Synopses & Reviews
Fans of Justified and James Lee Burke will love Mississippi lawman Quinn Colson in this Edgar(R) Award Nominee for Best Novel from the author of The Ranger... When Army Ranger Quinn Colson, the new sheriff of Tibbehah 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
Review
Review
“I have always been impressed with (jealous of) how easy Ace Atkins makes it look.
The Ranger is by far his best work…I hope Quinn Colson and Lillie Virgil stick around for a good long time.”—Michael Connelly
“Atkins has written a bunch of great thrillers, but this one sets up a series that should push him to the top of the bestseller list.”—John Sandford “A dark, headlong crime story set in the Mississippi hill country and teeming with corrupt officials, murderous meth dealers and Southern femmes fatales.”— St. Petersburg Times
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 acclaimed, award-winning author comes an extraordinary new series about a real hero, and the real Deep South. "With terrific, inflected characters, and a dark, subtle sense of place and history, The Ranger is an exceptional novel." -John Sandford
"One of the best crime writers at work today." -Michael Connelly
Ace Atkins returns with an extraordinary new series. Northeast Mississippi, hill country, rugged and notorious for outlaws since the Civil War, where killings are as commonplace as in the Old West. To Quinn Colson, it's home-but not the home he left when he went to Afghanistan.
Now an Army Ranger, he returns to a place overrun by corruption, and finds his uncle, the county sheriff, dead-a suicide, he's told, but others whisper murder. In the days that follow, it will be up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and not least about himself. And once the truth is discovered, there is no turning back.
Synopsis
?Mesmerizing?a tour de force from one of the best crime writers at work today.??Michael Connelly White Shadow is a ?stunning? (Lee Child) noir thriller based on real-life events.
1955: Tampa, Florida is a city pulsing with Sicilian and Cuban gangsters, cigar factories, sweet rum, and violence. The death of retired kingpin Charlie Wall? the White Shadow?has shocked the city, sending cops, reporters, and associates scrambling to find those responsible. As the trail winds through neighborhoods rich and poor, enmeshing the innocent and corrupt alike all the way down to the streets and casinos of Havana, an extraordinary story of revenge, honor, and greed emerges. For Charlie Wall had his secrets?secrets that if discovered could destroy a criminal empire and ignite a revolution.
Synopsis
"Compelling...[Atkins] captures the imminent end of the gangster heyday." -Booklist
In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-forransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it.
Once again Ace Atkins transforms real-life events into riveting, thrilling fiction. Infamous is a passionate blend of historical novel and crime story-set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring an unexpected hero, some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction, and the unforgettable Kathryn Kelly (George Kelly's wife), the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime.
Synopsis
San Francisco, September 1921: Silent-screen comedy star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle is throwing a wild party in his suite at the St. Francis Hotel-girls, jazz, bootleg hooch...and a dead actress named Virginia Rappe.
The D.A. says it was Arbuckle who killed her- crushed her under his weight-and brings him up on manslaughter charges. William Randolph Hearst's newspapers stir up the public and demand a guilty verdict.
In desperation, Arbuckle's defense team hires an operative from the famed Pinkerton detective agency to investigate and, they hope, discover the truth. The agent's name is Dashiell Hammett... and what he discovers will change American legal history-and his own life- forever
Synopsis
Fresh from ten years as a U.S. Army Ranger, Quinn Colson finds his hands full as the newly elected sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi. An old buddy running a local gun shop may be in over his head when stolen army rifles start showing up in the hands of a Mexican drug gang.
At the same time, an abused-child case leads Quinn and his tough-as-nails deputy, Lillie Virgil, deep into the heart of a bootleg baby racket and a trail of darkness and death. And when the two cases collide, Quinn and his allies are forced to realize that, though they may be home from the war, they are now in the fight of their lives.
Synopsis
After years of war, Army Ranger Quinn Colson returns home to the rugged, rough hill country of northeast Mississippi to find his native Tibbehah County overrun with corruption, decay, meth runners, and violence. His uncle, the longtime county sheriff, is dead. A suicide, he’s told, but others—like tomboy deputy Lillie Virgil—whisper murder.
In the days that follow, it’s up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and himself. And once it’s discovered, there’s no going back for this real hero of the Deep South.
Synopsis
From the acclaimed, award-winning author comes an extraordinary new series about a real hero, and the real Deep South. "With terrific, inflected characters, and a dark, subtle sense of place and history, The Ranger is an exceptional novel." -John Sandford
"One of the best crime writers at work today." -Michael Connelly
Ace Atkins returns with an extraordinary new series. Northeast Mississippi, hill country, rugged and notorious for outlaws since the Civil War, where killings are as commonplace as in the Old West. To Quinn Colson, it's home-but not the home he left when he went to Afghanistan.
Now an Army Ranger, he returns to a place overrun by corruption, and finds his uncle, the county sheriff, dead-a suicide, he's told, but others whisper murder. In the days that follow, it will be up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and not least about himself. And once the truth is discovered, there is no turning back.
Synopsis
"Compelling...[Atkins] captures the imminent end of the gangster heyday." -Booklist
In July 1933, the gangster known as George "Machine Gun" Kelly staged the kidnapping-forransom of an Oklahoma oilman. He would live to regret it.
Once again Ace Atkins transforms real-life events into riveting, thrilling fiction. Infamous is a passionate blend of historical novel and crime story-set in the first days of the modern FBI, featuring an unexpected hero, some of the most colorful supporting characters in recent crime fiction, and the unforgettable Kathryn Kelly (George Kelly's wife), the Lady Macbeth of Depression-era crime.
Synopsis
?Mesmerizing?a tour de force from one of the best crime writers at work today.??Michael Connelly White Shadow is a ?stunning? (Lee Child) noir thriller based on real-life events.
1955: Tampa, Florida is a city pulsing with Sicilian and Cuban gangsters, cigar factories, sweet rum, and violence. The death of retired kingpin Charlie Wall? the White Shadow?has shocked the city, sending cops, reporters, and associates scrambling to find those responsible. As the trail winds through neighborhoods rich and poor, enmeshing the innocent and corrupt alike all the way down to the streets and casinos of Havana, an extraordinary story of revenge, honor, and greed emerges. For Charlie Wall had his secrets?secrets that if discovered could destroy a criminal empire and ignite a revolution.
About the Author
Ace Atkins is the author of nine novels, including
The Ranger, the debut novel in the Quinn Colson series, from G.P. Putnam's Sons. Earlier this year, Atkins was chosen by the Robert B. Parker estate to continue the highly popular Spenser novels. The first of those books hits bookstores in 2012 along with Atkins' sequel to
The Ranger.
A former journalist who cut his teeth as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune, he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues, at 27 and became a full-time novelist at 30. While at the Tribune, Ace earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which earned raves from noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City, Devil's Garden, and Infamous, blended first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. The historical novels told great American stories by weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.
The Ranger represents a return to Ace's first love: hero-driven series fiction. Quinn Colson is a real hero--a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan--who returns home to north Mississippi to fight corruption on his home turf. The first Quinn Colson novel, a contemporary book with a dash of classic westerns and noir, hits stores June 9th. Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family.