Shifty's Boys

Mick Hardin #2

by Chris Offutt

Army cop-turned-small-town-investigator Mick Hardin returns to the Kentucky hills in this second vividly atmospheric thriller from acclaimed literary crime novelist Chris Offutt.

A literary master across genres, award-winning author Chris Offutt's latest book, Shifty's Boys, is a compelling, propulsive thriller that returns to Appalachia.

Mick Hardin is an Army CID officer home on leave, recovering from an IED attack and flirting with prescription painkillers, when a body is found in the center of town. It's Barney Kissick, the local heroin dealer, and the city police see it as an occupational hazard. But when Barney's mother, Shifty, asks Mick to take a look, it seems there's more to the killing than it seems. Mick should be rehabbing his leg, signing his divorce papers, and getting out of town--and most of all, staying out of the way of his sister Linda's reelection as Sheriff--but he keeps on looking, and suddenly he's getting shot at himself.

A dark, pacy crime novel about grief and revenge, and the surprises hidden below the surface, Shifty's Boys is a tour de force that confirms Chris Offutt's Mick Hardin as one of the most appealing new investigators in fiction.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Crime, Fiction, Noir, Mystery Thriller, Audiobook

262 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Orsodimondo · Rating 4 out of 5]

LA LEGGE DELLE COLLINE


Appalachi

La cultura delle colline prescriveva una grande lealtà verso la famiglia, e un generale sospetto per l’istruzione. I giovani dovevano rassicurare le famiglie che non avevano fatto il passo più lungo della gamba, subendo la perniciosa influenza dell’aula. Molti genitori temevano che i figli, una volta laureati, andassero a cercare lavoro altrove e li lasciassero a invecchiare da soli..

Le colline sono quelle predilette da Chris Offutt, quelle del suo Kentucky. Mi ha molto colpito l’epigrafe di Cesare Pavese (Queste colline non cambiano) perché accosta due autori diversissimi che però hanno un paesaggio nel cuore: quello collinare. Che per la cronaca è anche la mia terra dell’anima, le colline etrusche.



Mi verrebbe da dire che quest’ultimo Offutt è un po’ meno noir dei precedenti: un thriller crime che in qualche modo rassicura con i suoi asciutti ma buoni rapporti umani e familiari: il protagonista è tornato “a casa” in licenza di convalescenza – una bomba durante una missione militare in Medio Oriente – ma invece di andare a stare nella casetta (capanno) che gli ha lasciato il nonno – troppo isolata, non può guidare, ma probabilmente anche troppo fredda, troppo scomoda, troppo esigente sforzo fisico – va a stare nella casa di sua sorella, sceriffo del paesello, in piena campagna elettorale per essere rieletta.



L’azione dura una settimana o poco più: poi Mick Hardin dovrà tornare in Germania dove è di stanza nel corpo di polizia militare. Mentre si sforza di recuperare forza e agilità alla gamba ferita, viene ritrovato il cadavere del locale spacciatore di ero (nel paesino ovviamente tutti sanno tutto di tutti, ma si riesce comunque a mantenere un bel numero di segreti e misteri). La mamma del morto, per vecchi legami di conoscenza e in qualche modo di amicizia, coinvolge il nostro soldato in convalescenza e gli chiede di scoprire chi ha ucciso suo figlio e perché. Nel frattempo la polizia ha liquidato l’assassinio come regolamento di conti tra spacciatori.
I morti aumentano, dopo il primo ne arrivano altri due. Ma il caso viene risolto e Tim Hardin può ripartire per l’Europa.

Come dire, un Offutt più morbido, più familiare – come sottolinea il titolo dell’edizione italiana (in originale invece è ben diverso, Shifty’s Boys) – ma conferma un gran piacere e una scorrevolezza di lettura che per me sono parte della sua cifra di narratore.

[David Putnam · Rating 4 out of 5]

The best way to describe this one is comfortable. A soft easy read without any surprises. Maybe a half-step back from his last book. I love the writing and the characters especially the way they interact. Love the unique life style and setting, the atmosphere. Sometimes the colloquial language slowed me down and I had to go back and reread the sentences.
One thing that did catch me up. I understand there are two worlds, the reading world--where certain misnomers are excepted--and the real world. Some times an author will fly too close to the sun and for me that's what happened here with some of the military references. For example there are two hardcore military characters who refer to a gun's magazine over and over as a clip. That's a taboo. A magazine is only a clip in the readers world. You call it a clip in the military or in law enforcement and there's a good chance you're going to get spanked. (note there were clips in the military back in WWI and WWII but those were for interior mags).
What makes this book comfortable was that there isn't anything new, no twist at the end, no surprise. And yet I was still happy to take the ride with the author because of his great writing craft. Character is story and story is not story that's what my mentor and writing instructor drilled into me. And here is a perfect example.
d.

[Zoeytron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rocksalt, Kentucky.  Tater Lick Road.  Not sure why I feel at home with this author's books.  Love that 1953 pickup truck.  Blood ties, retribution, the obligations of hill families.  This went too quickly for me.  Another reviewer mentioned this had the waft of some of the episodes of Justified with Mags Bennett and her boys, and I concur. Action packed tale with Mick Hardin, who was featured in The Killing Hills.  He is someone you want on your side.  Period.

[Tracy P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Chris Offutt brings us another phenomenal and exciting episode in the life of Mick Hardin (the always shining everyman), who has once again returned to his native hometown in rural Kentucky. This time he is living with his sister Linda since he was in need of some TLC after being sent home on medical leave from his post in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) to rehab his leg after it was seriously injured during and enemy IED bombing.
Mick is sick of being dependent on painkillers (and liking them a little too much) and bored as he starts to become more mobile and independent. With Linda losing patience with his lackluster attitude and also currently busy campaigning for reelection as Sheriff, he quickly accepts a request from (his father's old flame) Shifty Kissick. She wants him to find out who murdered another one of her sons - the county's drug commandant - when it is clear the local law will do nothing and are only too happy say good riddance and wipe their hands of the troublemaker. Mick is a hardened soldier, who has seen and delved out much death. Yet, he is also fair minded, believes in fighting for the underdog, and that no life should taken and written off just because of their lifestyle. Mick allies himself with Shifty's last living son (Raymond) when he returns home from California for his sibling's funeral. Together, they make quite a team as they work together to bring down the killer(s) of the (most recent) murdered Kissick male. Mick suffers much hardship in this episode - both emotionally and physically. His humility, intelligence - both academically and socially - as well as his respect for all forms of life is inspiring. No matter how much good he does, he will not allow himself an ends justify the means mentality. His self-deprecation and nonjudgmental (except of himself) mindset is what made makes him authentic, instantly endearing and someone I would want to know in real life.
The character development, action, and suspense intertwine together flawlessly. Shifty's Boys is yet another topnotch demonstration of Offutt's incredible creativity, talent, and insight - what a wordsmith. I cannot wait for the next episode and hope Mr. Offutt continues writing Mick Hardin's life adventures well into the future.

[Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had hoped for a sequel to “The Killing Hills” and I was not disappointed by this book. While this book can be read as a standalone, you will get a much clearer picture of Mick Hardin and his Kentucky home town if you read the prior book. Now Mick is almost recovered from wounds he received while serving as an Army CID agent. Shifty is the mother of three grown sons, including Barney, a drug dealer. When Barney is found murdered, the local police don’t seem to care much about solving the crime, so Shifty asks Mick to help. The character of Shifty is not fleshed out very much. She could have used some backstory and only one of her sons played a significant role in the book.

This author is very good at writing rural noir. There is a real sense of place. The only action occurs near the end of the book, but the characters, relationships and dialogue are what bring the story to life. It doesn’t seem like there will be another Nick Hardin book, but I’ll read the author’s next book anyway.

I received free copies of this audiobook and ebook from the publisher.

[Susan (on hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Hills are Alive.

However the sound of music in these Kentucy hollers is justice.

I found the second Mick Hardin book even more enjoyable than the debut.

True to The Killing Hills, the local vernacular remains in peak form while the short dialogues are to the point while instilling humor. I love an author who can say a lot in fewer words!

I also liked the military vibe and tactical sections since I don’t have much knowledge there.

Set in rural Kentucky with continuing characters in addition to new ones, I’m invested in these people and am looking forward to reading book three.

I would recommend this to those liking colorful personalities combined with mystery and action.

Purchased at Barnes and Noble.

[Still · Rating 5 out of 5]

Terrific dirt road, backwoods crime thriller. Not really a noir, more of an action novel. I think both women readers who enjoy crime thrillers with touches of marital… uhhhh …what’s the opposite of “bliss”?- as well as Men’s Adventure enthusiasts would enjoy this novel, the second entry in the Mick Hardin series.

I just hope Chris Offutt keeps this series going. It’s off to a great start!

Highest Recommendation

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death was a force of social leveling in the hills, a provider of intricate respect.

Shifty was my favorite character from the previous book in this series, The Killing Hills. Try as I might, I could not stop picturing her played by Margo Martindale as Mags Bennett, my favorite character from Justified.



These are not women to be trifled with . . .

When one of Shifty's sons is murdered, the cops put it down as a "drug deal gone wrong." Mick Hardin suspects there was another reason, and is determined to find out what really happened. Getting the score from these tight-lipped hill people who are armed to the teeth is a different story.

Snitches get stitches and wind up in ditches shitting their britches.

It's really not necessary to have read the first book, but read it sometime, as you don't want to miss out.

Another fine, compelling tale by one of my very favorite authors.

A big thanks to NetGalley and Grove Press for letting me read this one.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This second book in the Mick Hardin series bring Mick back to Kentucky a year later, recuperating from an IED attack that injured his leg. He's staying with his sister when a local drug dealer is murdered. Shifty, the dealer's mother, asks Mick to find out who did it.

Mick is an investigative officer in the army, his sister is the sheriff running for re-election, and he knows he shouldn't get involved, so of course he does.

In the process, we find out more about recurring characters, meet some new ones, and get more involved in the town of Rocksalt. The character development is just as important as the mystery, which gets more involved the more he knows. Another satisfying conclusion that makes you thankful that men like Mick Hardin exist.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

My introduction to the fiction of Chris Offutt is Shifty's Boys. Published in 2022, this novel blipped on my radar via a CrimeReads article of the best noir fiction of the year. This is the third swing and a miss from the book nuts at CrimeReads. I skimmed Real Easy by Marie Rutkoski and abandoned Don't Know Tough by Eli Cranor. With Shifty's Boys I gave up halfway through, but darn gorn liked enough of it to add an extra star. These are books, do involve crime and are professionally edited. I didn't notice any spelling errors. Beyond that, these authors haven't given me much of a reason to keep turning pages of their books.

The story involves an army CID officer named Mick Hardin who's been wounded by an IED in Afghanistan. Reaching the last leg of his rehab, Mick has claimed his wife in Rocksalt, Kentucky can take care of him and receives permission to return home. In fact, Mick's wife has left him. He moves in with his sister Linda Hardin, newly elected town sheriff, who prefers living alone and wishes her brother would go back to the army. Mick is summoned by Shifty, the matriarch of a backwoods heroin peddling family to look into the murder of her boy Fuckin' Barney, who was found shot dead in town. That's his name: Fuckin' Barney.

Shifty's Boys isn't a cozy mystery but it is very easy going. It makes some of Elmore Leonard's novels feel meticulous. Like Leonard, Offutt surfs the rhythms of day-to-day living pretty honestly. His characters are eccentrics. There's a deputy sheriff with an inordinate interest in Kentucky trivia. There's a cab driver who dreams of being a race car driver. There's the inventor who's working on the town's solar energy problem (the hills don't allow sufficient sunlight in to power solar panels). The chief reason to read or finish reading books like this is to simply hang out with the characters. Nothing of import happens, kind of like real life.

I'd literally be more interested in a novel about a dog stuck in a tree (one of Offutt's small town developments) than follow an amateur detective who for lack of anything on TV looks into the death of a hillbilly heroin dealer. It feels credibly "small town" (I like how "ought" is spelled "ort" in one passage of dialogue) and the author's procedural detail is on point, but there are zero stakes. Mick Hardin pokes around and asks questions without any threat to his physical or existential well-being because this allows Offutt to introduce more characters. While cute, I didn't adore these characters nearly as much as the author seems to.

There's nothing remarkable here about the story or characters. Army veteran who's real observant with crime scenes. A female sheriff. Dueling hillbilly drug families. This seems like Rural Crime Fiction 101. It's every episode of Justified without Timothy Olyphant or Carla Gugino to stare at. It's most every Jack Reacher novel, albeit dialed down to a 2 without Lee Child's explosive body count or cockadoodie conspiracies. I didn't hate Shifty's Boys, I just wasn't provided any reason to continue reading it and not watch Justified.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shifty’s Boys is Offutt’s sequel to The Killing Hills and is a top-notch journey into country noir. Offutt perfectly captures the tucked-out-of-the-way society of Kentucky hill country and people’s both novels with authentic complex characters. CID Officer Mick Hardin is on a lengthy medical leave, still at home a year after the earlier novel. His sister Linda who lucked into the Sheriff’s job when the previous jobholder passed away and is now running for reelection in a county where few believed a woman could handle the job. Mick came home knowing that, with his being seldom home, his wife strayed. A year later, she now has a one year old and it isn’t Mick’s. He is sitting on the divorce papers, not knowing how to close the door on the last decade and a half of his married life. He’s shuffling around the old country where everyone knows everyone and, when the story opens he is asked by a backwoods matriarch to find out who killed her son. The official investigation isn’t going to go anywhere what with her boy being a drug dealer. Few tears are being shed for him. It’s an investigation that will lead Mick to a place he couldn’t have imagined and eventually have him questioning who he is and what he stands for. The novel though is about Mick, alone, adrift, neither belonging here or belonging there and, in the end, not knowing what good any of it was. Although the action doesn’t really pick up until later in the novel, the entire novel is compelling from start to finish.

[Kansas · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://kansasbooks.blogspot.com/2026...

“Nunca le había gustado el pueblo. No se trataba de Rocksalt en concreto, sino de cualquier aglomeración de gente. El pueblo requería una pátina social que a él no se le daba bien, un exoesqueleto de cortesía. La gente decía una cosa y pensaba otra. Se ofendía si te atrevías a ser sincero y directo. Era como si estuviese prohibido decir lo que se pensaba.”


Hay escritores que no solo te gustan: te abren una puerta. A mí me ocurrió con Chris Offutt desde que leí "Noche cerrada" que me abrió la puerta hacia otra literatura norteamericana, aquella que estaba directamente emparentada con los outsiders, con la precariedad de una América olvidada y que parecía no estar precisamente visibilizada. A partir de ahí leí también sus relatos que para mí es donde puede que esté la esencia del Offutt más rural, áspero, atravesado por silencios y violencias pequeñas, pero también por una humanidad obstinada y sin épica. Offutt en sus novelas no describe un territorio exótico ni usa Kentucky como un decorado rural, sino que más bien está construyendo todo un sistema moral cerrado y aislado en el que es difícil penetrar. Los espacios offuttianos son además lugares donde todos se conocen pero casi nadie se expresa hablando y si lo hacen, lo harán siempre sugiriendo, dejando la mayoría de las cosas a la imaginación del que escucha.


“Shifty sacudió la cabeza hacia él, su mirada le hizo pensar en uno de esos vientos rasantes que devastan todo a su paso. El sol saltó a sus ojos como chispas de un pedernal.”


Desde esa bestial Noche cerrada siempre he vuelto a él con una mezcla de confianza y curiosidad, esperando reencontrar esa mirada seca y compasiva que sabe detenerse en los márgenes sin convertirlos en espectáculo. Es cierto que la la serie protagonizada por Mick Hardin me produce una sensación ambivalente: sigo reconociendo la precisión del paisaje, la sobriedad del estilo y la verdad de los personajes, pero al mismo tiempo me deja con el deseo de que Offutt profundice todavía más, de que se detenga con mayor radicalidad en las zonas de sombra que su propia literatura sugiere. Los hijos de Shifty confirma, en parte, esa impresión. La novela posee el pulso del noir rural y la capacidad de Offutt para construir atmósferas donde la violencia no irrumpe como espectáculo sino como continuidad de la vida cotidiana. Todo está ahí: la economía precaria, la circulación de la droga, los vínculos familiares tensados por la lealtad y el resentimiento. Pero precisamente porque Offutt sabe insinuar la tragedia que habita en ese mundo, uno como lector espera a veces un descenso más hondo, una demora mayor en el conflicto moral que atraviesa a los personajes. No es que me espere más, todo lo contrario, reconozco a Offutt en cada página de esta novela y de la serie de Hardin, pero hubo momentos en que me supo a poco. De todas formas y aunque esta novela se podría etiquetar como un country noir, realmente creo que todo es una excusa para bucear en el regreso a casa, una vez más, el reencuentro con una tierra que atrae y repele al mismo tiempo. La linea argumental en torno a las muertes y a la investigación no dejan de ser una vuelta de tuerca más de Offutt para hablar de Kentucky.


“Mick iba mirando por la ventanilla, pensando en la primavera en general: las colinas rebosantes de nueva vida, la energía invisible que empujaba los brotes hacia el sol. La estación contenía una melancolía subyacente. La tierra se renovaba cada año al tiempo que la humanidad envejecía. La belleza de la naturaleza ocultaba la brutalidad inherente, pero la gente se exponía a pecho descubierto.”


El argumento es sencillo y, a la vez, revelador del contexto social que la novela retrata: el asesinato de un pequeño traficante de heroína desencadena una investigación que pronto se convierte en cadena de represalias, sospechas y ajustes de cuentas. En ese movimiento narrativo se dibuja una Kentucky rural marcada por la precariedad económica, la falta de oportunidades y la normalización de la economía de la droga como forma de subsistencia. En Offutt no hay nada espectacular, no hay grandes giros, ni denuncia explícita; más bien una mirada paciente sobre una comunidad donde la pobreza, la lealtad familiar y la violencia cotidiana forman parte del mismo tejido vital. Tampoco hay grandes giros morales sino que lo que destaca es una tristeza contenida y la sensación de que el hecho de llegar a entender a alguien, de conectar, no significa necesariamente que puedas salvarlo.


"Había reprimido la rabia hasta que esta lo había ahuecado dejándolo como el caparazón de una tortuga hallada en el bosque: un exterior duro rodeando un espacio vacío. Lo único que le importaba era seguir vivo."


Esa tensión se encarna con especial claridad en la relación entre Mick y su hermana Laura, sheriff del condado. Frente a la confianza de Laura en la ley como único marco posible —con su idea de contención, procedimiento y distancia—, Mick se mueve en una zona gris donde investigar implica también comprender, e incluso cruzar límites. La novela no resuelve esa ambivalencia: la ley aparece necesaria pero insuficiente, mientras que la justicia personal resulta humana pero peligrosa. La relación de Mick Hardin con su hermana Laura será el centro de esta novela en el sentido más emocional de lo que puede significar el desarrrollo de los personajes eminentemente offuttianos. Laura sí está arraigada, conoce el código social de lugar y por ello su autoridad cómo sheriff será profundamente personal. Laura representará lo contrario de lo que es Mick, aunque haya historias familiares compartidas, un pasado en común, sin embargo, sí que hay una tensión silenciosa entre ambos hermanos por el hecho de que Mick se fue y ella se quedó arraigada en la tierra. A partir de que Mick se implica en la investigación de las muertes de los hermanos Shifty, convierte esta implicación en algo más que un procedimiento narrativo: es una forma de atravesar un paisaje humano donde la justicia y la venganza se confunden. Pero Offut siempre elegirá la contención antes que los giros dramáticos y espectaculares. Mick está profundamente conectado a su tierra y sin embargo siempre elegirá la distancia, la huida, aunque en las historias de Offutt, sus personajes siempre están soñando con volver. Mick Hardin será el eterno desplazado, y cuando vuelve a Kentucky lo hará desde la mirada al pasado en el que la mayor parte del tiempo cuando más feliz era a solas en el bosque. Siempre de paso, en un estadio provisional en el que echar raíces parece que le aterroriza, la mirada de Mick quiere huir porque y de alguna forma le aterra lo que Kentucky hace a su gente, una precariedad constante, una violencia soterrada. Su mirada es doble: pertenece a la tierra pero la observa con objetividad desde una distancia. Y su búsqueda de justicia es muy personal, se puede decir que abstracta. Estos conflictos internos convierten a Mick en un personaje meláncólico, insatisfecho y en continua huida.


“Fuimos infelices durante mucho tiempo sin saberlo. Luego se complicó bastante. Lo de ser feliz aun no me ha venido. Nunca ha sido un objetivo para mí. Siempre he considerado la felicidad como un derivado.”


Pero si hay un lugar donde el talento de Offutt se manifiesta con una claridad indiscutible y es en el retrato de la naturaleza. Los bosques, los caminos de grava, los ríos y las montañas no funcionan como mero decorado, sino como una presencia viva que condiciona la experiencia de los personajes. El paisaje de Kentucky respira, observa y a veces parece guardar la memoria de la violencia que lo atraviesa. En esa relación íntima entre geografía y destino humano se percibe la herencia de la mejor tradición sureña: la naturaleza como refugio, amenaza y espejo moral. Leer a Offutt es también habitar ese territorio físico, sentir su silencio y su densidad, como si el entorno fuera un personaje más, discreto pero decisivo. El hecho de que estas novelas de la serie de Mick Harding siempre me dejen esperando más, no disminuye mi admiración por un autor que a mi entender donde más y mejor destaca es en como rehuye el énfasis, la sobreexplicación. Cuando leo a Offutt no solo disfruto el placer del reencuentro sino de la posibilidad de que vuelva a descolocarme como lo hicieron "Noche cerrada" y muchos de sus relatos. El placer de la anticipación.


"En el suelo, bajo la ventana, yacía un jilguero. Recogió con cuidado el pájaro aturdido, acunándolo en una mano. El cuello del jilguero palpitaba a toda pastilla. Tenía los ojos abiertos. Nick lo azuzó y las alas batieron débilmente. Se llevó el pájaro a la boca y sopló con delicadeza tres veces sobre su pico abierto. El pájaro se incorporó en la palma de su mano, respirando aceleradamente. Ladeó la cabeza para mirar a Mick, echó un vistazo a su alrededor como si quisiera orientarse y, después, salió volando."

♫♫♫ On the sun - Lynyrd Skynyrd ♫♫♫

[Lori Keeton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded down

Chris Offutt is back with another Kentucky noir story with Mick Hardin, the Army CID officer who is recuperating from an IED injury back in his hometown of Rocksalt. In this installment, we get to know more about the characters we met in the first book, The Killing Hills and meet some new ones along the way. Mick can’t come home without a few crimes and killings occurring. Naturally, he understands the ways of the people who live in the hills comparing and contrasting them to the ones who’ve decided to move to town, like his sister Linda, the county sheriff. Offutt is skilled in setting up the authenticity of place and of the people he knows and the codes they live by.

Mick had lived with his grandfather and great-grandfather in the woods twelve miles east. It wasn’t Rocksalt specifically but clusters of people in general. Town required a social patina he was no good at, an exoskeleton of politesse. People said one thing and meant another. They became offended if you dared to be honest and direct. It was as if saying what you thought was forbidden. He preferred the forthrightness of country people and army life.

Death was a force of social leveling in the hills, a provider of intricate respect. He recalled a woman who’d married a man her parents despised in life. When he died young, they’d buried him in their family cemetery.

Hill culture didn’t traffic in the surface tedium of chatting nicely with people. She’d sent for him. He was here. It was on her now, and he’d wait until she got to the reason behind the summons.

And then Offutt’s descriptive humor shines:

That boy’s a dam missing a river.

Keen as a briar. Crazy as a soup sandwich.

Albin’s hair was trimmed in the style of a mullet, not a full-blown Kentucky Waterfall, but something more subtle.
(Yes, I had to google that one - and yes, Kentucky Waterfall mullet is real.)

But back to the story.

Offutt has given us a solid southern noir crime novel with quirky characters and a “Justified”-style plot. When the small town heroin dealer turns up dead, the city police are not too interested in investigating. Mick Hardin gets caught in the middle of the drama as Shifty Kissick has asked for his help in finding out what happened and the story ramps up with violence and revenge. The characters will mean more to you than the mystery of the murders. I, for one, noted the bits of lore that are strewn throughout and add to the Appalachian atmosphere - things like the wildlife and fauna, snakes and birds. Mick’s knowledge of these things are mind-boggling. He is a walking encyclopedia of facts especially those about the hills. You’ll still wonder if Mick will ever lighten up and laugh a little. Maybe. You’ll come back for deputy Johnny Boy Tolliver’s trivia about the state and for an incident at the local Dollar General. These things can only happen in small town America.

But for me, this one fell a little short and too “made for tv” at the end. I LOVE Country Dark and his short story collection Kentucky Straight. I suppose it’s because they are more my style - real Kentucky stories without the mystery, thriller and crime mixed in. But when book 3 comes along pretty soon, Code of the Hills, I’ll not be missing out.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great example of a wonderful marriage of author and narrator. I love the thoughtfulness of the author and the narrator's deliverance of meaning in each sentence.

Favorite quotes:

This one is about the practical application of color: "Hospital personnel began wearing aquamarine scrubs during surgical procedures because it was the color compliment to the pink of body tissue. The combination reduced eye strain for a surgeon." Well, I never would have thought of that!

Further, "The army used olive green for standard uniforms because the color faded into darkness faster than other hues." I didn't know that either.

Then, there's the descriptive language. I love the image the author conjures in this passage: "Everything in her kitchen is blue, curtains, tablecloth, cabinets, dishes, linoleum, countertops too. It was like standing inside the sky."

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Crazy as a soup sandwich" is now in my vocabulary, thank you Mr Offutt!

Shifty's Boys was exactly what I was expecting it to be, but also a bit more relaxed than the first book. I felt so bad for poor Shifty though, she's someone I'd love to sit and have a chat with, she deserves the world.

If you want more of a casual, laid back mystery check this one out. But start with book one ok!! That one introduces most of the characters and makes you fall in love with them.

[Wyndy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 “very good but not my favorite Offutt” stars.

“Linda’s cell phone rang. She answered, listened, and ended the call. “That was Johnny Boy,” she said. “He’s got a hostage situation at the Dollar General.” “

I’ve run across the term ‘rural noir’ before and think it fits the “Mick Hardin” series to a tee. In this second installment, Mick has returned to the hills of Kentucky to recover from a leg wound he suffered in an IED attack in Afghanistan and has every intention of returning to his base in Germany as soon as he’s fully healed. His sister Linda is running for sheriff, his wife Peggy has filed for divorce, and his “friend” Shifty Kissick, whose family we know from the first book runs the local heroin operation, has asked him to find out who murdered her boy ‘Fuckin’ Barney,’ now known simply as ‘Barney’ out of respect for the dead.

Mick welcomes the distraction and enlists some rich and entertaining characters to help him find Barney’s killer: Albin, a pot-smoking, race-car driver wannabe as local cabbie; Jacky Turner, the town’s “inventor” and fix-it man; Johnny Boy Tolliver, the often-bumbling deputy sheriff who’s afraid of ghosts; and Shifty’s oldest boy Raymond/Ray-Ray, a recently retired Marine with a not-so-secret secret who’s in town from California for Barney’s funeral. One thing leads to another, as it usually does in Rocksalt, and before you can blink the book is over, leaving just enough loose ends to pique our interest in the third installment, ‘Code Of The Hills.’ Chris Offutt has a wicked funny bone and a true talent for sketching these rural Kentucky people, so I’ll definitely be back for another ride around these hills with Mick. I hope his ‘63 Chevy is still around.

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chris Offutt’s Mick Hardin series is pure escapism done well. I enjoyed this one almost as much as The Killing Hills, and loved revisiting so many characters that were now familiar, instead of new.

This isn’t literary genius; might not be remembered or even thought about until the next installment in the series comes out and you deliberately cast back to think of it; and it won’t make your gotta read before you die list. But, if you have a little time on your hands and want to read something fun, it is a good choice.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shifty's Boys is Offutt's second book with Mick Hardin who is back in Kentucky. As usual his method of escaping his own personal troubles is to involve himself in the troubles of others. So I followed him up and down the hollers and down the mines and greatly enjoyed myself.

Shifty and her Boys. All born and bred in the Appalachians. Like Mick the Appalachians are in their blood and this effects them even when far away. Would greatly love to see Ray-Ray again.

As usual Offutt's way with the pen just puts me at ease and I just relax and enjoy by book. Looking forward to more and more.


An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley

[Reme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decir que me ha encantado es quedarme corta.

En esta novela, Mick Hardin vuelve a Kentucky, a sus cerros, donde se hace cargo de otra investigación criminal. Offutt continúa con el mismo método que su primer libro, pero aquí lo expande y crea una historia mucho más intrincada y que juega mucho con la moralidad de su protagonista. También aparecen algunos de los secundarios que aparecían en el primer libro y que tanto me gustan, como Linda Hardin, la hermana de Mick y sheriff del pueblo.

Lo que más disfruto es con su narración. Me encanta lo amena, simple y directa que es. Sus descripciones de la gente, la simpleza y a la vez compleja que resultan las vidas de estos personajes que han vivido toda su vida en un pueblo pequeño rodeado de naturaleza. Sus viejas costumbres y formas de vivir. La manera que tienen de hablar y comunicarse. Las descripciones que hace de la naturaleza, de los animales que habitan en ella, que rodean el pueblo, me encantan. En como todos conviven en unión y en armonía formando un todo. Además, te lo describe de una forma tan bonita que te sumerge de lleno, me lo imagino perfectamente y mientras estoy leyendo, me he visto allí mismo.

No deja de ser una novela de suspense criminal y como tal, cumple con creces. Es un libro corto pero a Offutt no le falta ni le sobra ninguna página para escribir sobre la vida en los cerros y resolver los misterios. Su protagonista, Mick Hardin, me encanta y conecto mucho con él. Como la gente de su pueblo, parece un hombre simple pero por dentro es todo complejidad y contrariedades. Aquí se ha enfrentado a situaciones que le han hecho traicionarse a sí mismo y a lo que cree. Y me ha gustado bastante.

Qué descubrimiento tan magnífico ha sido Chris Offutt. Y no puedo esperar para leer el desenlace de esta trilogía. Mientras tanto, estoy deseando leer el resto de sus libros.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mick Hardin, of the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division, is back in eastern Kentucky healing from an IED bombing. His sister, Linda, is the local sheriff and running for reelection. Mick is asked by Shifty Kissick (a former girlfriend of Mick and Linda’s father) to investigate the murder of her son as the police are disinclined to expend much energy pursuing the case as Barney Kissick was the local heroin kingpin. Mick has a lot of time on his hands and decides to look into the particulars. It soon becomes clear that there was a lot more to the killing than it first appeared.

This ‘country noir’ crime thriller has an intricate plot with characters that are true to the area, transporting the reader to rural Appalachia. Clearly, the author has affection for the setting and the people that live there. I look forward to reading Offutt’s next offering in the Mick Hardin series.

[Conchita Piquer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno también este segundo libro , novela negra rural ,con personajes potentes. El autor sabe muy bien sumergirte en la historia y te lleva por esos caminos de bosques frondosos donde casi puedes perderte.
Mick muy en su línea de duro pero con ese pellizco que siente por no expresar sus sentimientos como le gustaría.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mick’s back!

“As much as he’d tried to get away, he was still bound by the hills.”

I wish I could bottle this book up and pass it around for all to take a sip. Because I don’t think I have the words to explain its power. A character said something about Mick that clicked for me though. Mick was described as having two modes: “full throttle or long pondering”. If you combine those two together, you might get an idea of what these pages feel like and how Mick operates.

Army CID officer, Mick Hardin is back home in the hills of eastern Kentucky on medical leave. He’s supposed to be healing up and staying out of the way of his sister’s re-election campaign for sheriff. But when Barney Kissick, the local heroin dealer, is found murdered in town Mick is called into action and back into the hills. A world with history, honor, and vengeance as deep and dark as the night sky. Shifty Kissick, Barney’s mother, asks Mick to investigate her son’s death because everyone is assuming drugs were to blame. But Shifty doesn’t buy it. And as soon as Mick starts stirring things up, danger comes a’ knocking at his door. What has Mick stumbled into and just how pissed is his sister going to be? :) Come see if Mick can uncover the truth and stop the bloodshed.

“Murder in the hills led to more killing, and he only cared that people had the chance to live, not die.”

I’ve missed these characters! All of ‘em and the hills themselves. But one of my favorite parts of Mr. Offutt’s writing is the way he brings the Kentucky land alive with plants, animals, smells, and sounds. The violence is offset with the peace and quiet of Mother Nature.

“Dawn had lifted like a veil. Sunlight streaming over the eastern hill threw a jagged shadow along the blacktop road, bisecting it with darkness and glare. A sudden wind exposed the velvety underside of leaves on a silver maple.”

Mick grew up in the hills. They’re a part of him. And you’ll feel it in the way he looks and talks about the land. It’s beautiful really. The way a bird will catch his eye or a smell or sound will tell him exactly where he is. It makes me wonder what Mick uses to soothe and settle his soul when he’s away from Kentucky.

In just two books, Mick Hardin has become such a strong, can’t-wait-til-we-meet-again character. He commands the page with so few words. His quiet, strength and observant ways come through in his actions and listening. You just know he’s taking it all in. I love watching him sit down with someone over coffee or a meal. I get the feeling he’s the same with everyone too—from someone he just met to an old family friend. Right from the get go, Mick introduces himself as “Jimmy Hardin’s boy”, which pulls the past right into the present moment. He lets people know where he’s from and what he’s about with that introduction. In simple, honest language and nods, Mick gets right down to the heart of the matter.

Much like Mr. Offutt himself! With short, quick moving chapters, readers get right to the mystery and mayhem. A mystery filled with Appalachia grit and love, old friends and new, and killing. You’re gonna have to read to find out who does the killing and who survives the killing.

So, in short, if you haven’t met Mick yet. Go on and get!

I can’t leave without pointing out at least one of my favorite lines….
“Them Ryans are so stuck up they’d drown in a hard rain.”

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m the first to review this on GR. My third read by the author. An author I apparently like more than remember.
I was reading this book with an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. It reminded me so much of something…and, now with GR handy, I realized that what it reminded me of was likely its predecessor, which I read less than a year ago and apparently almost completely forgot about.
This is odd, because I really like Offutt’s writing, so much so I’ll even read his rural noir or country crime or whatever it is exactly that he writes. I’ve heard both, but for me noir just doesn’t stretch quite that far, so let’s stick with country crime drama set in the author’s beloved Kentucky, a place he tends to get all hillbilly elegiac about.
Not at all my scene, not at all a place I’d normally want to visit even at the safe remove of an armchair, and yet Offutt makes it worth a trip. There’s such ease and humor to his writing, such innate likability to his characters…it just draws you in.
And so, there you go, once more to the hills and small towns of Kentucky with its gun-toting English language manglers. It’s all about the family in them there (one Kentuckiasm and WORD is freaking out) hills and so when not one but two sons of a local matriarch Shifty get killed, justice needs to be served. And since the local sheriff is too busy trying to get herself re-elected, it’s up to her brother, an army investigator on leave, to figure things out.
Which he does, oddly enough at his own not inconsiderable expense, all while trying to stay sober and contemplating signing divorce papers.
From what it is I can possibly remember from book one, this is very, very similar. In tone, in themes, in subject matter, etc. And the actual crime here is solved in so much shooting, it’s almost like it’s trying to compete with the new Matrix movie.
But the thing is, this book for me isn’t about the crime or the scenery, I just really enjoy Offutt’s writing. It’s so engaging, so dynamic, so fun. It goes by very quickly, and even if it’s apparently not at all memorable, it’s still plenty entertaining for the duration. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

This and more at https://advancetheplot.weebly.com/

[Truman32 · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Chris Offutt’s Shifty’s Boy’s Army investigator Mick Hardin returns to his rural Kentucky home while recuperating from a bombing injury. But alas, his recovery must wait as he is drawn into the murder of a local acquaintance. Offutt’s strong characters and fast paced story swept me away quicker than that Tsunami in 1993. Luckily, Shifty’s Boys did not leave me stranded on a desert island for 13 lonely years subsiding on a diet of coconuts and foul-tasting lizards with a volleyball as my only friend and companion. The story does a great job transporting the reader to Kentucky. You can feel the humidity and see the jean shorts in real life as you read this beauty. It transported me quicker then that time in 2006 when the transporter on the USS Enterprise was broken, and Scotty accidentally beamed me to that planet with all those Tribbles for 13 years subsiding on a diet of coconuts and pickled Tribble with a busted up phaser as my only friend and companion. Shifty is the boss of the local heroin trade. When her son is mysteriously gunned down, she asks Mick to investigate the murder. Shifty has a relationship with the Hardin family. The South is romanticized here in that all these Southern small-town folks have a code they live by, they all seem to know at least one person in every family that lives nearby, they look out for each other, and they all have a special relationship with nature. Obviously, this is all fantasy (as sure as if Kentucky was populated by elves or ogres), as the South’s horrific elected official and national rankings in education, poverty rates, infant mortality, and homicides reveal. However, it is nice to take a break from reality and be washed away in an exciting and very enjoyable fantasy. Sometimes I just want to still believe that truckdrivers are the knights of the road, and not the speeding monsters hyped up on Adderall and gleefully enjoying scaring other drivers with their bellowing airhorns. In this regard, Shifty’s Boys is a great escape, really well-written with wonderful and often funny characters.

[Marty Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book in the series, and the second one I read. I didn't remember much from the first book, and I don't think it's necessary to read it, but it's probably better if you have.

Although I wouldn't want to live there, the author makes these Kentucky backwaters sound somewhat appealing in a lot of ways. The people are, for the most part, pretty backward, the living conditions are mostly backward and run down (as are the people), but there's a directness and honesty about them that you don't usually see in the big cities. I don't know if they would act the same toward strangers, but if you're from around there, they feel more comfortable around you. So, Mick Hardin, who finds himself investigating crimes sometimes for his sister, the sheriff, the first thing he does when talking to someone is to state his name and his father's name, and maybe his grandfather.

Mick is very nonjudgmental. He's slow to disagree with anyone, knowing it could lead to trouble, even generations of conflict. He thinks everyone deserves to live, and doesn't even like to kill people who are after him. He's a pretty serious guy most of the time, and doesn't waste words, but there's a dry humor here and there that I like, same as some of the other locals. Overall, he's smart, stubborn, and often his own worst enemy. But I think he'd be a good friend to have.

One illustration of his way of doing things... there was one place where a drunk employee in a department store had a gun and claimed to have hostages. He wanted money in exchange for releasing them. Mick was there, so he got a bag, filled it with napkins from the store, added some bills from the cash register on top, and went in to talk to the guy. Found out there were no hostages, and the guy mainly wanted the money to buy something his girlfriend wanted. Mick talked him down and when the guy asked what he could say to his girlfriend, Mick told him "The truth. You did it for her. She'll appreciate that. It's what they call a grand romantic gesture. You did your best".

Before leaving, Mick took $4.00 out of his wallet and left it to pay for the napkins, and returned the bills he had used for the ruse to the cash register.

The book has a bit of violence and killing in it, but not as over-the-top as some others I've read lately. It's hard to really work up a hate for most of the bad guys, even the ones that kill people. Not that you especially like them, but Mick even feels bad about the ones he has to kill, mostly.

[♥ Sandi ❣ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 stars

Book two of the Mick Hardin series - courtesy of Rocksalt, Kentucky and every back woods hill and holler. Appalachian noir, that deep Kentucky closed mouth family relationship, the one holler over brewing family-against-family war and the moving in of big city corporations who lie and take advantage of the hill people.

Mick seemed to make advancement in this novel - he completed the lifecycle of his marriage, started back to his Army base from his medical leave, believes his wounded leg is now rehabilitated, and saw his sister into her second term as County Sheriff. All that along with solving the murders of two of Shifty's sons, who were deep into drugs.

In two years Mick can leave the Army with 20 yrs seniority. That should be where we pick him up again in the next novel in this series Code of the Hills due to publish in June 2023.

[Cathrine ☯️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 🛻🛻🛻

[John of Canada · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of those books that I was tempted to start over as soon as I finished it, and I never do rereads. I looked up Rocksalt Kentucky, and discovered that Lexington Ky is a major supplier of rock salt. There is so much to admire about Offutt's writing. I am thinking how he adds details not unlike Cormac McCarthy. He discusses inventions in clear simple detail. He obviously likes birds and describes them simply, yet intelligently, for example describing a mockingbird as an avian polyglot. There are lots of little surprises. Mick Hardin is very kind, he even worried how a store could make a profit on napkins. Offutt also has a terrific sense of humour. I was unfortunately drinking a coffee when Mick was explaining how he was injured by an exploding i.e.d. Read the book, you'll learn a lot about birds, people, and nature.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another winner from Chris Offutt. Shifty’s Boys continues the tale of Mick Hardin, a solitary character who is both sympathetic and unreachable as a protagonist.

This is a tale of vengeance and honor, rendered in the backwoods manner that Mick grew up with and wished to escape via his military service. But Offutt knows better, and thrusts Mick into a family situation involving several sons of a tough old woman known as Shifty. The family business involves drug running and someone has murdered Barney, one of Shifty’s boys.

Home on medical leave to rehab from a duty- related injury, Mick finds himself agreeing to discover the truth and identify whomever killed Barney (and eventually, one of Barney’s brothers). All of this while Mick’s sister, the sheriff, is running for re-election and his estranged wife is pressing him to sign the divorce papers. Poor Mick hasn’t had the best of luck. Nevertheless, the man follows a strict code of conduct and, along with the last remaining brother of the deceased (a Marine called Ray ray by his friends), manages to discover a veritable hornets’ nest of trouble.

The vast majority of the book is atmospheric and leisurely paced, with action only coming near the end. No matter, Offutt writes in a way that transports the reader deep into the backwoods and hollows, where one can almost hear the cicadas and feel the forest close in around like a smothering embrace. This one isn’t as good as his earlier two novels, but fans would be well served to include it in their reading.

[debra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so enjoy Offutt's writing that I don't compare him to himself. I may like one book more than another, but that doesn't take away from 5 starring each one.