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Cannabis kingpin Burl Spoon has reigned over the Jackson County area for three decades, building a powerful backwoods empire. But behind a well-run organization, his personal life is crumbling–his daughter can’t stay clean; his son has hated him since coming out; and after enduring years of infidelity, his wife is straying too. The only person not on his payroll who still adores him is his six-year-old granddaughter, Chelsea.
When his daughter overdoses on heroin laced with fentanyl and one of his employees is murdered, Burl’s retaliation against Clovis Begley, the patriarch of the heroin-dealing family involved in both deaths, is inevitable. As Burl’s plan spirals into a firestorm of vengeance that threatens the safety of his granddaughter, his drive for revenge conflicts with his longing for redemption.
On the brink of losing everything, Burl must find a path between retribution and protecting what’s left of his family.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
January 7, 2025 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781639109111
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781639109111
- File size: 1074 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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October 1, 2024
Kentucky Cannabis kingpin Burl Spoon has alienated everyone in his family except his beloved granddaughter. He's cheated on his wife. His gay son left home when Burl refused to accept him. He's tried to keep his daughter DeeDee off drugs for years. When DeeDee dies of an overdose--heroin laced with fentanyl--Burl and his men go to war with Clovis Begley, the heroin king of the neighboring county. Their first move is to kidnap one of Begley's sons. Begley doesn't even wait until DeeDee's funeral is over to strike back. Burl soon sends his family away because he knows it'll be all-out war. Men are viciously cut down; houses and barns are set on fire; Burl goes underground when most of his men are killed and the federal government investigates. But a year later, during the COVID pandemic, he's ready to take on the Begley family again, even if it means he'll end up dead or in prison. VERDICT The follow-up to Hillbilly Hustle is vicious, violent rural noir, a story of warring Kentucky drug kingpins who are reminiscent of the Hatfields and McCoys. The language and violence will turn some off, but it may remind readers of S.A. Cosby's novels, without the humor.--Lesa Holstine
Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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November 11, 2024
A marijuana kingpin seeks vengeance against a narcotics dealer in attorney Browne’s gritty debut. Burl Spoon has run a large cannabis farming operation in Jackson County, Ky., with the tacit cooperation of local law enforcement for decades. Burl’s legal contacts have also enabled him to keep his adult daughter, DeeDee, out of trouble, but he’s powerless against her opiate addiction. The family’s fragile status quo gets disrupted when DeeDee is found near death after overdosing on fentanyl. Burl suspects that Clovis Begley, a dealer “responsible for countless lost lives and souls in mountains,” supplied her with the drugs. When an employee of Burl’s is killed, evidence again points to Begley, setting Burl on a violent path toward revenge. Browne draws on his experience with the Appalachian criminal justice system to infuse the narrative with striking and authentic details, including Burl’s installation of black lights in the bathrooms of gas stations he owns “so users couldn’t find their veins to shoot up.” Exciting action and a strong emotional pull grounded in Burl’s complicated love for DeeDee bolster the proceedings. Fans of Eli Cranor will devour this. Agent: Alice Speilburg, Speilburg Literary.
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