Clayton Burroughs is the Sheriff of Bull Mountain and the black sheep of the brutal and blood-steeped Burroughs clan. In the forties and fifties, the family ran moonshine over six state lines. In the sixties and seventies, they farmed the largest above-ground marijuana crop on the East Coast, and now they are one of the largest suppliers of methamphetamine in the Southern states.
An uneasy pact exists between the law man and his folk, but when a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms shows up in Clayton's office with a plan to shut down Bull Mountain, his agenda will pit brother against brother, test loyalties, and lead Clayton down a path to self-destruction. At its heart, Bull Mountain is a story about family, and the lengths men will go to protect it, honor it, or, in some cases, destroy it.
About the Author
Brian Panowich attended Georgia Southern University before taking a twenty-year detour to travel the country playing music. He started writing again in 2009. Two of his stories were nominated for a Spinetingler award in 2013.
Industry Reviews
'This cracking debut keeps the reader guessing through a series of gripping twists with an ending that you won't see coming. This sprawling, gritty crime epic set in dope-damned hillbilly country signals the arrival of a major new talent. 5/5' Daily Express.
'Dazzling ... reminiscent of John Steinbeck. Both write in a flowing, textured, understated style that is such a pleasure to read we don't realize we're being set up for a series of uppercuts. They come in revelations accompanied by gunfire. Read and recommend to anyone who follows country noir or savors delicious prose' Booklist (starred review).
'[Panowich] pulls off [a] daunting undertaking with astounding success ... The storytelling is mesmerizing, with virtually every chapter set in a different timeline and focused on a single character, but the sense of immediacy carries over into each era. And while the violence is shocking in its coldhearted brutality, it's as aesthetically choreographed as any ballet' Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review.
'Panowich has crafted a satisfying and smartly constructed book whose time-shifting sequences build suspense even as they parcel out telling revelations. Once events are in full play, there's no turning back' The Wall Street Journal.
'[Panowich storms] onto the scene with an epic southern tale that establishes him as a new voice for southern writers ... An unabashed literary page-turner ... takes readers along for a ride full of well timed twists and turns, and the shocking family secret that causes the inevitable climax ... one of the best multi-generational family sagas in years' Huffington Post.
'It's been described as 'country noir', 'Southern noir' and even 'hillbilly noir', but none of these terms quite captures the breadth, the humour, the style or the kick-ass conclusion that make it one of the best debut crime novels of the year' Sydney Morning Herald.
'Panowich had me at the first word of his spectacular debut novel and he held me until the very last page ... a sprawling, gritty, violent, tribal inter-generational crime epic with a deeply rooted sense of place and an gut-punch ending I didn't see coming' C.J. Box, New York Times-bestselling author of Endangered.
'The gripping, witty Bull Mountain is not only a fine debut, but a fine mystery novel, period. Panowich may even have carved out his own subgenre of hillbilly noir. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next' John Connolly, New York Times-bestselling author of The Wolf in Winter.
'A stone gas and a stone winner! It's brother-versus-brother in the dope-damned South. This first novel has it all: moonshine, maryjane and mayhem! Read this book now - and succumb to a startling new talent' James Ellroy, author of Perfidia.
