Hitting The Books-April 2025

This Month’s Featured Book Pairings…

This month’s read-a-likes are curated for the release of Hard Town by Adam Plantinga. The story of a small town mired in dark secrets that has no idea what they are in for with their new resident. Kurt is an ex-cop with a deeply ingrained sense of justice and zero interest in backing down from a fight. When he is asked to help find a missing father and son, he turns over every rock and pulls no punches to get to the truth. No matter the cost.

Books with gritty atmosphere and powerful prose, here we come!

ALL THE SINNERS BLEED – S.A. COSBY

Charon County is a small southern town sown together through generations of bloodletting and shed tears. And despite so called “progress”, racism and violence still simmer close to the surface. Titus is the newly appointed Sheriff who has returned home to care for his aging father and reconnect with his younger brother after leaving his FBI position under mysterious circumstances. As the first Black Sheriff ever appointed, he has his work cut out for him, even before a single crime is committed during his reign. Titus and his deputies are called to the scene of a reported school shooter, one who has killed a beloved teacher and is himself killed when officers believe he is going to turn his weapon on them. Sounds straightforward, a bad man killed a good man and then a good man killed the bad man, what more could there be to talk about? Turns out quite a bit. An investigation into the shooting unearths evidence of shocking crimes and brutal slayings spanning years. A lot happens from the first crime to the last in this book and none of it should be missed.

ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK – CHRIS WHITAKER

Patch barely blinks when he puts himself in harm’s way to save a girl from being abducted. When he is taken instead, it changes everything in his small town and in the lives of everyone who loves him. Nothing will ever be the same for any of them. Many will live in a state of limbo, one foot stuck in a past, one making faltering steps to move on. Saint is a loyal and loving best friend to Patch, she will do everything in her power, and beyond, to find him. She will not sleep or eat; she will show up every day at the police station to sit as a reminder to the officers that they have work to do. She will be brave without consideration of her own safety. She will never give up, never back down. Filled with heartbreak and hope, this brilliantly crafted book is the story of what, and who, gets left behind in the wake of a tragedy. A portrayal of the remnants of what was. And while that might sound melancholy, its essential to note that with this author you will see that things survive despite the harshest of odds.

SAVAGE, NOBLE DEATH OF BABS DIONNE – RON CURRIE

Babs Dionne, proud American, doting grandmother, and vicious crime matriarch, rules her small town of Waterville, Maine, with an iron fist. She controls the flow of drugs into Little Canada with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a Marine vet struggling with addiction. When a drug kingpin from another town finds that his numbers are down, he sends a malevolent man to investigate. He is going to wish he’d never gone there by the time Babs is done with him. Babs is nothing less than a human keg of dynamite, buckle up for the explosion!

& So On…

Small Mercies – Dennis Lehane

Ghost Writer – Julie Clark

Too Old For This – Samantha Downing