A finely wrought Western mystery by a true master of the form.
In Schopen’s latest neo-Western, an ex-lawman finds his life upended by the discovery of a missing plane.
Fats Rangle used to be a deputy sheriff in Pinenut County, but those days are behind him. The former cop now operates Cherry Creek Stables and Excursions with his brother on the family’s ranch in the Nevada desert, which offers such activities as horseback riding, camping, and fishing parties. Fats laments the many changes that have come to his native valley, bringing more development, more people, and a lowering water table that’s causing vegetation to dry up. While riding one evening in the nearby mountains, he comes across the wreckage of a small single-engine plane that went missing two years ago. There are two bodies inside, mummified by the elements, but nothing of obvious value: “More interesting to Fats was the track in the snow…that zigzagged up to the wreckage. Someone had been here, he guessed a month or so ago. He could also guess who. And why.” Fats purposely tramples over the original tracks, and later, when he reports the crash to his former colleague, Sheriff Dale Zahn, he doesn’t mention that someone else had been there. It turns out that Fats’ cousin Strutter Martin has gone missing, and Fats suspects that his disappearance and the tracks outside the plane are related—especially after he learns of a missing briefcase full of cash that should have been on the plane. Fats launches a private investigation into the whereabouts of Strutter and the briefcase, and he soon stumbles upon a much larger scheme involving political corruption, a Las Vegas dancer, and water rights. The stakes of this game are high, and Fats will have to play his hand carefully if he doesn’t want to end up dead.
Over the course of this novel, Schopen shows himself to be a skilled poet of the Western landscape, and readers will find that his prose is as lean and tough as old leather: “The wind soughed. A jay fussed. Near the corral, a young bay mare cropped the sparse mountain foliage. Beside the water tank stood Fats Rangle, squat, still.” The hinterlands between the desert and the city provide a stark stage for this morality tale, and it’s one in which nature, in all its danger and delicacy, is a force that must always be reckoned with. The novel combines clearly recognizable Western elements with those of hardboiled detective fiction, and the laconic, short-tempered Fats exemplifies the antiheroic archetypes of both genres. The protagonist’s search for answers quickly becomes a broader exploration of himself and his history—particularly the series of events that caused him to leave the sheriff’s office for good; the story also encompasses the evolving realities of his beloved, but no longer remote, valley homeland. Is there still a place in the West for men such as Fats? Readers will hope so, as long as there are talents like Schopen to write about them.
A finely wrought Western mystery by a true master of the form.Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2023
ISBN: 9781647791186
Page Count: 223
Publisher: University of Nevada Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.
Two killers are on the loose. Can they be stopped?
In this ambitious mystery, the prolific and popular King tells the story of a serial murderer who pledges, in a note to Buckeye City police, to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty,” in order, we eventually learn, to avenge the death of a man who was framed and convicted for possession of child pornography and then killed in prison. At the same time, the author weaves in the efforts of another would-be murderer, a member of a violently abortion-opposing church who has been stalking a popular feminist author and women’s rights activist on a publicity tour. To tell these twin tales of murders done and intended, King summons some familiar characters, including private investigator Holly Gibney, whom readers may recall from previous novels. Gibney is enlisted to help Buckeye City police detective Izzy Jaynes try to identify and stop the serial killer, who has been murdering random unlucky citizens with chilling efficiency. She’s also been hired as a bodyguard for author and activist Kate McKay and her young assistant. The author succeeds in grabbing the reader’s interest and holding it throughout this page-turning tale of terror, which reads like a big-screen thriller. The action is well paced, the settings are vividly drawn, and King’s choice to focus on the real and deadly dangers of extremist thought is admirable. But the book is hamstrung by cliched characters, hackneyed dialogue (both spoken and internal), and motives that feel both convoluted and overly simplistic. King shines brightest when he gets to the heart of our darkest fears and desires, but here the dangers seem a bit cerebral. In his warning letter to the police, the serial killer wonders if his cryptic rationale to murder will make sense to others, concluding, “It does to me, and that is enough.” Is it enough? In another writer’s work, it might not be, but in King’s skilled hands, it probably is.
Even when King is not at his best, he’s still good.Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781668089330
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Scribner
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.
Following her father’s sudden death, Aisling Swann is secretly horrified when her mother begins to date again—and she quickly becomes suspicious of this new flame.
Four years ago: A mysterious male narrator reflects upon his relationship with his wife—along with a few pointed comments about how she is aging. It quickly becomes apparent that this self-proclaimed “very pleasant” man is not who he seems; he already has a girlfriend on the side, and he’s playing both women with sob stories about his job and his traumatic past while taking money from them. Even as they get more and more frustrated with his lack of communication during ever-lengthening absences, he still gives them what they want: “a top-notch husband.” In the present day, Ash Swann; her brother, Arlo; and their mother, Nina, mourn the loss of her charismatic father, Paddy, a successful chef with a chain of lucrative restaurants. Nina receives a sympathy note from a man who claims to have worked closely with Paddy in the industry, which leads to a robust online flirtation that moves into the real world about a year after her husband’s death. Ash is living at home, mired in grief as well as her own mental health struggles, and she’s none too happy to see her mom dating—but particularly this handsome, egregiously suave Nick Radcliffe. Ash begins to notice some inconsistencies with his stories and his past, so she enlists Paddy’s ex-girlfriend Jane to help her investigate. Meanwhile, Ash’s story continues to intercut that of the mysterious man who is now married to his former girlfriend—and still up to his old tricks. Jewell’s cutting between past and present certainly allows revelations to ooze out at a slow, controlled pace; even as the reader makes obvious connections, the full picture remains obscure. Jewell has written some incredibly engaging and strong female characters, Nina, Ash, and Jane foremost among them. What would it have been like to split the narrative between them instead of giving so much voice—and thus narrative power—to the male antagonist?
Jewell is absolutely a genius at building suspense, but the “man behaving badly” plot is getting tired.Pub Date: June 24, 2025
ISBN: 9781668033876
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
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