Synopsis/blurb.....
A
small Baptist church in Arkansas should be easy pickings for a natural born con
man like Geoffrey Webb. But after talking himself into a cushy job as a youth
minister, he becomes obsessed with the preacher's teenage daughter. When their
relationship is discovered by a corrupt local sheriff named Doolittle Norris,
Webb's easy life begins to fall apart. Backed by a family of psychotic
hillbillies, Sheriff Norris forces Webb into a deadly scheme to embezzle money
from the church. What the Norris clan doesn't understand is that Geoffrey Webb
is more dangerous than he looks, and he has brutal plans of his own.
I’ll be honest, I don’t know a busting lot about this
author to be truthful, though I have now established that he can write! He has
had two books published to date. His other title, The Posthumous Man I have on
my kindle-pc-reader-thingy also.
At 200-odd pages long, I should have finished this a
lot more quickly than I did. I managed about 60 pages on my first day of
opening it, before circumstance conspired to keep me away from my laptop.
Earlier this week, I got back to it, soon picking up where I left off and blitzed
through the last 140 pages in a few hours early morning reading, whilst the
rest of the house slept.
This was a strange little book with an engaging but
manipulative protagonist; one with his eye on the prize of the preacher’s
daughter. Geoffrey Webb, our main man, intent on showing Angela, more than just
a path to the Lord, meets his match (or does he) when he crosses paths with the
Sheriff in a small Arkansas town.
Violent, funny, irreverent and for me enjoyable and
entertaining; Hell on Church Street doesn’t deal in happy endings, but was a
blast while it lasted. Hinkson’s portrayal of a small town church community with
its petty squabbles and manoeuvrings was fantastic.
Not the sort of book that is ever likely to trouble the
best-seller lists, and it probably won’t appeal to a lot of readers. It worked
well for me though.
4 stars from 5....and an immediate reshuffling of Mount
TBR putting The Posthumous Man closer to the top.
I got this sometime last year on Amazon.
Col - It does sound an unusual kind of book. I always give credit to authors who try the innovative, even if I don't particularly care for the outcome. Thanks for sharing this one.
ReplyDeleteMargot, I do enjoy books were the outcome doesn't seem pre-ordained and inevitable. Don't get me wrong I'll pick up a Connelly/Bosch book and enjoy it, but at page 1 I'm 99% certain that Harry is going to triumph. It's interesting to have no idea how the author will end things.
DeleteNow this is what I'm talking about. I specialize in authors who are hard edged and under the radar. This one sounds great.
ReplyDeleteKeishon, I thought this one might appeal. I'm loathe to recommend it because I don't want to be responsible for you spending more of your hard-earned, but....
DeleteWow, set in the south and about a con man who works for a church. I should love this one. I suspect it is too dark and edgy for me, though.
ReplyDeleteI think you're probably right on this one. We'll push the boundaries on something else!
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