Bull Mountain
by Brian Panowich
Putnam
June 21, 2016
From a remarkable voice in Southern fiction comes a multigenerational saga of crime, family, and vengeance.
Clayton Burroughs comes from a long line of outlaws. For generations, the Burroughs clan has made its home on Bull Mountain in North Georgia, running shine, pot, and meth over six state lines, virtually untouched by the rule of law. To distance himself from his family’s criminal empire, Clayton took the job of sheriff in a neighboring community to keep what peace he can. But when a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms shows up at Clayton’s office with a plan to shut down the mountain, his hidden agenda will pit brother against brother, test loyalties, and could lead Clayton down a path to self-destruction.
In a sweeping narrative spanning decades and told from alternating points of view, the novel brilliantly evokes the atmosphere of the mountain and its inhabitants: forbidding, loyal, gritty, and ruthless. A story of family—the lengths men will go to protect it, honor it, or in some cases destroy it—Bull Mountain is an incredibly assured debut that heralds a major new talent in fiction.
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Praise for Bull Mountain:
“[Brian Panowich] pulls off [a] daunting undertaking with astounding
success…The storytelling is mesmerizing, with virtually every chapter
set in a different timeline and focused on a single character, but the
sense of immediacy carries over into each era….it’s as aesthetically
choreographed as any ballet.”
—Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
“Panowich has crafted a satisfying and smartly constructed book whose
time-shifting sequences build suspense even as they parcel out telling
revelations. Once events are in full play, there’s no turning back.”
—The Wall Street Journal
“Dazzling…Panowich tells his story in lengthy, nicely worked chapters
reminiscent of John Steinbeck, who did his own brother-versus-brother
story in East of Eden. Both write in a flowing, textured, understated style
that is such a pleasure to read we don’t realize we’re being set up for a
series of uppercuts. They come in revelations accompanied by
gunfire. Read and recommend to anyone who follows
country noir or savors delicious prose.”
—Booklist (starred review)
“Hillbilly noir goes literary in [Bull Mountain]…Panowich deftly
delves into “something deeper than bone” between fathers and
sons, between the land and its people.”
—Kirkus Reviews