Title: Deep Blood
Author: Phillip Thompson
Genre: mystery
Price: $12.70 (paperback) / $7.69 (Kindle)
Publisher: Roundfire Books
ISBN:
Point of Sale: Amazon
Reviewed by: Chris Gerrib
Deep Blood is Phillip Thompson’s third
novel. If his other two are anywhere
near as good as this, I’ll have to add both to my list.
Thompson,
a Marine who served in the First Gulf War, was born and raised in a small town
in Mississippi, and in Deep Blood he returns to those roots. Deep
Blood’s protagonist is Sam “Colt” Harper, a newly-elected sheriff in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Colt was also a Marine, fought in Iraq and as
sheriff he brought one of his Marine buddies in as deputy. Oh, and Colt’s dad is the town’s drunk.
The story essentially
starts with Colt finding a body in the local reservoir, that of Clifford
Raines, a black teenager. Figuring out
who killed the boy is part of the story, as well as sorting out his personal
life and family history. Deep Blood is “southern-fried noir.” It has that dark edge, with characters who
most definitely aren’t saints, dealing with tough hands dealt them by life as
best they can.
I have to say that
Thompson takes a dark view of race relationships, and his character’s language
runs from salty to crude. But then this
is noir, not Disney, so one should expect that.
Having warned the sensitive reader, I have to say that I found Deep Blood a gripping read, and well
worth the effort. There’s a saying in
vaudeville to “always leave your audience wanting more.” Deep
Blood is a short novel, and so I wanted more, but in a good way.
In short, for fans of
hard-boiled crime novels, Deep Blood
is a great read. Highly recommended.
8/10
