NOTHING BUT THE BONES Review

Author: Brian Panowich

Series: Bull Mountain #4

Publisher: Minotaur Books

Release Date: April 16, 2024

Many thanks to Minotaur Books for the arc. All opinions expressed are my own.

Review published in Mystery & Suspense Magazine

5 Raw Hearts

With lyrical prose and hard-hitting depictions of the hardscrabble life in the rural south, Brian Panowich, author of Bull Mountain, Like Lions, and Hard Cash Valley, delivers a gripping new chapter in his tales of McFalls County in Nothing But the Bones.

Review:

NOTHING BUT THE BONES by Author Brian Panowich is another raw, gripping, graphic addition to the Bull Mountain series set in McFalls County, Georgia. A novella and three full length books precede this one, and I highly recommend reading them in order. Having said that, each book will stand alone with no issue and that’s due to the author’s ability to weave the needed backstory into each book. If you're a fan of Southern Noir, don't hesitate to pick this book up and dive in. You'll need to clear your calendar, pour yourself a strong one and settle in for the long haul as there's no stopping once you start reading this book.

Author Brian Panowich has crafted another stunningly powerful tale in this award-winning series. NOTHING BUT THE BONES opens with a scene that takes place prior to Clayton Burroughs becoming sheriff of McFalls County. Readers learn how Nelson McKenna became known as "Nails" when adopted into the Gareth Burroughs crime family and how he became an enforcer - a role he's uncomfortable with. Fast forward in time and Nails steps in to save a woman from a horrific fate in a roadside pub igniting a series of explosive mishaps that lead to he and the woman, Dallas, on the run from a multitude of malevolent forces. Nails is so far out of his comfort zone with Dallas that it leaves him confused, speechless and undecisive, but when he learns that the family he thought he could trust to always have his back might have ulterior motives, he forges ahead vowing to protect the woman with his life. Nails and Dallas leave a trail of violence, death and utter chaos in their wake as they make their way south. With his back nailed to the wall, Nails makes one last stand knowing he may not survive. The repercussions are heard all the way back in McFalls County. Time has run out. Who'll be left standing? Who'll take the fall?

NOTHING BUT THE BONES is a tension laden, fast paced, gritty tale of blood, sweat and tears - a prime example of southern noir done right. Panowich strips the words down to nothing but the bones - no fluff, no filler, as he expertly manipulates tainted, larger than life antiheroes through a complex, multi-faceted plot line toward an explosive climax no one will see coming. His sharp, descriptive prose is well suited to communicating a keen sense of place and southern tradition as well as cajoling engaging characters to life to the point of them stepping off the page into your living room. Readers can see, sense and smell the gun powder and motor oil as Nails and Dallas barrel down the highway in his classic LTD Ford toward their destination, knowing with little doubt their fate is sealed. While this story is action driven, it's the emotional turmoil of the characters I want to emphasize - A man and a woman, both outcasts, both battling their own demons, both needing something neither believes they deserve finding each other on a journey to hell and back. The heart break, the despair, the self-hatred drips like blood off the pages due to the amazingly talented author.

Brian Panowich is a force to be reckoned with in the southern noir and grit lit genre, and no one's more deserving of the accolades coming his way. I can say without reservation he's on my short list of favorite auto-read noir authors. NOTHING BUT THE BONES is nothing but the best in southern noir today. I hope there's more to come! Highly recommended to fans of crime fiction, suspense and noir.

Synopsis:

In McFalls County, local crime boss Gareth Burroughs runs everything on the mountain. And Nelson “Nails” McKenna has been his enforcer since he was a teenager, though his heart's not really in the dirty work. Then one night in a local roadhouse, Nails goes too far, defending a woman, and even Burroughs’s reach can’t get him out of this one. With a dead body and countless witnesses, Nails and the woman become fugitives on the run, and unlikely partners.

But on the road to Jacksonville, where a possible escape awaits, there’s more than one interested party on the pair’s trail, and the glimpse they had of getting away scot free suddenly seems elusive. In the end, Nails must make one final stand for his freedom—or pay with both of their lives.

Dark Duet Series Book Review

My Review:

5 stars are not enough for these books...I was seriously hypnotized by this author and drawn into the lives of these characters.  It is a dark, sometimes hard series to read.  If you don't like having your emotions pushed to the limit, skip it.  If you can't read dark, seductive reads, forget this one.  You are on a heart-wrenching, gut checking ride all the way.  The books are filled with pain, anguish, despair, horrific events...but through it all I felt hope - a spark of hope that kept me turning pages as fast as I could.  As the spark was fanned with each passing chapter, I just knew the ride would be worth it.

We are introduced to an empty shell of a man known as Caleb in Captive In The Dark.  I both hated and loved him or felt compassion for him in spite of the terrible deeds he perpetrated again Livvie.  The author does an outstanding job of making you feel empathy for this character in spite of all his flaws.  By the second book, Seduced In The Dark, I kept hoping and praying that he would let go of the past and do the right thing.  I'm not going to rehash the story for you...you can read the synopsis below my review.  I will say that Caleb is a dead man...he is hollow inside, dead to all emotions except for the deep, burned into his soul desire for revenge.

Livvie is an unhappy girl who is kidnapped...but was what she left behind actually worse that what she's found in captivity?  In Captive, Livvie is coming to terms with the horrific situation she wakes up in.  She is beginning to learn her captor, what he demands from her, and also learning how to survive.  She is stripped bare - both physically & mentally - totally dependent on Caleb and begins to realize there is more to him than he wants her to see.  She experiences touching moments with him when he lets his guard down which gives her hope, right along with me.

 I will say that in Seductive, I fell in love with Caleb in spite of his cruelty.  I felt his pain and grieved just as much for him as I did Livvie.  As for Livvie...How can you fall in love with a monster?  A man so damaged that he no longer believes he has a heart or soul?  A man who is both your worse nightmare and yet your protector at the same time?  A man whose touch both repels you and draws you like a magnet?  Livvie is telling the story of what happened to her in this book.  It is compelling, intense, and definitely not your fairytale romance...but it is a love story.  The writer took me from hating this monster called Caleb to understanding and loving him.  I experienced his darkness and like Livvie, survived it to find myself pulling for him to make it.  It is one of the most emotional reads I've read in a long time.  


 Epilogue gives us MORE than the ending.  Please do not be lulled into not reading this book after the ending of Seduced.  Tony's POV is worth more than I can say plus, it gives us more of an in-depth ending...one I could live with.  I wiped tears for Tony while reading his POV of some of the scenes...I already sympathized with him but this final book sealed the deal for me.  It gave me confirmation of the man who was still alive deep down, hidden away in his empty heart.  And, I must say, I laughed as Tony learns how to be an ordinary man, how to give and receive love in a normal, healthy relationship.  This series is a must read!  I can't say how much I loved it!  It has ruined me for "normal" romance reads...I now demand something more!

Rating:  5 Gorgeous ♥♥♥♥♥'s...And that's the truth!  It really deserves so many more!!

Cross My Heart...xxx

Sandra

Synopsis: Captured In The Dark 

Caleb is a man with a singular interest in revenge. Kidnapped as a young boy and sold into slavery by a power-hungry mobster, he has thought of nothing but vengeance. For twelve years he has immersed himself in the world of pleasure slaves searching for the one man he holds ultimately responsible. Finally, the architect of his suffering has emerged with a new identity, but not a new nature. If Caleb is to get close enough to strike, he must become the very thing he abhors and kidnap a beautiful girl to train her to be all that he once was.

Eighteen-year-old Olivia Ruiz has just woken up in a strange place. Blindfolded and bound, there is only a calm male voice to welcome her. His name is Caleb, though he demands to be called Master. Olivia is young, beautiful, naïve and willful to a fault. She has a dark sensuality that cannot be hidden or denied, though she tries to accomplish both. Although she is frightened by the strong, sadistic, and arrogant man who holds her prisoner, what keeps Olivia awake in the dark is her unwelcome attraction to him.

WARNING: This book contains very disturbing situations, dubious consent, strong language, and graphic violence.

Synopsis: Seduced In The Dark

The exciting, titillating, and action-filled conclusion to Captive in the Dark.

What is the price of redemption?

Rescued from sexual slavery by a mysterious Pakistani officer, Caleb carries the weight of a debt that must be paid in blood.  The road has been long and fraught with uncertainty, but for Caleb and Livvie, it’s all coming to an end.  Can he surrender the woman he loves for the sake of vengeance?  Or will he make the ultimate sacrifice?

Quote:
It seemed to Caleb, the nature of human beings revolved around one empirical truth: we want what we cannot have. For Eve, it was the fruit of the forbidden tree. For Caleb, it was Livvie.

Synopsis: Epilogue

I’m writing this because you begged. You know how I love the begging. In fact, you probably know too many things and know them far too well.

Who am I?

Well, that’s what I’m trying to figure out. I was a whore in my youth, a killer since my adolescence, and a monster as a man. I am the man who kidnapped Livvie. I am the man who held her in a dark room for weeks. But, most importantly, I am the man she loves.She loves me.  It’s quite sick, isn’t it?  Of course, there’s more to our story than can be surmised in a few short sentences, but I’m at a loss for justifying my behavior back then. I assume if you’re reading this, I don’t need to make those justifications. You’ve already made your own.
You’re reading this because you want to know about the rest of the story. You want to know what happened that warm summer night in September of 2010, the night I met Livvie at The Paseo. It was the night my life changed all over again.

It didn’t happen exactly as Livvie said. She’s been very kind to me in the retelling of our story. The truth is far more…complicated.