The Broken Places
Authors: Ace Atkins
The Broken Places (A Quinn Colson Novel) Hardcover
Ace Atkins
Putnam Adult (2013)
Rating: ★★★★☆
The remarkable third novel in the “harrowing” (
Associated Press
), “killer” (
Minneapolis Star Tribune
) new series about the real Deep South from the
New York Times
–bestselling author.
A year after becoming sheriff, Quinn Colson is faced with the release of an infamous murderer from prison. Jamey Dixon comes back to Jericho preaching redemption, and some believe him; but for the victim’s family, the only thought is revenge.
Another group who doesn’t believe him—the men in prison from Dixon’s last job, an armored car robbery. They’re sure he’s gone back to grab the hidden money, so they do the only thing they can: break out and head straight to Jericho themselves.
Colson and his deputy, Lillie, know they’ve got their work cut out for them. But they don’t count on one more unwelcome visitor: a tornado that causes havoc just as events come to a head. Communications are down, the roads are impassable—and the rule of law is just about to snap.
ALSO BY ACE ATKINS
Crossroad Blues
Leavin’ Trunk Blues
Dark End of the Street
Dirty South
White Shadow
Wicked City
Devil’s Garden
Infamous
The Ranger
Robert B. Parker’s Lullaby
The Lost Ones
Robert B. Parker’s Wonderland
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Copyright © 2013 by Ace Atkins
Endpaper map © 2013 by Joe Worthem
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
Published simultaneously in Canada
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Atkins, Ace.
The broken places / Ace Atkins.
p. cm.
ISBN 978-1-101-59270-0
1. United States. Army—Commando troops—Fiction. 2. Murder—Investigation—Fiction. 3. Mississippi—Fiction. 4. Domestic fiction. I. Title.
PS3551.T49B76 2013 2013009334
813'.54—dc23
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
In memory of David Thompson
CONTENTS
The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong in the broken places.
But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.
—ERNEST HEMINGWAY,
A Farewell to Arms
, 1929
Don’t ever take a chance you don’t have to.
—ROGERS’ RANGERS STANDING ORDER NO. 5
“This ain’t no joke,” Esau Davis said. “We go home, you go home. But a few more years on our sentence don’t mean jack shit to us. We’ll kill you if we need to.”
The prison guard, face flat to the concrete of the ag shed, made a short grunt in agreement as Esau removed a knee from the man’s spine and a good two inches of baling wire from his ear. Just to make sure the guard was listening, Esau slammed the man’s forehead into a trailer hitch before looking to a skinny black man with a misshapen head and crooked teeth. The black man, Bones Magee, set about binding the guard’s hands and feet. This was the third guard he and Esau had snatched up in the last ten minutes. Bones wore black-and-white pants, while Esau wore green-and-white stripes, Esau being the one who’d earned minimal confinement on Parchman Farm.
