For 2/3 of this book it was a three star book. Not a lot happened, but the final 1/3 added an additional star.
The writing is outstanding but not much happens during much of the book.
Rory is a Korean War vet, missing a leg and has joined the bootlegging business on the mountain he lives on, with his grandma.
Grandma is a mountain faith healer and her parts are like reading an old Foxfire book.
Then things start to spin out of control and the story heats up for the finale.
I definitely plan to read other books by this author. ( )

Historical fiction and mystery about bootlegging in the backwoods of North Carolina in the 1950’s. Rory Docherty, a Korean war veteran, has returned home emotionally and physically damaged. With limited employment options due to his prosthetic leg, he runs moonshine for the kingpin of the mountain where he grew up. His mother has been confined to a mental hospital since he was a child, and he lives with his grandmother, Granny May. This book is filled with vivid scenes such as the early days of stock car racing, evading the revenuers, attending religious events where participants are stirred to a fever-pitched frenzy (including rattlesnakes), feuding families, and seeking revenge against wrongs of the past and present. Power, greed, and vengeance are prominent themes.

The author’s writing is evocative, and I found it particularly effective in describing the natural environment. The author is adept at character development. Granny May is a particularly memorable character. She is an herbalist, skilled in finding roots, leaves, herbs, and plants for making tinctures and other homeopathic remedies. She is not shy in expressing her opinions. The other characters are multi-faceted enough to carry the story. Not my typical reading experience, and not a cheery book, it has a raw feel to it. Contains profanity, sex, violence, and harm to animals. Recommended to those interested in “slice of life” stories with a strong sense of time and place or dark mysteries with interconnected threads.

I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway, with a request for a candid review. ( )

There is a large cast of characters here but the story is mainly focused on Korean war vet Rory who has come home to the mountain with part of his leg missing, and his Granny May who is a force to be reckoned with. There's not a lot of jobs in 1950s North Carolina, especially for someone like Rory, but moonshining is a booming business and there's money to be made delivering it provided you don't get caught. The mountain holds a lot of secrets, and so does Granny May but sooner or later things have a way of bubbling to the surface. This was a mesmerizing work of historical fiction.


I received an advance copy for review ( )

Rory Docherty returns home to North Carolina following the Korean War. He comes home haunted by the war and the loss of a leg. This story has a little bit of everything -- faith healing, bootleg liquor, dark family secrets, greed and violence. The characters are gritty and authentic, creating the long-gone atmosphere of 1950's mountain backwoods NC.

It took me a few chapters to really get into this story. It isn't the sort of book I usually read, but since I live in western NC I really wanted to get a taste of what it was like in the moonshine days. Once I got a bit into the story, I couldn't put the book down. There are portions that made me uncomfortable, but the plot was so mesmerizing I just kept reading. Sort of like an accident on the highway....you don't want to look, but something makes you look anyway.

This is definitely Southern fiction. The characters are authentic and it definitely pulled me into a bygone era. I am glad I live in NC now, and not back then.

Taylor Brown is the author of several books including River of Kings and Fallen Land.

**I voluntarily read an advanced readers copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

4.5 stars. Echoes of Cormac McCarthy and Charles Frazier and Raymond Price. A novel of dark lyricism, violence, revenge, and redemption. And Granny May is simply awesome, in the original sense of the word. This is my first Taylor Brown novel, but it definitely won’t be my last. ( )