The Forsaken

May 26, 2014
Lean prose, solid pacing, and a compelling lead distinguish bestseller Atkins’s gritty fourth Quinn Colson novel. The aftermath of the violence that ended the previous entry, The Broken Places (2013), continues to enmesh Colson, the sheriff of Jericho, Miss., though the former U.S. Ranger also has two cold cases to unravel. On July 4, 1977, a driver stopped his car on a country road and accosted 17-year-old Diane Tull and her 14-year-old friend, Lori Stillwell. The stranger shot Lori to death after raping Diane. When Lori’s father urges the now middle-aged Diane to finally get the case reinvestigated, Quinn agrees to take on the job. Along the way, Quinn comes across a related unsolved murder that ends up striking close to home. That Quinn resembles the late Robert B. Parker’s Spenser—both are uncomplicated, principled men unafraid to use violence to protect themselves and others—isn’t surprising, since Atkins now writes the continuation of the Spenser series. Author tour. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

Starred review from July 1, 2014
Cases both hot and cold force a Mississippi sheriff to confront issues from the past. For now at least, former Army Ranger Quinn Colson (All the Broken Places, 2013, etc.) is the sheriff of Tibbehah County. Hidden behind the county's down-home atmosphere is a seething mass of corruption, drug dealing and violent crime. Quinn and his sharpshooting deputy, Lillie Virgil, are under investigation for shooting a crooked sheriff and stealing money. Former sheriff Johnny Stagg remains Tibbehah's political power. His legitimate business is vastly overshadowed by his income from drugs and prostitution, and he aims to get the all-too-honest Quinn removed from office. Stagg has hired a tough new bodyguard because his nemesis, Chains LeDoux, a crazed biker who ran the Born Losers, is about to be released from prison. Quinn himself is preoccupied by crimes committed before he was born. Some time after Diane Tull was raped and her friend Lori Stillwell murdered, an unidentified man was found beaten, burned and hanged. But Diane, who knows the dead man wasn't the rapist, asks Quinn to right that old wrong and find whomever killed the nameless victim. Lori's father, Hank Stillwell, was part of the Born Losers. So was Quinn's father, Jason, who got sucked into the biker gang on a visit home from his job as a Hollywood stuntman. Quinn's mother would never reveal why Jason left his family. Now Quinn must investigate the father he hasn't seen since childhood for murder. Meantime, Stagg, the Born Losers, and rival black and Mexican drug lords continue to fight for control of the lucrative drug market. Atkins is at the top of his game in Quinn's fourth appearance, filled with nonstop action and moral ambiguities. The sheriff's many flaws only enhance his human appeal.

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Starred review from July 1, 2014
Tibbehah County, Mississippi, Sheriff Quinn Colson thought nothing could beat a tornado leveling half the county seat (The Broken Places, 2013), but now the prison release of a local biker-gang leader brings the gang, the Born Losers, back to town seeking retribution and threatening to flatten what's left of the town of Jericho. As if that weren't a big enough mess, Quinn's personal freedom and his upcoming election are looking uncertain since he's still being investigated for his involvement in another officer's shooting, and Diane Tull has asked him to take another look at her abduction and rape 30 years ago in an attack that left her best friend dead. Three decades is a long time for secrets to fester, but it's up to Quinn to save Jericho from its ugly past while, at the same time, finding a way to get the Born Losers out of town. Quinn is facing a seemingly impossible string of complications in this fourth series installment, but somehow all these layers of catastrophe make sense together, a testament to Atkins' ability to capture small-town life. The dive into Jericho's dark past makes for great reading as Atkins rolls through a handful of perspectives, propelling the story's threads toward an adrenaline-laced, Wild Weststyle conclusion. Particularly recommended for those who enjoyed Tom Franklin's Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, and Karin Slaughter's Grant County series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)