North Carolina author Scott Blackburn pulls a nifty feint with his gritty, character-centric rural noir tale, It Dies With You. Blackburn is a first-time novelist but, if you didn’t know that, you’d swear you were in the hands of someone with plenty of books under their belt.

Hudson Miller is a boxer who can’t box, relegated to bouncing at a dive bar, thanks to a post-fight brawl that threatens his living. The punches keep coming when Hudson learns his estranged father, Leland, has been shot in the back of the head at his scrapyard. The cops think it’s a robbery gone wrong. Having been arrested at his father’s wedding, Hudson is surprised to find he’s inherited some rental trailer homes and the scrapyard. Returning to his Bible-belt hometown of Flint Creek, he’s unprepared for all he’ll uncover. Was his father part of an illegal gun-running ring? Then comes a grisly discovery.

Forming an unlikely trio with his father’s crotchety employee, Charlie, who’s closer to 80 than 60, and sparkplug teenager Lucy Reyes, who’s seeking justice for a death in her own family, Hudson peels the skin from what’s really been going on in Flint Creek. Marvellous storytelling with terrific characters and a strong voice. If you’re a reader who enjoys the ‘grit lit’ of authors like Wiley Cash, David Joy or Brian Panowich, this is a must-have for your shelves.

More please.

Reviewed by Craig Sisterson