My Favorites of 2022, So Far

Earlier this month, Lesa Holstine shared her favorite books to this point of the year with her post Favorites of 2022, So Far. So, today I offer you my favorites of the year so far. Five very good reads.

 

First off, I told you about A Kind And Savage Place back in February. I wrote then, “The new book by author Richard Helms, A Kind And Savage Place is a prequel to Six Mile Creek and others that are part of the Judd Wheeler series. While Judd plays a role in this book that runs from 1942 to 1989, he is not the central character.” It is one heck of a book and you can read the rest of my review here.

 

In April I told you about Movieland by Lee Goldberg. This is the fourth book in the very good Eve Ronin series. My copy came by way of NetGalley. My review started with, “It is April as Movieland begins and Sheriff’s Department Detectives Eve Ronin and Duncan “Donuts” Pavone are dispatched to Malibu Creek State Park on a homicide call. A scenic location used by both movies and television programs over the decades, it is now the scene of at least one murder with a second victim in critical condition.” You can read the rest of my review here. I also recommend reading this series in order.

 

May was a good reading month. Book Two of the Mick Hardin series came my way thanks to NetGalley. My review of Shifty’s Boys began with “Shifty’s Boys by Chris Offutt picks up a bit after The Killing Hills and begins with the local taxi driver, Albin, finding a body. At first, he thinks he has found somebody passed out from drinking way too much. Has happened before in Rocksalt, Kentucky, so he is not very concerned as he sees the odd shape up against the fence in the parking lot of the local Western Auto. It is only when he gets out of the cab and walks towards the male figure, he realizes that it is not mud on the man’s clothes, but blood.” You can read my review here.

 

I have long been a fan of the Sherriff Hank Worth series. Back in late May, I told you about the new one titled Dangerous Consequences: A Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery by Claire Booth. My review began with, “As Dangerous Consequences: A Sheriff Hank Worth Mystery by Claire Booth begins, the ripple effects of the recent termination of several deputies, continue. New staff is being brought in while some of the still employed old guard continue to work from within against Sheriff Hank Worth and Chief Deputy Sheila Turley. The rot within the department still lingers, but getting rid of the rest of the folks who need to go is not going to be easy.” The rest of my spoiler free review can be found here. This is another series I strongly recommend reading in order. 

I have also long been a fan of the Joe Gunther series by Archer Mayor. I told you about the new one, Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel back at the end of May. My reading copy came by way of NetGalley. I opened my review with, “It is late winter as Fall Guy: A Joe Gunther Novel by Archer Mayor begins and Joe Gunther, Field Force Commander of the Vermont Bureau of Investigation, have been summoned out to a scene bathed in a sea of strobe lights from numerous agencies. It appears that the only party not there is the local dog catcher.” The rest of the review can be found here. While it is better to have read these in order, you could get away with reading this one first.

Enjoy the reads. 

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022

Review: A Kind And Savage Place by Richard Helms

The new book by author Richard Helms, A Kind And Savage Place is a prequel to Six Mile Creek and others that are part of the Judd Wheeler series. While Judd plays a role in this book that runs from 1942 to 1989, he is not the central character.

Instead, this is a book about how daily interactions, even minor ones, have a major impact. Each contact has a reverberation to it for all involved. Then there are the reverberations of childhood and the random role of dice regarding who are parents are as we enter the world. That childhood, and the families we come from and their legacy, for good or ill, reverberates throughout our lives. Even death, at a young age or after a full life have a reverberation through others on and on. People talk about the fall of a single domino and how that changes everything. They miss all the dominoes that lead up to that single domino being in a certain place at a certain time and thus there to fall.  

That idea, all the dominoes that must fall to cause the certain domino to fall in a major way—seen by some and unseen by many others—is the heart of this complex tale that spans generations, families, and decades. While a central act plays a major role and triggers all sorts of events across decades, many minor daily interactions played a role for that event to happen. Life is complex as author Rick Helms beautifully illustrates in A Kind and Savage Place as he illustrates through a number of characters in this complex tale.

One of those daily interactions that was unremarkable at the time and yet put many things into motion was when Arlo Pyle hired Everett Howard to work in his auto shop. Pyle, a while man who had been to Europe and fought the Nazis before coming back home, hired Everett Howard to work in his shop and run errands. Howard was black, a young kid, and had dropped out of the segregated school, which wasn’t much to begin with, as was common at the time in North Carolina and elsewhere. It didn’t help Howard’s educational prospects that he was also a bit slow. He soon proved to Pyle that he was a hard worker.

Despite doing everything he knew to do and doing a job well, that did not stop others from accusing him of misdeeds. The fact that Howard had not done any of things he was accused of never mattered to those who could not see beyond the color of his skin.

An inability to see others as they truly are also played a major role in life as Rennie Poole was able to parlay a humble start as a local businessman, into a political force. Some folks saw him for what he was at the start and avoided him. Many others did not and became part of his world to manipulate. Long before his political career and the creation of his political machine, one of his projects was a local dancehall where teens hung out.

It was there, on a warm Saturday night in May 1954, Coral Pyle, one of four daughters of Arlo Pyle, and Adele Pyle, met Jude Pressley. A recent graduate and QB of ­considerable talent at the local level, Pressley is currently drifting through life and enjoying the adoration as a county football champion who set more than a dozen records. He also has good looks and has certainly caught the attention of Coral Pyle. That meeting in the dance hall put into motion a series of events that changed their lives forever while also directly and indirectly impacting nearly every character in this wide ranging and complicated book.

Set against the social movements of the various decades with themes of politics, greed, racism, and more, author Rick Helms tells a complicated and engrossing tale. Far more is at work beyond the brief premise. To explain more would create spoilers as things and people are tightly interlocked in this wide ranging and complex read.

Life, death, drama, and a lot more, are at work in A Kind and Savage Place by Rick Helms.

Strongly recommended. 

 

My reading copy was an ARC provided by the author with no expectation of a review.

 

Kevin R. Tipple ©2022