Nothing But the Bones by Brian Panowich

Published by Minotaur Books on April 16, 2024

Nothing But the Bones builds its plot from a diverse range of crimes and criminals. A central character controls the crime in a mountainous Georgia county but extends his reach into other parts of the country. A more sophisticated criminal, complete with a British accent and a proper education, is based in Jacksonville. Also in Jacksonville is a criminal who traffics in young people. A wealthy televangelist (again from Georgia) is a criminal by definition.

Embedded in the crime plot is a love story. Whether the love story will appeal to readers depends on how they will react to a plot twist. How they will react likely depends upon which side of a cultural divide they inhabit. Since the love story depends on a surprise that shouldn’t be spoiled, I’ll focus on the crime story.

Before he acquired the name Nails, Nelson McKenna was a large, shy kid with a deformed hand. Bullies thought Nelson was mentally challenged (although that wasn’t the phrase they used to describe him), but he suffers from a disability that makes it difficult for him to place his thoughts into words. Two girls intervened when Nelson was being bullied because they knew Nelson to be a nice guy. When the bully turned on one of the girls, Nelson decided it was time to fight back. Unfortunately, he didn’t know when to stop fighting.

Clayton Burroughs watched it all happen. He regarded Nelson as a friend so he called his Deddy to clean up the mess. That turned out to be a bad decision. Nelson acquired the name Nails from Gareth Burroughs and became Gareth’s enforcer. Gareth controls everything in the mountains and local law enforcement knows not to mess with him.

At a later point in his life, Nails has acquired a reputation for violence. He’s hanging out in a bar when a girl named Dallas flirts with him. A couple of tough guys assault Dallas and Nails intervenes to protect her. Again, Nails doesn’t know when to stop and again, Gareth Burroughs needs to clean up a mess. He sends Nails to Jacksonville but the likelihood is that he’s heading to his own funeral. Without being invited, Dallas joins him for the trip.

Nails bonds with Dallas as they make their way to Jacksonville. More crimes follow, including a theft of money from Nails, a gas station robbery, and the kidnapping of Dallas. Clayton defies his father by traveling to Jacksonville to rescue his friend. Violence ensues.

We’re told that Nails is a fan of old pulp novels, the kind that can be read quickly: “Short bursts of simple words. Short chapters that got to the point.” Brian Panowich adopts that style for Nothing But the Bones. He doesn’t try to write with self-conscious literary flair. He doesn’t mess around with devices like time shifts or changing points of view. He tells a straightforward, linear story with carefully chosen but unassuming prose. He writes with the gritty darkness of the best pulp writers. Unlike most pulp fiction, however, Panowich obviously took his time, editing and rewriting to avoid the clunkiness of pulp writers who had to churn out a high volume of words each month to pay the rent.

Nails and Clayton have a moral center that makes them likable. Clayton’s confrontation with his father adds tension to the story, as do Nails’ efforts to rescue people in distress. A section of the novel that functions as an epilogue forces a happy ending that seems out of place and isn’t nearly as believable as the rest of the story. Fans of happy endings will want to read the whole book; fans of realism might want to skip the ending.

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Hard Cash Valley by Brian Panowich

Published by St. Martin's/Minotaur Books on May 5, 2020

Dane Kirby has lung cancer. It’s at stage two, but he doesn’t plan to get treatment. Years earlier, he lost his wife and daughter in a car accident after he hit a deer. Kirby has lost his enthusiasm for life. He is living with a woman but hasn’t told her about the cancer. He isn’t quite sure how to break the news, and saying it out loud would make it real. In any event, he never let go of his wife and has never fully invested in the new relationship.

Kirby works for the Georgia Bureau of Investigation after spending most of his career fighting or investigating fires. He’s happy to end his years with a nice, obscure desk job. That plan goes up in smoke when FBI Assistant Director August O’Barr summons him to a crime scene in Florida. Arnie Blackwell was murdered in a motel room and his body was set on fire. The case appears to have a connection to Georgia, so Special Agent Roselita Velasquez is temporarily detached from her partner, Geoff Dahmer, and assigned to work with Kirby. Velasquez isn’t happy about the assignment. She’s a feisty, interesting character who makes some surprising decisions as the story unfolds.

An ordinary murder doesn’t seem like a federal crime, but a large amount of cash was stolen from the victim. The money was won in a cockfighting event in Georgia. Arnie managed the improbable feat of betting correctly on every contest. To discover the secret of his success, he was tortured and killed by two mobsters from the Philippines, where gambling on cockfights is a way of life.

That setup sends Kirby and Velasquez on an investigative path that leads to unexpected destinations. Their primary goal is to find Arnie’s autistic brother William, a goal shared by a formidable Filipino killer and a mysterious figure who occasionally commits a murder of his own.

The plot offers an intelligent blend of action, mystery, and suspense. Hard Cash Valley is one of those rare thrillers that actually thrills, in part because the story never loses its credibility. The threats that Kirby faces always seem genuine, and he’s not the kind of hero who is going to fight his way out of a jam. Kirby has to rely on his smarts, and he has just enough of those to do his job well.

The plot is sufficiently complex to keep the reader guessing but not so byzantine that the reader will lose track of details. A subplot involves Kirby’s estranged friend Nat Lemon, who seems to have committed a murder that is unconnected to the main plot. Connections eventually develop that tie the stories together.

Characterization is well above average for the genre. Velasquez is a lesbian so she doesn’t enter into a predictable romance with Kirby. That’s one of many good choices that Brian Panowich made to tell a fresh and convincing story. The resolution might depend on more karma than the world generally offers, but it’s difficult for a reader to complain about feeling good at the end of a novel.

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