Book Review: The Heathens by Ace Atkins

About:

The Heathens by Ace Atkins is the 11th book in the Quinn Colson series, or The Ranger. Mr. Atkins is a published author, and former crime reporter.

  • 416 pages
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ G.P. Putnam’s Sons
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : 0593328396


My rat­ing for The Heathens5

Buy The Heathens from Amazon.com*
More Books by Ace Atkins*

Thoughts:

There are explicitly two reasons I knew I was immediately going to like The Heathens by Ace Atkins. The first is obvious, I’ve been a fan of the series since the beginning. Furthermore, is the author’s unnamed homage to the fantastic 1985 film The Legend of Billie Jean, which I have seen numerous times as a teen.

I was especially looking forward to see where the next Quinn Colson book will go. After all, the Sheriff cleaned up Tibbehah County quite nicely already. Mr. Atkins, however, brings back old villains which we love to hate.

It was a good idea for the recurring characters in The Range series move aside in the novel to favor the new ones. This was because the main characters are already well developed and are not afraid to let new ones take center stage.

We find Quinn Colson finally settling into the life he never knew he wanted and needed, married with children. Lillie Virgil juggles her daughter and career, meanwhile Boon has only a small part in this novel.

The author captures life in a small town brilliantly meanwhile. The complex relationships of people who know each other well, sometimes too well, are explored in a subtle way. That being said, the charms of living in such a place are not skipped over, making Tibbehah County a character of its own.

This a smart crime story, not a mystery. A retelling of The Legend of Billie Jean for the modern age, with twists and turns at the same time.  The Heathens is a great book if you’re a fan of the series, however new readers might not enjoy it as old fans. We are familiar with the recurring characters, their nuances, personalities, and histories which makes this series one of my favorites.

Synopsis:

Quinn Colson, sheriff of Tibbehah County in northeast Mississippi, has a strange case on his hands on account of TJ Byrd. TJ is a teenage girl, insists she didn’t kill her mother, a drug addict. Sheriff Colson is the only one to believe her.

TJ herself is no angel, she runs away with her boyfriend a nine-year-old brother, becoming a social-media phenomena. Together with Lillie Virgil, Colson tracks the kids over the state line in an attempt to find the truth.

Buy The Heathens from Amazon.com*
More Books by Ace Atkins*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free.
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account

 

Summary
Review Date
Reviewed Item
The Heathens by Ace Atkin
Author Rating
5
Product Name
The Heathens by Ace Atkin
Man of la Book

A father, husband, avid reader, blogger, software engineer & wood worker who is known the world over as a man of many interests and to his wife as “an idiot”.

Recent Posts

Fun Facts Friday: Julien Green

Julien Green - A prolific American writer of novels, essays, plays, and even a biography. Mr.…

2 days ago

Book Review: The Lincoln Miracle by Edward Achorn

The Lincoln Miracle puts the Republican convention into context of the national battle against slavery.…

3 days ago

Book Review: Double or Nothing by Kim Sherwood

This new, PC world-building is done without nuance, taste, or elegance, shoving activism into the…

5 days ago

Fun Facts Friday: Elizabeth Longford

Elizabeth Longford was a British historian, biographer and considered to be one of them most…

1 week ago

Guest Post: Transforming Your Writing Space from Hobby to Professional

Dedicating yourself professionally to this craft, no matter what you’re writing, requires a place in…

1 week ago

Book Review: Allegiance by Erika Raskin

The author bumped up the rhetoric, but not by much. The leaders in the book…

2 weeks ago

This website uses cookies.