Another fun read from the great state of Mississippi, with of course, a bit of Tennessee thrown in - perhaps because both those states have a surplus of double letters. All the really dumb, bigoted criminals are still here, along with a biker gang, but as usual, Quinn Colson and now-sheriff Lily Virgil keep things more or less under control.

In this story, a teenage girl is discovered walking down the street engulfed in flames. That's a pretty hard act to consider even for the bad guys in this town, but somebody or bodies did it, and it's up to our heroes to find out who, and perhaps why. ( )

Oh boy, this book was good, can't wait to read the next one! ( )

best you can do for grit noir. Wanna visit the South. The low living South. Read this. ( )

When it comes to serialized novels, one can't go wrong with Ace Atkins' Quinn Colson series.

Each book is solid entertainment and consistently good with each new novel. Atkins has not turned his characters into unbelievable caricatures often found in other series, nor do his tales breach the level of possibility.

Without giving too much away, Colson has returned home, again, after a stint away from home and aids in a murder investigation where multiple people have a motive for the killing. (I won't reveal more, because, oddly, the murder does not happen immediately in the novel).

All the regulars in his previous novels return and in this novel, Atkins is all ready placing the foundation for the future novels. Johnny T. Stagg may be in prison, but that doesn't other vermin rise to the top to take his place.

Strongly recommended for a nice, lazy summer read. his ( )

Somewhere inside of him Atkins has a really good novel. Unfortunately that's not going to happen until he gets a good editor. The Innocents is certainly better then The Redeemers but again suffers from proofreading errors and inexplicable plot jumps. This is a shame because Atkiins has created a world populated by compelling characters that don't deserve to be undone by mechanical errors. No sense in discussing the plot because it unravels fairly quickly after a good set up. Just know that it's set in Mississippi and centers on a young girls walking down the road on fire. I'd recomend this for the character and as a starting place for when that really good book comes along. ( )