A book that took me over a month to read? What the hell? That's normally more of a career-spanning omnibus, or a 1000 page comic book collection, not a just-over-three-hundred-page novel.

So, let it be said, the only thing that stopped me from reading this in the usual two to three days was that I started it just as I had to begin packing for a move and, during that time, the book was packed away, and was only found a few days ago. So, the length of time has nothing to do with the quality of the novel, just personal circumstance.

As for the novel itself, man, there's so much to unpack here. A rabid Westboro-like cult following far-right Christian group held under the spell of the main character's father who may or may not be dead. The sibling rivalry between the main character and his brother. The fallout of the second generation of the church's followers. The lies and corruption.

And then there's Earl himself, coming back home after almost three decades and confronting that fallout, as well as his history with all of the above.

So, yeah, there's enough here for a trilogy of books, to be fair, but somehow, the author keeps all the balls in the air and moves the story along nicely, introducing the elements organically.

Just a solid read. Really enjoyed this one. ( )

Earl Marcus returns to his birthplace, a very rural area in North Georgia, after rumours of sightings of his father(after his death )have reached him. He left this area, his father and especially a rather weird (we're talking ordeals by snakes here)and intense evangelical church community where his father was a very charismatic preacher and leader, some 30 years previously. Not much has changed,the church still has fervent followers, moonshine is still drunk and the whole area still feels pretty isolated from the rest of the world. To make matters worse, young girls go missing and return completely disoriented, anxious and with strange marks on their bodies.
This is a very atmospheric novel,one can feel the claustrophobic sensation and the threat of approaching thunderstorms.But as the story evolves,the storyline starts to unravel and the last half/quarter of the book could do with some serious editing. Pity... ( )

This book grabbed me from page one and kept me turning page. It was a good read with lots of mysteries upon mysteries that kept me guessing until the end. Earl Marcus is an interesting character, as are the side characters that come into his life along the way, especially Rufus, a blind man who becomes his best friend, and Mary, who helps him find a connection back to a part of himself that had gone dormant long ago. When Marcus receives the news that an old woman that he cares about is dying, he comes back to his small hometown of Georgia after thirty years away. Upon arrival he discovers that there's something strange going on, and it has to do with his dead father RJ, who founded an extreme fundamentalist snake-handling church. RJ's abusive and rejection still haunts Earl, and coming home starts bringing a lot of old pain and memories to the surface. Worse, he receives a photograph of his father, very much alive and dated after his burial. The members of the Holy Flame church believe they've seen him in the mountains, and that he's ascended, as he said he would... that he's come back to life and is still leading them from a secret place on the mountain, passing messages down through one of the church members that worked as his trusted right hand.. Earl doesn't know what to believe, but when young girls start going missing, some turning back up with strange marks and dead eyes, he knows that he has to try to get to the bottom of things. I've always been fascinated by the snake-handling mountain churches and the extremist beliefs many of them share. Having such a church be the basis for a mystery made me buy this book. Hank Early is a good writer, and the story is ike an onion, with layers peeling off as the story deepens. Earl has a lot of emotional trauma and pain to work through from his childhood and his father's treatment of him. Being home and delving into the mystery forces Earl to confront a lot of the things that made him leave Georgia and the Holy Flame all those decades ago, rejecting his family along with their church. I'm looking forward to readingthe next Earl Marcus mystery in the series. Highly recommended. ( )

Earl Marcus left the mountains of Northern Georgia planning never to return. But when he receives word that Granny is dying, he goes to visit her. Earl believes his fundamentalist preacher father is long dead, but Granny gives him a photograph of the man, taken long after his supposed passing, that proves otherwise.

Earl returns to the Church of the Holy Flame in search of the truth. But the faithful of the church insist RJ has risen to a holy place high in the mountains. And no one speaks about the teenage girls who go missing and return with strange markings on their skin.

Can Earl discover the truth or will the deeply buried secrets be his undoing?

Atmospheric and moody, readers will find the suspenseful plot, the strong sense of place, and the well-drawn characters combine to keep the tension mounting in this gritty, intriguing tale that is both compelling and haunting.

And, imparting significant creepiness to the narrative, there are all those slithery snakes . . . . ( )

Earl was raised in the Georgia mountains ,son of a fire and brimstone preacher who was the leader of a cult like church who believed in the handling of snakes. A man who didn't believe in calling a doctor, believing it was up to God whether the person should live or die, even if that person is there son. Earl would leave home at sixteen, taken in by a wonderful, black woman, who he calls Granny. He would leave the mountains, vowing never to return, which he didn't even when he heard of his father's death. He does return though, when he hears from Granny's granddaughter that she is dying, and when he receives a picture intimating that is father may not be dead after all.

This is the start of a new series, and Earl is a fascinating character. What he finds when he returns home is a boat load of trouble, underhanded dealings and the quest for and abuse of power. This is a gritty read, very atmospheric, divided families and a great deal of fear by the young women in town.
Who to trust, who is involved in the church, and is his father really alive? Answers will be found, with loses for some and reconciliation for others. A good start to this series, and will definitely be reading the second.

ARC from Netgalley. ( )