Book Review : Brian Panowich - Bull Mountain (2015)

Pre-Order BULL MOUNTAIN here

''I'm only fifty percent American Indian, boss. The rest of me is one hundred percent good ol' fashioned redneck.''

''That makes a hundred and fifty percent.''

''Right.''

Important moments have their own way of revealing themselves. It's impossible to know the value of a moment before it passed. Only time and perspective can give you appreciation. Reading a great book is different since it's done over a considerable amount of time. After a certain amount of pages, you start realizing that what you're reading is truly standout material and a period of pure bliss is starting, which you'll try to stretch out for as long as you can, by any means necessary. It's why reading fiction can be so exhilarating and life affirming. I read around 100 books every year and develop such a relationship with 3 or 4 of them, if I'm lucky. I found my first for 2015: BULL MOUNTAIN by Brian Panowich, a gritty family saga set in the American South. It's a swift kick in the ass and a journey into the heart of a tormented family.

The Burroughs family have been the de facto owners and the defenders of Bull Mountain, in Georgia, for several generations. They are also outlaws, peddlers of illegal substances (they upgraded from corn whiskey to weed to methamphetamines over three generations) and the boogeymen of the region. Clayton Burroughs is cut from a different cloth than his brothers, uncles and elders. He's more sensitive than them, yet he's been raised with the same grit and firmness. After meeting Kate, Clayton's desire to distance himself from his family and got himself elected sheriff in a nearby town. The fragile balance he took years to establish in his life is turned upside down one morning when an ATF agent shows up at his office with an offer he really can't refuse.

BULL MOUNTAIN is an ambitious novel. Before starting it, I skimmed through and found things I would've normally considered red flags for a first novel such as switching point of views and switching time periods back and forth. Brian Panowich makes it work, since the Burroughs family history is buried in time and generations, whenever the storyline goes back in time it's to explain something going on in present tense.This technique adds layers of complexity to a story that it otherwise straightforwardly told and accessible. BULL MOUNTAIN's a standout novel yes, but I also think it's going to be a commercial success due to its straightforwardness, its universal themes (family, personal emancipation, vengeance) and the absolute vividness of its dialogue.

Speaking of which...

''Listen, Holly. I'm nothing like you. I'm just a guy born and raised less than fifteen minutes from where you're sitting right now. I'm no hotshot lawman looking to save the world from the evil that men do.'' Sarcasm dripped from his voice. ''I don't care much about what happens out there in your world, Agent Holly. I'm a hick sheriff in a small town doing my best to keep the people of this valley - the good people of this valley - safe from the never-ending river of shit that flows down that mountain, and the trigger-happy frat boys that think they can come here and show us hillbillies how badass they are. In my opinion, all of you coups and robbers, alike, post the same threat to my constituency, and that makes you and me the very definition of 'nothing alike.' ''

The non-linear structure of BULL MOUNTAIN allows Brian Panowich to make his novel a greatest hits of Burroughs' family darkest/most badass moments. There are a couple of scenes where the sharpness of the dialogue reminded me of JUSTIFIED, one of my favourite shows on television. The chapters where Clayton and his brother Halford square off are so intense because despite that Hal being an automaton programmed by their father to take over the drug business, he keeps pressing Clayton's buttons and saying the hurtful stuff only a brother can. It's both precise and complex because as much as you feel that these remarks have been embedded in Halford's brain, he says them with so much conviction that it'll keep you guessing how much pure sadism there is to it. Brian Panowich wrote a killer tough guy novel with finesse, subtlety and several layers of unspoken nuance, and the result is spectacular.

I've recently made my top 10 best novels of 2014, and BULL MOUNTAIN could've easily been up there. It's that good. I don't know many writers who can pull off such a multifaceted narrative told in such a classic, straightforward way. It's always a treat to stumble upon a novel written like that, because it makes you feel smart as a reader. BULL MOUNTAIN is both intellectually and emotionally rewarding, it's a glimpse in the heart of men who have been adrift since before they were born and the portrait of a family at the crossroads, looking to right the ship after years of going in the wrong direction. It's a crime novel, but it's also a family saga and an American tragedy. BULL MOUNTAIN is several things at once, the way standout novels always are. It's coming out on July 14th, but you should pre-order right now and claim your seat in the Brian Panowich bandwagon early. It's about to get crowded.

...and now for the first time this year...

BADASS