They All Fall the Same

October 1, 2024

Kentucky Cannabis kingpin Burl Spoon has alienated everyone in his family except his beloved granddaughter. He's cheated on his wife. His gay son left home when Burl refused to accept him. He's tried to keep his daughter DeeDee off drugs for years. When DeeDee dies of an overdose--heroin laced with fentanyl--Burl and his men go to war with Clovis Begley, the heroin king of the neighboring county. Their first move is to kidnap one of Begley's sons. Begley doesn't even wait until DeeDee's funeral is over to strike back. Burl soon sends his family away because he knows it'll be all-out war. Men are viciously cut down; houses and barns are set on fire; Burl goes underground when most of his men are killed and the federal government investigates. But a year later, during the COVID pandemic, he's ready to take on the Begley family again, even if it means he'll end up dead or in prison. VERDICT The follow-up to Hillbilly Hustle is vicious, violent rural noir, a story of warring Kentucky drug kingpins who are reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys. The language and violence will turn some off, but it may remind readers of S.A. Cosby's novels, without the humor.--Lesa Holstine

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 11, 2024
A marijuana kingpin seeks vengeance against a narcotics dealer in attorney Browne’s gritty debut. Burl Spoon has run a large cannabis farming operation in Jackson County, Ky., with the tacit cooperation of local law enforcement for decades. Burl’s legal contacts have also enabled him to keep his adult daughter, DeeDee, out of trouble, but he’s powerless against her opiate addiction. The family’s fragile status quo gets disrupted when DeeDee is found near death after overdosing on fentanyl. Burl suspects that Clovis Begley, a dealer “responsible for countless lost lives and souls in mountains,” supplied her with the drugs. When an employee of Burl’s is killed, evidence again points to Begley, setting Burl on a violent path toward revenge. Browne draws on his experience with the Appalachian criminal justice system to infuse the narrative with striking and authentic details, including Burl’s installation of black lights in the bathrooms of gas stations he owns “so users couldn’t find their veins to shoot up.” Exciting action and a strong emotional pull grounded in Burl’s complicated love for DeeDee bolster the proceedings. Fans of Eli Cranor will devour this. Agent: Alice Speilburg, Speilburg Literary.