Synopses & Reviews
From one of crime fiction's most interesting and passionate voices (Laura Lippman) comes a new noir crime classic (Mystery Ink) about one of the most notorious towns in American history. Reviewing White Shadow, the Associated Press wrote, It is as gritty as James Ellroy's L.A. Confidential, And yet, the prose is as lyrical as James Lee Burke's Crusader's Cross, With White Shadow, Atkins has found his true voice. And with Wicked City, it is even truer. In 1955, Look magazine called Phenix City, Alabama, The Wickedest City in America, but even that may have been an understatement. It was a stew of organized crime and corruption, run by a machine that dealt with complaints forcefully and with dispatch. No one dared cross them-no one even tried. And then the machine killed the wrong man. When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phenix City alley in the spring of 1954, the entire town seems to pause just for a moment- and when it starts up again, there is something different about it. A small group of men meet and decide that they have had enough, but what that means and where it will take them is something they could not have foreseen. Over the course of the next several months, lives will change, people will die, and unexpected heroes will emerge-like a Randolph Scott western, one of them remarks, played out not with horses and Winchesters but with Chevys and .38s and switchblades. Peopled by an extraordinary cast of characters, both real and fictional, Wicked City is a novel of uncommon intensity-rich with atmosphere and filled with sensuality and surprise.
Review
“One of the best crime writers at work today.”—Michael Connelly
“A series that should push him to the top of the bestseller list.”—John Sandford“Keep an eye on Ace Atkins, he can write rings around most of the names in the crime field.”—Elmore Leonard
“[His] estimable range may bring to mind Lee Child’s hardfisted, softhearted Jack Reacher, which is entirely a good thing.”—Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
From the New York Times bestselling author of the Quinn Colson series comes a "noir crime classic"(Mystery Ink) about one of the most notorious towns in American history. When crime-fighting attorney Albert Patterson is gunned down in a Phenix City, Alabama, alley in the spring of 1954, the entire town seems to pause for just a moment--and when it starts up again, there is something different about it. A small group of men meet and decide they have had enough, but what that means and where it will take them is something they could not have foreseen. Over the course of the next several months, lives will change, people die, and unexpected heroes emerge--like "a Randolph Scott western," one of them remarks, "played out not with horses and Winchesters, but with Chevys and .38s and switchblades."
Peopled by an extraordinary cast of characters, both real and fictional, Wicked City is a novel of uncommon intensity, rich with atmosphere, filled with sensuality and surprise.
Synopsis
When Army Ranger Quinn Colson, the new sheriff of Tebbehah County, is called out to investigate a child abuse case, what he finds is a horrifying scene of neglect, thirteen empty cribs, and a shoe box full of money. Janet and Ramon Torres seem to have skipped town—but Colson’s sure they’ll come back for the cash. Meanwhile, Colson’s sister has returned—clean and sober for good she says. His friend Boom has been drinking himself into oblivion and picking fights at the local bar. And his old flame is pregnant. But Colson can’t focus on his personal problems. He and Deputy Lillie Virgil are convinced that Janet and Ramon have a taste for guns, drugs, and human trafficking. Soon Colson and Virgil find a link between the fugitive couple and a drug cartel that controls most of the Texas border, taking their investigation far beyond the rough hills of northeast Mississippi…
Synopsis
Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel A new Quinn Colson novel from the author of The Ranger
When Army Ranger Quinn Colson, the new sheriff of Tebbehah County, is called out to investigate a child abuse case, what he finds is a horrifying scene of neglect, thirteen empty cribs, and a shoe box full of money. Janet and Ramon Torres seem to have skipped townbut Colsons sure theyll come back for the cash. Meanwhile, Colsons sister has returnedclean and sober for good she says. His friend Boom has been drinking himself into oblivion and picking fights at the local bar. And his old flame is pregnant. But Colson cant focus on his personal problems. He and Deputy Lillie Virgil are convinced that Janet and Ramon have a taste for guns, drugs, and human trafficking. Soon Colson and Virgil find a link between the fugitive couple and a drug cartel that controls most of the Texas border, taking their investigation far beyond the rough hills of northeast Mississippi
About the Author
Ace Atkins, a former journalist, has written eight previous novels. He began his writing career in 1998, at age twenty-eight, when the first of four Nick Travers novels was published. In 2001, he earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for his investigation into a 1950s murder. That murder inspired his 2006 novel White Shadow, which was followed by three further history-based crime novels, Wicked City, Devils Garden, and Infamous. His Quinn Colson novels include The Ranger, The Lost Ones, and The Broken Places. Atkins lives in Oxford, Mississippi.