Thanks to Netgalley and Putnam Books for a copy of The Revelators by Ace Atkins in exchange for an honest review.
The Revelators by Ace Atkins
Genre: Crime/Southern Crime fiction
Publisher: Putnam Books
Publication Date: July 14, 2020
About The Revelators
In this gripping new crime novel from the New York Times-bestselling author, Quinn Colson returns to take down a criminal syndicate that has ravaged his community, threatened his family, and tried to have him killed.
Shot up and left for dead, Sheriff Quinn Colson has revenge on his mind. With the help of his new wife Maggie, rehabilitation, and sheer force of will, he’s walking again, eager to resume his work as a southern lawman and track down those responsible for his attempted murder. But someone is standing in his way: an interim sheriff, appointed by the newly elected Governor Vardaman, the man who Quinn knows ordered his murder. Vardaman sits at the top of the state’s power structure–both legal and criminal–and little does he know, Quinn is still working to take him down.
Quinn will enlist the help of his most trusted friends, including federal agent Jon Holliday, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil, and Nat Wilikins, an undercover agent now working for crime queen Fannie Hathcock. Since Quinn’s been gone, the criminal element in north Mississippi has flourished, with Hathcock enjoying unbridled freedom. Now as a bustling factory shuts down, a labor leader ends up dead, and Quinn’s own nephew Jason goes missing, everything looks to be unraveling. Even an old friend from Quinn’s past, Donnie Varner, is out of jail and up to his own ways.
Quinn Colson and company have been planning for years, and now they’re finally ready to bust apart a criminal empire running on a rigged system for far too long. This is the Battle of Jericho, the epic showdown that’s been years in the making. Eventually, the war will end–for better or worse.
My thoughts
This book packs a wallop. I’d never read any of the Quinn Colson novels by Ace Atkins before now, but that didn’t matter: I was rooting for him from page one. Quinn Colson has just been shot. From some writers, this might’ve felt melodramatic. Here, a strong narrative voice captured my emotions. By the end of page two, I was invested in Quinn’s survival and in seeing justice served. But is it?
Well . . . Let’s say that the path to justice is a long, winding uphill road, and nothing is ever truly final. Nor is it ever perfect.
Multiple perspectives, engaging characters
Atkins uses multiple perspectives to build up his story. It’s particularly effective as we get close to the climax of the novel. We see the different agendas and varying levels of knowledge leading to conflicting goals. Or are they really conflicting? The suspense builds steadily throughout the novel. As I neared the end of the story, I was reading in an almost breathless state, eager to find out what happens next.
There are a lot of story threads to follow. Fanny and her organized crime ring. Donnie Varner‘s return from jail. Quinn’s sister Caddy‘s determined fight against the deportation of immigrants and equally determined fight for their children. Her son Jason’s determination to protect his first love, Ana Gabriel. And not the least of all, Quinn’s fight to regain his status as sheriff. Lots of story threads here. But Atkins makes it work without much confusion, even for a first time reader like me.
Part of this lies in his characters. He gives us well-developed, complex characters who are as emotionally engaging as they are interesting. Even Fanny Hathcock, depraved and warped, tugged at my emotions–even when she was killing someone. Especially when she was killing someone.
It’s not always easy to tell the good and bad guys apart from each other. (Or as Quinn’s mama might put it, the righteous from the unrighteous.) Atkins played with my expectations, making me question what my assumptions based on appearances. And while I know appearances can be deceptive, somehow I was still deceived. Or maybe that’s a mark of how powerful Atkins’ writing is.
Narrative voice
And oh my stars, the narrative voice. It sucked me into its vortex on page one and swirled me around and around, deeper and deeper into its grip, and didn’t spit me out until the final page. The story has perfect pacing. Every time some problem seemed resolved, then a new one hit the characters in the face.
As someone born and raised in the “Bible belt,” I’m sensitive to how “Yankees”–that’s Southern-talk for anyone not from the South–portray us. Most of the time, they resort to cliches about trailer parks and fried okra and a superficial understanding of our area, especially the complicated, horrific racial history that still affects us. Not so here. Ace Atkins has nailed the voice of Southern fiction. It feels genuinely Southern, all our quirks and complexities and contradictions captured on the page, the beautiful and nasty and bewildering tangled together.
One favorite thing in this book . . .
Oh, it’s hard to pick only one! But I’ll go with Sancho. He’s Ana Gabriel’s little brother (Ana Gabriel is Quinn’s nephew Jason’s first love/crush/girlfriend.) and he is a hoot. He made me snort with laughter at several points.
In short, this is a wonderful novel. I recommend it to any fan of crime fiction. And I’ll be looking for more of Atkins’ work as well!
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Well-developed, complex characters who are as emotionally engaging as they are interesting. Even Fanny Hathcock, depraved and warped, tugged at my emotions–even when she was killing someone. Especially when she was killing someone.
That does kind of beg the question – which emotions was she tugging?
[…] you enjoy Southern crime fiction, check out my review of The Revelators by Ace Atkins. Terrific writing, combined with fascinating, deep characters, complex relationships, powerful […]