Brian Panowich was a touring musician for twelve years before settling in East Georgia with his family. He now works full-time as a firefighter. Bull Mountain is his first novel."
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.
And while the violence is shocking in its coldhearted brutality, 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
[Panowich storms] onto the scene with an epic southern tale that
establishes him as a new voice for southern writers. . . . An
unabashed literary page-turner, Bull Mountain, takes readers along
for a ride full of well timed twists and turns, and the shocking
family secret that causes the inevitable climax. . . . one of the
best multi-generational family sagas in years. Huffington Post
You d be hard pressed to believe Bull Mountain is the work of a
debut author. What Panowich puts together is more than a history of
family, but a chronology of the violence perpetrated for nearly a
century in maintaining an empire built on bootleg hooch and drugs
not in the name of power, women, or money, but of home. . .
.Panowich s Southern grit is stubborn and gets into every crevice .
. . he tears apart the hardened, Southern man so popular in rural
noir. Even more, he does so while maintaining that those characters
have a moral, human center. The Los Angeles Review of Books
A brilliant debut novel . . . extraordinary. Atlanta Magazine
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)
Panowich plants his Bull Mountain squarely on those same shelves
among the classic works of Daniel Woodrell, Larry Brown and James
Lee Burke. It's that good. . . . A worthy addition to the growing
canon of dope and deadbeat Southern "country noir." Shelf
Awareness
Prose as punchy as rapid-aged whiskey. Esquire
Part Dashiell Hammett, part Hamlet...The story of a familial
criminal empire embedded in the mountains of North Georgia, [Bull
Mountain] is a book that never lets a complicated plot and
structure get in the way of what, I believe, is Panowich s greatest
gift the ability to build layered, authentic characters and the
world in which they live. . . . Graceful prose, compelling
characters, and a true sense of place [make this] gripping reading.
Augusta Chronicle
The author delivers characters with depth, a lushly described
setting, and an intergenerational battle between good and evil.
After many twists and turns, the story ends with a welcome
surprise. . . . His book will appeal to readers of Wiley Cash, Ron
Rash, and Daniel Woodrell for the way in which it brings the
landscape and culture of rural Appalachia to life. Library
Journal
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
Brian Panowich stamps words on the page as if they ve been blasted
from the barrel of a shotgun, and as with a shotgun blast, no one
is safe from the scattered fragments of history that impale the
people of Bull Mountain. From a conflict born of violence and
loyalty, Panowich brings us a cast of remarkable characters who are
linked by blood but severed by duty. This is a wonderfully rich and
evocative debut novel that is steeped in both the history of
Appalachia and well aware of the current challenges it faces. Wiley
Cash, New York Times-bestselling author of This Dark Road to
Mercy
Brian Panowich had me at the first word of his spectacular debut
novel, 'Family, ' and he held me until the very last page. Bull
Mountain is a sprawling, gritty, violent, tribal inter-generational
crime epic with a deeply rooted sense of place and an gut-punch
ending I didn t see coming. Expect to see Bull Mountain on the
short-list of many 'Best First Novel' awards. C. J. Box, New York
Times-bestselling author of Endangered
Holy cow, what a book! It moves like a bullet. Mr. Panowich knows
his mountains, his whiskey, his dope and his meth. And boy, does he
know his characters, who are drawn sovividly I can't forget them. I
can't recommend this novel enough it will thrill fans of Daniel
Woodrell and Larry Brown as well as fans of Dennis Lehane and
William Gay. First rate, first rate! Tom Franklin, New York
Times-bestselling author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter
The gripping, witty Bull Mountain is not only a fine debut, but a
fine mystery novel, period. Panowich may even have carved out his
own subgenre of hillbilly noir. I can't wait to see what he comes
up with next. John Connolly, New York Times-bestselling author of
The Wolf in Winter
Bull Mountain is a stone gas and a stone winner! It s
brother-versus-brother in the dope-damned South. This first novel
has it all: moonshine, maryjane and mayhem! Read this book now and
succumb to a startling new talent. James Ellroy, author of
Perfidia
Bull Mountain is a stunningly polished debut novel. Panowich s tale
of family, of land, of crimes large and small, of right and wrong,
is so vivid that the reader can almost see the blood in the soil
and smell the violence on the wind. Reed Farrel Coleman, New York
Times-bestselling author of Robert B. Parker s Blind Spot
"The resurgence of American heartland noir gets a strong new prose
soldier with Brian Panowich's debut novel Bull Mountain, a tense,
multi-generational tale of life on the hard side, a cops vs. bad
guys story with subtly interwoven family sagas, romance and
redemption. Panowich is a rising author to watch." James Grady,
author of Six Days of the Condor
"With echoes of Faulkner'sSanctuary and McCarthy'sNo Country for
Old Men, Brian Panowich's debut novel is Cain and Abel for a sticky
South. Strong as bootleg whiskey, smooth as the action of a
well-oiled pistol, Bull Mountain is a beautiful, harrowing debut
and so much fun, it ought to be against the law." Aaron Gwyn,
author of Wynne's War
Dug into the landscape like a grave, Bull Mountain is a novel that
resonates with a stirring combinationofgrace and brutality, of
beauty and loss. In the Burroughs family, Brian Panowichcreates a
clan with all the fire and depth of Faulkner s Henry Sutpen
storming through a Steve Earle song. Steve Weddle, author of
Country Hardball"
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