My Hillbilly Noir Picks

 Hillbilly noir is a hot topic in the book world so I thought I would weight in with some of my favorites. 

Brian Panowich- The Bull Mountain series will absolutely knock your socks off! On the surface these all seem to be run-of-the-mill noir but the plot twists will floor you. I have literary thrown these books across with room with excitement. Don't forget The Broken King, which doesn't follow the storyline but is a great little insert that slides right into sticks right there with the 'shine stills and meth labs.

Elmore Leonard- You cannot look past Leonard's Raylan Givens series. That a whole TV-show is based on one tightly wound short story tells you just how well this storyline is written. Givens first appears in Pronto, but the short story Fire In The Hole is where you really get the action. The icing on the cake is Raylan. You aren't going wrong by picking up 

Dry County by Jake Hinkson- Small town Arkansas in the Ozarks is a good bit like small town Appalachia. Christian, Conservative, dirty and greasy. I was laid flat with this book and left with an aftertaste that is still lingering in my soul. This book is WELL worth the read. 

Ron Rash- It is hard to lump Rash into the strictly noir camp, but it is hard not to. Crime, sex, money, drugs and of course hillbillies are all around his books, but there is a softness to Rash's style that sets him apart from traditional noir, and I LOVE IT! I would peg Ron Rash right between William Faulkner and Dashiell Hammett. Call it soft boiled noir. Read In The Valley if you get the chance. Something about short noir really hits the spot

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A Cosby- Fantastic story that comes from the wrong side of the tracks in central Virginia. If you are a motor head, you are going to love this book. Fast cars, suspense filled runs, and the trappings of a great noir. This one is as dark as rubber laid on hot pavement in the middle of a piedmont Virginia August Tuesday.