An exciting thriller about a snake handling preacher who died of an apparent snake bite. A small town appalachia setting with many layers; homophobia in the church and the domino effect of that culture, the generational drug problem, the way that everyone in town has a silver F150. Except for the people who have a black F150.
Annie Gore is back as a private investigator- she works alongside the police but is a detective for hire and has a classic Datsun that she really babies named “honey.” She is hired by a woman whose biological father died and was buried really quickly of a snake bite with no autopsy. She had a dream or vision about him and she doesn’t think it is a coincidence, so she sends Annie to Brimstone Hollow to see if there is anything fishy. There is.
What I really enjoyed about this story was that there were aspects of the small town that intersected as you would expect, but the characters always had more than they seemed. It was not all pure stereotypes about people in Kentucky, they were complex characters in the area, some by choice and others by circumstance. I loved the fast pacing and how the setting was complicated and nuanced. The characters were engaging and the ending… WOW! I was hooked. I was a fan of the first and now glad I read this as well!
Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur books for the ARC. Book to be published August 11, 2026
Leave a Reply