your shelves. Hopefully we'll see plenty more from Scott Blackburn, who's quite a talent.
This is an expanded version of a review for Good Reading magazine in Australia
July 21, 2022
IT DIES WITH YOU is a potboiler of a crime novel with a steady pace and surprising twists and turns. Scott Blackburn is a strategic craftsman who jabs and jabs until you’re setup for the knockout blow. He’s a talent to keep an eye on. There are big things ahead for him.
September 29, 2021
It Dies With You
by: Scott Blackburn
Pub. date: June 7, 2022
Review date: September 29, 2021
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books & to NetGalley for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
It Dies With You is one of those rare books that kept my undivided attention from the moment I began reading it until I reluctantly finished earlier today. It’s been a long time since I didn’t want a book to end. I loved the plot & absolutely Adored the characters. I’m giving It Dies With You a solid 5 stars and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
#ItDiesWithYou #NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks
by: Scott Blackburn
Pub. date: June 7, 2022
Review date: September 29, 2021
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books & to NetGalley for allowing me access to this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.
It Dies With You is one of those rare books that kept my undivided attention from the moment I began reading it until I reluctantly finished earlier today. It’s been a long time since I didn’t want a book to end. I loved the plot & absolutely Adored the characters. I’m giving It Dies With You a solid 5 stars and I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.
#ItDiesWithYou #NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks
October 23, 2022
Wonderful debut here from Blackburn. Loved the small town setting and Elmore Leonard type crime vibe, but even better was the cast of well drawn characters.
February 16, 2023
An ex-MMA fighter finds himself in danger when his father dies, and it turns out he was running guns out of his junkyard.
Like a more woke Lansdale.
Like a more woke Lansdale.
February 12, 2022
Hudson Miller, just shy of thirty, is a professional boxer on the downslope of a once-promising boxing career now finds himself supplementing his income as bartender and bar bouncer after a misconstrued violent video of him goes viral practically ending his boxing career.
Shortly after ignoring two cellular telephone calls from his estranged father Leland, he is later contacted by a detective from his hometown telling him his father has been murdered at his salvage yard in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Hudson hasn’t been to Flint Creek, North Carolina in decades and upon his return is not faced with opened and welcoming arms by authorities or a hostile mother-in-law as the return of a long-lost favored son.
To add to his troubles, he soon becomes responsible for the running of the salvage yard and is forced to start dealing with elderly, set in his ways, cantankerous employee Charlie Soaf. Soaf, a former combat war veteran, is also openly hostile to Hudson, but quickly on, Hudson realizes he needs Charlie Soaf just as much as he needs Hudson.
To many, Soaf is believed to possess more information than he has cared to reveal and as more information is learned, local authorities lean to believe the murder of Hudson’s father may be an incident of a killing through criminal misadventure.
While Hudson and his father had an acrimonious relationship due to past issues, he still feels a need to solve the killing, especially when local law enforcement seems less than enthused in determining the reason for the murder, or more importantly, let alone finding a suspect.
After another grisly find at the salvage yard, Hudson and Charlie then encounter stubbornly unstoppable head-strong teenager Lucy Reyes. Reyes, with methods of her own, is on a mission in solving a mystery of her own and if Hudson and Charlier get in her way, she makes it clear there will be Hell to pay.
The trio then moves forward in their investigation leading them to encounters with a collection of oddballs, criminals, and do-nothing officials spread across several counties in North Carolina.
For me, It Dies With You started out slow and somewhat clumsy, but soon straightened out and picked up and held my attention as the story developed. The novel is set to be released in June of 2022 and succinctly described as a good summer beach read and a good start for a first-time novelist.
This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspence.com
Netgalley provided an ARC for the return of a fair review.
Shortly after ignoring two cellular telephone calls from his estranged father Leland, he is later contacted by a detective from his hometown telling him his father has been murdered at his salvage yard in an apparent robbery gone wrong.
Hudson hasn’t been to Flint Creek, North Carolina in decades and upon his return is not faced with opened and welcoming arms by authorities or a hostile mother-in-law as the return of a long-lost favored son.
To add to his troubles, he soon becomes responsible for the running of the salvage yard and is forced to start dealing with elderly, set in his ways, cantankerous employee Charlie Soaf. Soaf, a former combat war veteran, is also openly hostile to Hudson, but quickly on, Hudson realizes he needs Charlie Soaf just as much as he needs Hudson.
To many, Soaf is believed to possess more information than he has cared to reveal and as more information is learned, local authorities lean to believe the murder of Hudson’s father may be an incident of a killing through criminal misadventure.
While Hudson and his father had an acrimonious relationship due to past issues, he still feels a need to solve the killing, especially when local law enforcement seems less than enthused in determining the reason for the murder, or more importantly, let alone finding a suspect.
After another grisly find at the salvage yard, Hudson and Charlie then encounter stubbornly unstoppable head-strong teenager Lucy Reyes. Reyes, with methods of her own, is on a mission in solving a mystery of her own and if Hudson and Charlier get in her way, she makes it clear there will be Hell to pay.
The trio then moves forward in their investigation leading them to encounters with a collection of oddballs, criminals, and do-nothing officials spread across several counties in North Carolina.
For me, It Dies With You started out slow and somewhat clumsy, but soon straightened out and picked up and held my attention as the story developed. The novel is set to be released in June of 2022 and succinctly described as a good summer beach read and a good start for a first-time novelist.
This review was originally published at MysteryandSuspence.com
Netgalley provided an ARC for the return of a fair review.
February 19, 2023
Great writing. Story just got a little boring for my taste. Saw the twist coming from a mile away. But will def be reading anything this guy puts out in the future.
November 27, 2021
Thank you Netgally and Crooked Lane Books for the privilege of reading Scott Blackburn’s debut mystery novel. The characters were so well developed and seemed real to me as the story unfolded. Set in a rural North Carolina town the reader learns the dangerous world of secrets that are meant to stay buried, no pun intended.
For nearly a decade, Hudson Miller has made his living as a boxer. At the age of 29, that career has derailed and now Hudson is desperate for money. Aptly, Hudson takes a job as a bouncer at a local bar. Then another life hit happens when he is informed that his estranged father, Leland, has been murdered in what appears to be a robbery-gone-bad at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part.
Leland’s will reveals that Hudson has inherited the salvage yard. For this reason, he returns to his Southern hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina, to run the business. Upon taking ownership of Miller’s Pull-a-Part, Hudson soon realizes the business is far more than junk cars and scrap metal. It appears to be the site of an illegal gun-running ring. More secrets are uncovered when a grisly discovery is made at the yard that puts Hudson into a fight unlike any he encountered in the boxing ring. This one could prove to be fatal.
Hudson, hoping to find answers, he seeks out his father’s former employee, 71-year-old, beer-guzzling Vietnam vet Charlie Shoaf. He also joins forces with a feisty teenage girl, Lucy Reyes, who’s looking for justice for her own family tragedy. The police were absolutely no help when her brother went missing.
Readers, you will not be able to predict the truths they uncover as the secrets are revealed in the end.
I’m a North Carolina girl so I really liked the setting that was so true to our own rural towns.
I’m pleased to have read the debut novel of a fellow North Carolinean who has now shared his talent with the world.
December 13, 2022
A really great debut novel. It Dies With You is a well-written, lean, mean story filled with great characters. Come for Hud and Charlie, and stay for Lucy. Can’t wait to see what Blackburn writes next.
May 18, 2022
Really enjoyed this debut from Scott Blackburn. A slow burn mystery with all my favorite elements: small town, fractured family dynamics, and well developed lead characters. A great read for fans of southern crime fiction.
October 18, 2021
This was a very good story, it has that Appalachian noir feel, good thing since it takes place in North Carolina. Hudson 'Hud' Miller is a down on his luck boxer, suspended after hitting the corner man of an opponent and causing the man to fall and hit his head, video of the incident went viral and contributed to the suspension decision. Hud works at a bouncer/bartender at a dive bar and lives with his boss in an apartment. All that changes when his father, whom he is estranged from, is murdered at his business, a pick-a-part salvage yard, and Hud finds out he's inherited the place. To help run the place he asks Charlie, who had worked for Hud's father, to help. Not long after they make a grisly discovery, a body in the trunk of a car that had been buried with another car placed on top. The police have no leads on the death of his father and Hud doesn't think they'll have any on the new one either. Into the picture comes Lucy, the sister of the person found in the trunk and she's determined to find who killer him. The three of them, Hud, Charlie and Lucy find clues that lead them, eventually, to someone that knows what happened and why. The author does a good job of keeping the suspense high and I really enjoyed these characters, I hope they make an appearance in another book. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Crooked Lane books for the ARC.
November 4, 2021
Scott Blackburn's debut novel is for anyone who loves Joe R. Lansdale or Wiley Cash because it's the voice, characters, and story that stay with you long after you've read the book. Blackburn writes the most effective first person narrative - he's a master of it because the reader gets a deep insight into the main character, Hudson, without resorting to the secondary characters being bland, cardboard cutouts. I especially enjoyed Charlie, a friend of Hudson's father who reluctantly helps Hudson with the family's business, and then later helps Hudson on his journey to find the truth behind the mystery surrounding the death of his father. Charlie provides comic relief at just the right times in the story without resorting cheap laughs. He's also a character who provides an excellent counterbalance to Hudson's moments of brooding and self-doubt. The other character who stands out is Lucy, an Mexican-American teenager who is strong and smart, but still portrayed as a realistic adolescent. The novel is firmly Southern Crime Fiction about the death of Hudson's father, but is memorable because it doesn't fall into some of the predictable tropes of the genre. I'm looking forward to the next one from Scott Blackburn - this is an author you'll want keep on your watch list. I strongly recommend you read IT DIES WITH YOU.
October 16, 2021
4.5 stars for this debut novel from Scott Blackburn!
The characters totally made this book. Each one was loveably imperfect and added the variety that made this book compulsively readable.
A slow burn that I would classify as more of a drama than a mystery or thriller but overall an excellent read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the published for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
The characters totally made this book. Each one was loveably imperfect and added the variety that made this book compulsively readable.
A slow burn that I would classify as more of a drama than a mystery or thriller but overall an excellent read.
Thanks to NetGalley and the published for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.
May 21, 2022
Debut novel and I can see that this author will do great things. This was a little slow and a bit of a dark/noir (not my favorite) but the story was compelling.
Hudson is a banned professional boxer turned bartender who receives a surprise inheritance from his estranged father after he is murdered. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. First of all he has to move back to the rural small town he had managed to escape and figure out how to run his father's salvage yard. Charlie, his father's only employee, sticks around for which I am glad. He by far was my favorite character. Got to love crotchety old men with no filter. And then enter sassy teenage Lucy who is looking for her brother's murderer. Together these three manage to kick over more than one hornet's nest.
I will be keeping an eye out for what Blackburn does next. I want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me an advance copy of It Dies with You in exchange for my honest review.
Hudson is a banned professional boxer turned bartender who receives a surprise inheritance from his estranged father after he is murdered. Which isn't necessarily a good thing. First of all he has to move back to the rural small town he had managed to escape and figure out how to run his father's salvage yard. Charlie, his father's only employee, sticks around for which I am glad. He by far was my favorite character. Got to love crotchety old men with no filter. And then enter sassy teenage Lucy who is looking for her brother's murderer. Together these three manage to kick over more than one hornet's nest.
I will be keeping an eye out for what Blackburn does next. I want to thank NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me an advance copy of It Dies with You in exchange for my honest review.
February 16, 2025
An excellent first novel!
The author has gifted us with a solid lead character and an equally interesting supporting cast. Hudson Miller is a boxer who used his skills to get out of a bad cycle, only to lose almost everything with one bad decision after a fight. While trying to keep his head above water, Hud finds out his father was murdered at the old man's salvage yard.
From there, the novel moves fast with just enough moments for character development that don't slow down the plot. A rare thing for even experienced authors. Kudos to Scott just for that!
The ending is solid. A few readers may think it is a little too easy, but I don't think so. The killer is as complicated as he is arrogant and can't help but brag at the end. There may not be a bow on top, but the author wraps it up very neatly!
Highly recommended for fans of murder mysteries, and novels set in the South. Keep an eye out for Scott's next book. I'd bet it will be worth the wait.
Find it! Buy it! READ IT!
The author has gifted us with a solid lead character and an equally interesting supporting cast. Hudson Miller is a boxer who used his skills to get out of a bad cycle, only to lose almost everything with one bad decision after a fight. While trying to keep his head above water, Hud finds out his father was murdered at the old man's salvage yard.
From there, the novel moves fast with just enough moments for character development that don't slow down the plot. A rare thing for even experienced authors. Kudos to Scott just for that!
The ending is solid. A few readers may think it is a little too easy, but I don't think so. The killer is as complicated as he is arrogant and can't help but brag at the end. There may not be a bow on top, but the author wraps it up very neatly!
Highly recommended for fans of murder mysteries, and novels set in the South. Keep an eye out for Scott's next book. I'd bet it will be worth the wait.
Find it! Buy it! READ IT!
October 24, 2021
A compelling story, gritty hard scrabble lives, and two unsolved murders. Hudson, Lucy and Charlie are unlikely allies, and at least for two of them, reluctant amateur detectives. In a small town with little help from the local law enforcement, someone has to care. Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this advanced reader's copy. A debut author to watch.
September 15, 2024
3.5 This is not 4*s when I think of David Joy or Brian Panowich, but it is a debut novel with potential. I enjoyed it.
October 16, 2021
Hudson Miller, part-time bouncer and currently suspended boxer (for hitting an opponent's corner man after a bout, causing the man to fall through the ropes and onto the apron around the ring), fails to answer not one, but two calls from his estranged father one night. The next morning, he receives a call he does answer: from a detective, telling Hudson that his father has been murdered - one shot to the back of his head.
Miller returns to his small town, determines what the cops know (nothing), visits his stepmother (useless), calls his mother (sad), then goes back to the big city. Things change, though, when his father's will is read: he left Hudson three rental properties and his salvage yard operation, none of which are anything Hudson knows anything about. He also inherits his father's helper at the yard, Charlie, an old Vietnam vet, and the proverbial junkyard dog, Buster.
Frustrated with police, and lacking a steady job, Hudson decides to move back to the town, living in the empty rental and figuring out how to run the yard, and starts digging around in the mystery surrounding his father's death. The police do come up with something, though: guns. Stored in a vault under a fake floor, it appears Hudson's father was involved in gunrunning. Hudson, for his part, thinks it possible his father would be involved in that, because his father wasn't exactly a pillar of good deeds.
One night, Buster starts barking and digging at something under one of the cars. Charlie and Hudson manage to drag him away, move the junked car, and discover another car: buried. When they unearth the crushed car, there' a dead body in the trunk. While Hudson thinks his old man could have been involved in guns, he doesn't think his father was a murderer.
With the yard shut down while the police do their thing, Hudson returns to the city to do a few shifts at the bar. One evening, he gets a call to turn on the TV. The news has broken not just about the body in the car, but the young man's name. The story goes on to mention the salvage yard. Hudson, now tremendously mad, goes to the police station and asks the detective what is going on?
The detective points out the mother and sister of the young man, Mo Reyes, are right there in the front of the office. Hudson calms himself and leaves, but not before Reyes' sister Lucy puts a dent in the hood of his Jeep.
Lucy shows up at the yard, and instantly becomes the leader of the very small group: following her lead, both men assist in gathering information about what happened to Reyes, which in turn would help them with Hudson's father's murder.
15-year old Lucy has a couple of instances of not quite believable behavior: she takes an Uber to confront a man who was arrested smuggling guns, only to be bailed out by Hudson and Charlie, for one.
At the end, though, they've followed the trails, collected the clues, and formed a scenario of how these events transpired, and who the killer must be.
It's a good read, without any real slow pieces, and the only infodump is from someone they've confronted about Reyes' death - no ding for that. Beyond Lucy being a tad too impetuous, the characters are excellently drawn.
Four and a half out of five stars, rounded up to five.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.
Miller returns to his small town, determines what the cops know (nothing), visits his stepmother (useless), calls his mother (sad), then goes back to the big city. Things change, though, when his father's will is read: he left Hudson three rental properties and his salvage yard operation, none of which are anything Hudson knows anything about. He also inherits his father's helper at the yard, Charlie, an old Vietnam vet, and the proverbial junkyard dog, Buster.
Frustrated with police, and lacking a steady job, Hudson decides to move back to the town, living in the empty rental and figuring out how to run the yard, and starts digging around in the mystery surrounding his father's death. The police do come up with something, though: guns. Stored in a vault under a fake floor, it appears Hudson's father was involved in gunrunning. Hudson, for his part, thinks it possible his father would be involved in that, because his father wasn't exactly a pillar of good deeds.
One night, Buster starts barking and digging at something under one of the cars. Charlie and Hudson manage to drag him away, move the junked car, and discover another car: buried. When they unearth the crushed car, there' a dead body in the trunk. While Hudson thinks his old man could have been involved in guns, he doesn't think his father was a murderer.
With the yard shut down while the police do their thing, Hudson returns to the city to do a few shifts at the bar. One evening, he gets a call to turn on the TV. The news has broken not just about the body in the car, but the young man's name. The story goes on to mention the salvage yard. Hudson, now tremendously mad, goes to the police station and asks the detective what is going on?
The detective points out the mother and sister of the young man, Mo Reyes, are right there in the front of the office. Hudson calms himself and leaves, but not before Reyes' sister Lucy puts a dent in the hood of his Jeep.
Lucy shows up at the yard, and instantly becomes the leader of the very small group: following her lead, both men assist in gathering information about what happened to Reyes, which in turn would help them with Hudson's father's murder.
15-year old Lucy has a couple of instances of not quite believable behavior: she takes an Uber to confront a man who was arrested smuggling guns, only to be bailed out by Hudson and Charlie, for one.
At the end, though, they've followed the trails, collected the clues, and formed a scenario of how these events transpired, and who the killer must be.
It's a good read, without any real slow pieces, and the only infodump is from someone they've confronted about Reyes' death - no ding for that. Beyond Lucy being a tad too impetuous, the characters are excellently drawn.
Four and a half out of five stars, rounded up to five.
Thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the reading copy.
July 1, 2022
Author Scott Blackburn says inspiration for It Dies With You came in the form of a statement from one o his friends: "It dies with him." They were discussing family legacies, and an idea took hold of him about the tale of a young man who is estranged from his father, but inherits his salvage yard. He says the characters and story began to keep him up at night, and his gut told him he had "a story that needs to be told."
As It Dies with You opens, Hudson Miller is nearing this thirtieth birthday and down on his luck. His boxing license has been suspended following an after-match brawl that he did not instigate, but in which he participated. It was caught on video, went viral on YouTube, and also cost him the prize money from that match, as well as his position coaching kids at a local rec center. Although he has boxed professionally for a few years, Blackburn describes Hudson as "an everyday man" whose potential for success in the ring was always limited. For Hudson, having to "hand over my coaching whistle" hurt the most, he explains in the first-person narrative through which Blackburn tells his story. "He doesn't have much footing in the world," according to Blackburn, and the one thing that meant a great deal to him has been taken from him. Now he's working as a bouncer at the Red Door Taproom and sleeping on his friend's couch as tries to figure out how to get his license reinstated.
Hudson gets a telephone call from his father, from whom he is largely estranged. He opts not to answer the first time or when his father calls back. And his father does not leave a message. The next morning, Hudson receives another call from the police in his hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina, informing him that his father, Leland, was fatally shot at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part. Hudson wonders what it was his father wanted to say to him, and whether answering his call might have made a difference. Before he can return to Flint Creek for the funeral, Leland's employee, Charlie, discovers the carpet pulled away from the floor in the salvage yard's storage room, revealing a metal door. Below it are eight guns with the serial numbers ground off. More damning is the fact that each gun is tagged in his father's handwriting. The police believe there were more guns stored there before the murder, and his father was involved in an illegal gun-running operation.
His father's killing and the mystery surrounding it force Hudson to confront his memories of the man. He is stunned by the prospect that Leland was running a criminal enterprise, although he does remember him stuffing rolls of money into coffee tins and liquor bottles that he hid in and around the family home. He also stockpiled batteries, flashlights, and nonperishables, and had an "everybody-is-out-to-get-us attitude." It also conjures up memories of the days before his parents divorced and the twenty years since his father "dismantled our family." Hudson finds it hard to grieve a man who virtually abandoned him. "I wasn't glad he was gone. I just wished he'd been somebody different when he was alive." He also has to deal with his chain-smoking stepmother, Tammy. Hudson calls Tammy "as helpless a person as I'd ever met. . . . Her idea of a job, for years, was sitting her ass in the living room, smoking and drinking Diet Mountain Dew while she stuffed envelopes full of entry forms to every sweepstakes, prize drawing, and contest imaginable." Hudson describes Leland and Tammy as "perfect for each other in the worst ways possible. Cancerously codependent."
Part of Hudson's resentment of his father stems from watching his mother struggle to raise him after his parents' split. So he is curious to learn the value of his father's estate, and astonished to learn that Leland left him not only Miller's Pull-a-Part, but also three rental properties. Hudson has no idea how to run a salvage yard or be a landlord, but he is determined to learn. Charlie Shoaf is a seventy-one-year-old Vietnam veteran who worked under the table for Leland, and is willing to stay on and help Hudson. He lays out his terms: he has to be paid weekly in cash, left alone to do his job without being hounded by a boss, and allowed to drink beer on Saturdays. Keystone beer, to be exact. Charlie is sly, savvy, and knows that Hudson will not be able to run the salvage yard without him. Since one of the rental properties is vacant, Hudson has a place to live while he figures out if he can keep the salvage yard operating or should sell it, and the investigation into his father's death proceeds.
The story is set in fictional Flint Creek, North Carolina, based on small, mid-North Carolina towns in the area where Blackburn grew up and still resides. He says he wanted to write "something that was relatable to my own experience so that it would come off the pages as real." It does. Flint Creek is a prominent, omnipresent character in the book and Blackburn transports readers there. Hudson, Charlie, and the rest of his eclectic cast of characters are thoroughly credible, in part, because of Blackburn's keen talent for crafting believable and, at times, humorous dialogue. He credits his ability to make his characters come to life convincingly with the fact that he incorporated words and phrases from real conversations.
Hudson has just begun to settle back into Flint Creek when the investigation into his father's murder takes more mysterious and deadly turns, and brings teenaged Lucy Reyes into his life. She is feisty, whip-smart, and on a mission to get justice for her family. She has been using social media to enlist help from the community. Through her Instagram account, she shines a light on what she and her family believe is callous indifference on the part of the Flint Creek police department -- the same department that isn't making much progress on discovering who killed Leland, or the motivation for that crime and the incidents that have occurred since his death. Hudson assures a cynical Lucy that he wants the same thing she does -- the truth and for justice to be served. "Justice," she responds. "A poor Mexican family getting justice in this town? That's a good one."
Lucy's reaction is one of the ways Blackburn demonstrates that Hudson, Charlie, and Lucy are all, in their own ways, "outsiders" in Flint Creek. To the entrenched residents of the little town, they are "others." Hudson grew up there, but has been away for eleven years and only returned because of his father's death. Charlie is not from Flint Creek. Lucy's family is actually from Texas, a fact she has had to explain "a thousand times before" to townspeople. None of the three "line up with the power center of the town," and they all feel unwelcome due to the prejudices and ignorance of those who do. Blackburn's story is an indictment of small town small-mindedness, as well as unharnessed power and corruption, illustrated through characters including Frank Coble, the police chief, and the Boars Club, of which his father, along with "some of the most upstanding men in town," was a long-time member. The clubhouse is where deals are brokered, decisions made, and the lives of the citizens who aren't part of the club are impacted.
Lucy, Hudson, and Charlie team up when it becomes clear that the local police are disinclined to put much effort into solving the crimes that have rocked their families. All three are fully formed, deeply sympathetic characters that readers will cheer on as they undertake their own dangerous investigation. Lucy understands the power of social media, and intends to harness it to achieve her goal. She will not be deterred until her family gets vindication. Charlie may be irascible, but his gruff exterior belies his honor and deep loyalty. Hudson needs answers so that he can at last put the past behind him and carve out a future for himself whether it be in Flint Creek or elsewhere. But if he is going to make a home for himself in Flint Creek, it has to be on his terms. And, along with Lucy and Charlie, he is intent on exposing the ugly side of the little town where people who don't look, talk, act, and think the way the majority do, they are treated like "less of a person." He declares to those who have perpetuated the status quo that he wants no part of that mentality. Hence, the book's title: "It dies with you."
An exploration of corrosive power and greed undergirding the workings of a small town, particularly a small Southern town, is hardly unique or innovative. But Blackburn manages to make it fresh, absorbing, and deeply moving because of his command of his subject matter, as well as the characters he brings to life. It Dies with You is a mesmerizing debut -- entertaining, and richly atmospheric, with plenty of surprising plot developments, and a thought-provoking examination of families and their legacies relayed through Hudson's experiences and emotional journey. Blackburn also explores whether second chances can work out, and if it is possible to start again in the place where your life began. Will Hudson ever learn why his father was calling him? Or will he have to accept that his father took the purpose of the calls with him to his grave? By the book's satisfying conclusion, readers will be clamoring for more from the very talented Blackburn who, happily, reports that his second novel is in the works.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
As It Dies with You opens, Hudson Miller is nearing this thirtieth birthday and down on his luck. His boxing license has been suspended following an after-match brawl that he did not instigate, but in which he participated. It was caught on video, went viral on YouTube, and also cost him the prize money from that match, as well as his position coaching kids at a local rec center. Although he has boxed professionally for a few years, Blackburn describes Hudson as "an everyday man" whose potential for success in the ring was always limited. For Hudson, having to "hand over my coaching whistle" hurt the most, he explains in the first-person narrative through which Blackburn tells his story. "He doesn't have much footing in the world," according to Blackburn, and the one thing that meant a great deal to him has been taken from him. Now he's working as a bouncer at the Red Door Taproom and sleeping on his friend's couch as tries to figure out how to get his license reinstated.
Hudson gets a telephone call from his father, from whom he is largely estranged. He opts not to answer the first time or when his father calls back. And his father does not leave a message. The next morning, Hudson receives another call from the police in his hometown of Flint Creek, North Carolina, informing him that his father, Leland, was fatally shot at his salvage yard, Miller’s Pull-a-Part. Hudson wonders what it was his father wanted to say to him, and whether answering his call might have made a difference. Before he can return to Flint Creek for the funeral, Leland's employee, Charlie, discovers the carpet pulled away from the floor in the salvage yard's storage room, revealing a metal door. Below it are eight guns with the serial numbers ground off. More damning is the fact that each gun is tagged in his father's handwriting. The police believe there were more guns stored there before the murder, and his father was involved in an illegal gun-running operation.
His father's killing and the mystery surrounding it force Hudson to confront his memories of the man. He is stunned by the prospect that Leland was running a criminal enterprise, although he does remember him stuffing rolls of money into coffee tins and liquor bottles that he hid in and around the family home. He also stockpiled batteries, flashlights, and nonperishables, and had an "everybody-is-out-to-get-us attitude." It also conjures up memories of the days before his parents divorced and the twenty years since his father "dismantled our family." Hudson finds it hard to grieve a man who virtually abandoned him. "I wasn't glad he was gone. I just wished he'd been somebody different when he was alive." He also has to deal with his chain-smoking stepmother, Tammy. Hudson calls Tammy "as helpless a person as I'd ever met. . . . Her idea of a job, for years, was sitting her ass in the living room, smoking and drinking Diet Mountain Dew while she stuffed envelopes full of entry forms to every sweepstakes, prize drawing, and contest imaginable." Hudson describes Leland and Tammy as "perfect for each other in the worst ways possible. Cancerously codependent."
Part of Hudson's resentment of his father stems from watching his mother struggle to raise him after his parents' split. So he is curious to learn the value of his father's estate, and astonished to learn that Leland left him not only Miller's Pull-a-Part, but also three rental properties. Hudson has no idea how to run a salvage yard or be a landlord, but he is determined to learn. Charlie Shoaf is a seventy-one-year-old Vietnam veteran who worked under the table for Leland, and is willing to stay on and help Hudson. He lays out his terms: he has to be paid weekly in cash, left alone to do his job without being hounded by a boss, and allowed to drink beer on Saturdays. Keystone beer, to be exact. Charlie is sly, savvy, and knows that Hudson will not be able to run the salvage yard without him. Since one of the rental properties is vacant, Hudson has a place to live while he figures out if he can keep the salvage yard operating or should sell it, and the investigation into his father's death proceeds.
The story is set in fictional Flint Creek, North Carolina, based on small, mid-North Carolina towns in the area where Blackburn grew up and still resides. He says he wanted to write "something that was relatable to my own experience so that it would come off the pages as real." It does. Flint Creek is a prominent, omnipresent character in the book and Blackburn transports readers there. Hudson, Charlie, and the rest of his eclectic cast of characters are thoroughly credible, in part, because of Blackburn's keen talent for crafting believable and, at times, humorous dialogue. He credits his ability to make his characters come to life convincingly with the fact that he incorporated words and phrases from real conversations.
Hudson has just begun to settle back into Flint Creek when the investigation into his father's murder takes more mysterious and deadly turns, and brings teenaged Lucy Reyes into his life. She is feisty, whip-smart, and on a mission to get justice for her family. She has been using social media to enlist help from the community. Through her Instagram account, she shines a light on what she and her family believe is callous indifference on the part of the Flint Creek police department -- the same department that isn't making much progress on discovering who killed Leland, or the motivation for that crime and the incidents that have occurred since his death. Hudson assures a cynical Lucy that he wants the same thing she does -- the truth and for justice to be served. "Justice," she responds. "A poor Mexican family getting justice in this town? That's a good one."
Lucy's reaction is one of the ways Blackburn demonstrates that Hudson, Charlie, and Lucy are all, in their own ways, "outsiders" in Flint Creek. To the entrenched residents of the little town, they are "others." Hudson grew up there, but has been away for eleven years and only returned because of his father's death. Charlie is not from Flint Creek. Lucy's family is actually from Texas, a fact she has had to explain "a thousand times before" to townspeople. None of the three "line up with the power center of the town," and they all feel unwelcome due to the prejudices and ignorance of those who do. Blackburn's story is an indictment of small town small-mindedness, as well as unharnessed power and corruption, illustrated through characters including Frank Coble, the police chief, and the Boars Club, of which his father, along with "some of the most upstanding men in town," was a long-time member. The clubhouse is where deals are brokered, decisions made, and the lives of the citizens who aren't part of the club are impacted.
Lucy, Hudson, and Charlie team up when it becomes clear that the local police are disinclined to put much effort into solving the crimes that have rocked their families. All three are fully formed, deeply sympathetic characters that readers will cheer on as they undertake their own dangerous investigation. Lucy understands the power of social media, and intends to harness it to achieve her goal. She will not be deterred until her family gets vindication. Charlie may be irascible, but his gruff exterior belies his honor and deep loyalty. Hudson needs answers so that he can at last put the past behind him and carve out a future for himself whether it be in Flint Creek or elsewhere. But if he is going to make a home for himself in Flint Creek, it has to be on his terms. And, along with Lucy and Charlie, he is intent on exposing the ugly side of the little town where people who don't look, talk, act, and think the way the majority do, they are treated like "less of a person." He declares to those who have perpetuated the status quo that he wants no part of that mentality. Hence, the book's title: "It dies with you."
An exploration of corrosive power and greed undergirding the workings of a small town, particularly a small Southern town, is hardly unique or innovative. But Blackburn manages to make it fresh, absorbing, and deeply moving because of his command of his subject matter, as well as the characters he brings to life. It Dies with You is a mesmerizing debut -- entertaining, and richly atmospheric, with plenty of surprising plot developments, and a thought-provoking examination of families and their legacies relayed through Hudson's experiences and emotional journey. Blackburn also explores whether second chances can work out, and if it is possible to start again in the place where your life began. Will Hudson ever learn why his father was calling him? Or will he have to accept that his father took the purpose of the calls with him to his grave? By the book's satisfying conclusion, readers will be clamoring for more from the very talented Blackburn who, happily, reports that his second novel is in the works.
Thanks to NetGalley for an Advance Reader's Copy of the book.
October 9, 2021
IDWY by S. Blackburn, published by Crooked Lane Books, is a story that had me in suspense from start til the last page. An unputdownable, read it in one sitting cover to cover, book with a story that gave me all the feels.
Hudson Miller, a 29 year old boxer, takes ajob as bouncer, he needs the money. And then in the blink of an eye everything changes when his father leaves and Hudson has to take responsibility. Only what he discovers runs deep, dark, frightening.
Set in a rural southern town, this debut novel has everything I love in a great mystery read. They right pace, characters to connect with, the right amount of twists and turns, a great read, 5 stars.
Hudson Miller, a 29 year old boxer, takes ajob as bouncer, he needs the money. And then in the blink of an eye everything changes when his father leaves and Hudson has to take responsibility. Only what he discovers runs deep, dark, frightening.
Set in a rural southern town, this debut novel has everything I love in a great mystery read. They right pace, characters to connect with, the right amount of twists and turns, a great read, 5 stars.
October 25, 2021
This book combines literary writing with page-turning plot so effectively, it’s hard to believe this is a debut. The comparisons to David Joy and Brian Panowich are right on. I really hope there’s a follow up. Hudson and Charlie are an odd couple duo I’d follow anywhere.
February 8, 2023
Excellent book filled with great characters who fill in a simple and entertaining storyline that screams “small town USA”. Loved every minute of it and couldn’t put it down. Scott keeps it cool, sticks to the script, and demands you keep turning pages. Can’t wait for the next one!
June 5, 2022
Perfect for fans of Southern noir. Hudson didn't expect his father to be murder, that he would inherit the scrap yard, that he would inherit Charlie, or that he would inherit the body of Lucy's brother, who is found in the trunk of a car there but he has. Hudson isn't really welcome in Flint Creek, nor is he especially welcomed by the cantankerous Charlie or the police who don't seem interested in looking further into the murders. Lucy, however, is one determined teen and she ultimately convinces Hudson and Charlie to help her find the truth. There are some classic things here (small town corruption, secrets and lies) but Blackburn has created memorable characters. This might seem to move a little slowly in spots but wait for it..Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers from me for this very good read.
July 1, 2022
A good book usually has one or two characters you like, maybe even connect with. A great story has several. Not only is this a cool crime story with some interesting twists, but there is humor-good humor-infused throughout. And those characters. They're etched out perfectly to fit in as people that could very well be living in any small town in America. This is a must read. I highly recommend the audio version, because it's so well done. I also recommend buying a hardcopy of the book, because this is just the beginning of a long and successful career for Blackburn. These hardcopies might be as valuable as that red '94 LaBaron of Charlie's.
July 28, 2022
This was an impressive, and fun, debut.
The writing was well crafted. The plot was satisfyingly twisty, but not overdone. The characterization, and character development, were spot on. Frankly, I'm surprised this is a first book. Blackburn's prose is already at "established" or "mid-career" strength. He is definitely an up-and-coming author to watch.
The writing was well crafted. The plot was satisfyingly twisty, but not overdone. The characterization, and character development, were spot on. Frankly, I'm surprised this is a first book. Blackburn's prose is already at "established" or "mid-career" strength. He is definitely an up-and-coming author to watch.
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