Sheriff Quinn Colson is determined to clean up the criminal element in Tibbehah County. But there may be more evil lurking under the surface than one man can handle. From a family of drug selling yahoos, to shadowy trucking company thugs, evil is ready to go toe to toe with Quinn Colson. Highly recommended.

Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons on July 17, 2018

If he lives to the end of The Sinners, Quinn Colson plans to get married. His friend Boom Kimbrough is supposed to be his best man, if he live to the end of the novel. Lillie Virgil, now working as a federal marshal in Memphis, plans to attend the wedding, if it happens (fortunately, nobody in The Sinners is trying to kill her). Fannie Hathcock, who runs the local titty bar, is not invited to the wedding. You’ll need to read the earlier books in the series to understand the history of those characters. And you should read the earlier books, because the Quinn Colson novels are lively, funny, and thoroughly entertaining.

The Sinners involves the intersection of Kimbrough, Hathcock, and the Pritchard family, which has a reputation for stock car racing and selling marijuana. Kimbrough has a truck driving job, but he’s not happy to learn that the cargo he’s hauling isn’t entirely legitimate. Heath Pritchard, having served his time in Parchman, is back in town, much to the displeasure of his nephews, Cody and Tyler, who took over the family drug business while their uncle was behind bars. Heath’s return coincides with the murder of one of Fannie’s employees (they have a troublesome habit of getting themselves killed). Quinn works on finding the killer when he isn’t avoiding the task of making wedding plans, but his investigation is only part of a much broader story of local crime and its connection to organized crime.

The setting is the same as other books in the series: a small redneck community in fictional Tibbehah County, Mississippi, whose residents exemplify confederate values: white supremacy, religious hypocrisy, and ignorance disguised as righteousness. Atkins’ characters are always nicely balanced. Quinn is a decent man who feels guilt about his less exemplary conduct. Hathcock, who doesn’t even try to be exemplary, is becoming one of my favorite Atkins characters because she’s smart, speaks her mind, and doesn’t need a bunch of people who think they can make American great again “trying to tell me how to run my business because they were born with a pecker between their bowed legs.”

The story races along, leading to eventual car chases and shootouts, but the action is secondary to drama that come from the characters’ interaction: the dynamic between Heath and his nephews; the friendship between Quinn and Kimbrough (a bond that is threatened by an act of violence); Hatchcock’s response to the criminals who seek firmer control of her operation. Ace Atkins always tells a good story, and he does it again in The Sinners, but his characters make the Quinn Colson series special.

RECOMMENDED

THE SINNERS by Ace Atkins is the eighth book in his Quinn Colson series, and one of the best so far. Set in the north end of Mississippi, this has all the hallmarks of a southern gothic with today’s headlines tossed in as a sweetener.

Quinn Colson is the sheriff of Tibbehah Country where a lot of good people live. Too bad there are rats in the walls, screaming to come out. The Pritchard boys and their fresh-from-prison uncle, race cars, grow fine pot and stir the mix for the local baddies.

Fannie Hathcock runs the local strip club and helps the Dixie Mafia with their pipeline of drugs, human trafficking, and other nefarious activities. She's starting to feel horned in by the Pritchards, and the people she works for up the Mafia chain.

Colton has the Pritchards and Fannie to worry about on top of the murder of a young black man who had been working for Fannie, and some outlaw bikers involved in a shooting at the local Walmart. Add to that mess that he's soon to be betrothed, and his in up to his little redneck, well, neck.

There is a lot of history tied into this story. While Atkins does his best to keep the lessons of the past at a minimum, it would be difficult for a new reader (but not altogether impossible) to enjoy this book as a standalone. Having read other books by Mr. Atkins, specifically his work for the Robert B. Parker estate, I know his work is outstanding. So, for readers who are planning to read THE SINNERS, and have read the first seven, jump in and enjoy. Otherwise, head back to THE RANGER, the first in the Quinn Colson series and mellow out with a long, compelling, well written series that will take you into the back woods and rivers of this intriguing area of America.

THE SINNERS: A Quinn Colson Novel
Ace Atkins
Putnam Books
ISBN 978-0-399-57674-4
Hardcover
Thriller

THE SINNERS hits all the high notes. Ace Atkins’ eighth installment in the Quinn Colson canon is gritty, funny, profane, and riveting, often all at once. Colson is the high sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi and a favorite (to some, though not everyone) son of the town of Jericho, the county seat. The Colson family goes deep and wide into Jericho’s history, as do a number of families on both sides of the law, and it is this generational conflict that is one of the elements that gives THE SINNERS its shine and tarnish in equal measure.

THE SINNERS begins in June 1993 with Tibbehah County Sheriff (and Colson’s uncle) Hamp Beckett laying in wait to arrest Heath Pritchard, a notoriously slippery local drug dealer. The remainder of the book takes place in the present, wherein Tyler and Cody Pritchard have taken over the family farm. The young men run a high-tech subterranean grow farm by day and use the profits to finance their true love, which is drag racing and the babe-magnet potential that goes with it. The Pritchards’ somewhat shady lifestyle goes posterior over teakettle, however, when their Uncle Heath, newly released from a prison stretch of over two decades, shows up at the family farm with a whole load of expectations, desires, and a dangerous, smoldering anger. Heath has barely put his boots on the Pritchard family farm before he kills a young man who has been sent to gather information, as it were, on the Pritchard grow farm. The efforts of the Pritchards to hide the body from discovery give them a lead of an entire few hours and reverberate throughout the book. Heath for his part has a sense of entitlement that his nephews resent but acquiesce to, at least at first. Heath in the meanwhile has his own ideas of how to grow the business in the territorial sense, but is distracted when he all too quickly discovers the Rebel Truck Stop, which includes a strip club. Fannie Hathcock (never let it be said that Colson lacks a sense of humor), the owner of the Rebel and a number of unofficial side businesses that go with it, has enough trouble of her own without Heath and the other Pritchards (however reluctantly) encroaching on her business, what with the crime syndicates and the like attempting to take over the quiet county. It’s a heady stew that Atkins cooks up in THE SINNERS as alliances change and shift while those involved discover that they really can’t trust anyone, which, of course, they already knew. And what of Colson? He is all set up to marry Maggie Powers, but his job keeps looking like it’s going to get in the way. What with his former deputy Lillie Virgil having headed north --- to Memphis in search of other employment, Colson has to rely on his less experienced deputies as well as his friend Boom and some other unofficially deputized acquaintances to keep the peace, investigate that murder I mentioned before, and otherwise keep a lid on everything in the county before it all boils over. And boil over it does. Don’t be surprised if THE SINNERS ends without a hitch.

Atkins really puts the reader in the moment in THE SINNERS. It took me longer than it should have to read THE SINNERS because I kept copying long stretches of the dialogue down. Sometimes I didn’t need to. Heath’s description at one point of a stripper is one that I will carry with me until the day I die. You’ll know which one it is when you read it. You’ll laugh so hard that you won’t be able to see. A good part of THE SINNERS takes place in the Rebel, a place so gritty that you want to bathe in hand sanitizer after reading about it (though I am sure Atkins’ descriptions are culled from second-hand sources). More is coming, for sure. Colson has made some powerful people very unhappy. As the conclusion of THE SINNERS indicates, things in Jericho may change very quickly. Jump on this terrific series before they do. Strongly recommended.

Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
© Copyright 2018, The Book Report, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ace Atkins’ Quinn Colson books are as good as it gets. His sense of place, northern Mississippi is spot on, and his characters interesting. This newest is a fast paced, exciting mystery fans of James Burke or Joe Landsdale will love

I absolutely LOVE this series by Ace Atkins. While this was the 8th book in the series, it was my 4th or 5th book. I didn't start at the beginning, but I started as soon as I could.

Tibbehah County has always got something going on, even though it's so small. And this book had lots going on. There are three different sets of bad guys and you definitely don't want to get caught up in their crap.

Quinn Colson is kind of like an old time Western sheriff IMO. He's laid back, however, he's not going to take any crap off anyone. He's someone I think I could hang around for a while.

Old man Pritchard cracked me up in this book. Having spent a long time in jail and just now getting out. I had never heard of Red Velvet Oreo's until this book. And yes, I had to get some at the grocery store the last time that I went. And yes, they are delicious.

I especially loved the part about Proctor and Gamble. I remember when everyone said they were the devil company due to their logo. That was a historical event you won't see in many history books.

As I've said, I love this series and can't wait to read the next one.

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Good addition for fans of the series! Similar set up to previous books but with a new case to solve. Fast paced, easy read with lots of action and suspense. The series is almost getting to the point of being predictable though.

When my husband and I would sit around with our friends telling work stories about Mississippi criminals, we would always preface them with “You just can’t make this shit up.” Well I hope to God that Ace Atkins made up most of his stories in the wonderful The Sinners. Even in North Mississippi I don’t think most of the wide variety of thugs and redneck criminals in the Quin Colson series could exist outside of Mr. Atkins’ fertile mind.
The major conundrums in Mr. Atkins’ books is which set of sinners is the worst? The woman who answers to the Dixie Mafia, but often sets her own agenda; the trashy pot growers who live to race; their out of control uncle just fresh out of Parchman Penitentiary; the bikers just rebuilding their club; the Memphis crime boss; or the crooked politicians who are also controlled by the Dixie Mafia?
To balance the criminals, Mr. Atkins doesn’t forget that the majority of people in North Mississippi are warm, lovely people; many with ties to the land going back generations.
In the outstanding The Sinners Sheriff Quin Colson of Tibbehah County is about to get married; one of his closest friends and former deputies, Lillie Virgil, has moved to Memphis and become a U.S. Marsha; his other very close friend, Boom Kimbrough, has gone back to trucking with near disastrous results. Colson also has a gruesome murder to investigate. .
Add to this mix the Dixie Mafia attempting to control just about everything in north Mississippi. Well they soon enough find out they can’t control Miss Fannie Hathcock, owner of Vienna, a gentleman’s club. Fannie and everyone else also find out ain’t nobody can control Heath Pritchard, newly released from Parchman and determined to take control of his numbskull nephews and their incredible pot growing operation.
The Dixie Mafia, which is actually an existing loose confederation of southern criminals, has their nasty tentacles into drugs, stolen goods and human trafficking. They make several mistakes in Tibbehah county, but they aren’t the sort to forgive and forget which gives us the set-up for the next book.
Not every plot line revolves around Colson-or at least not yet, nor does he take center stage; but the former U.S. Army Ranger is the heart of Tibbehah County as he does his best to protect its citizens.
The Sinners is action packed with richly drawn characters. Reading this book is like riding shot-gun with a Pritchard boy during one of his races. The language is rough as usual; but the writing is still as smooth as a soft-serve ice cream cone.
Atkins, is a phenomenal story teller in the rich southern way-you must be born to it. Born to it, but still able to make use of his birthright.He will no doubt be doing readings in bookstores; he should instead be sitting on a front porch with bourbon or beer, a hound or two and a bunch of people. Maybe he should be doing a reading around the fire after a day at deer camp. Best of all he should be doing a reading at a catfish fry thrown by a North Mississippi sheriff.
I would give The Sinners the proverbial sixth star for the mention of MBN and the shout out to The Roosevelt Hotel and Sazeracs. I will drink a well made Sazerac on release day. PS I too had a catfish fry for my rehearsal dinner.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I found myself reading this in a southern voice in my head. Especially with the police. This is a very good down home, pot growing kind of book. I love the way the author built up the characters. This is the first book I have read by this author and it won’t be the last. Thank you to NetGalley for letting me review this book.

The Sinners by Ace Atkins is number eight in the Quinn Colson series. Atkins' Colson is the former Army Ranger and current sheriff of Tibbehah County, Mississippi. In this novel, Colson is in preparation for his wedding to a character introduced in a previous novel and while doing so, different arms of criminality are snaking through Tibbehah County, sometimes in conflict with each other and later conjoining in the ending to the novel.

The novel opens with a flashback to an incident almost 25 years ago involving Colson's uncle when he was sheriff for the purpose of introducing one of the characters featured in the book.

Atkins brings back previously introduced characters, including Fannie Hathcock, as well as other members of the criminal underworld, even those outside of Tibbehah County.

Atkins also introduces new characters, one in particular, which will lead the reader to be comfortable knowing Atkins is not done with the Colson character.

Atkins is a consistently good storyteller that not only keeps his characters moving forward but also keeps them interesting, which includes his practice of introducing interesting villains. Novels in this series have proven to be reliably enjoyable and looked forward to each year.

Recommended to those that enjoy well-written crime novels, especially involving the South.

The Pritchards are just some good ole boys, never meaning no harm. Making their way the only way they know how. That’s just a little bit more than Sheriff Quinn Colson will allow.

Ah, damn it. I think I owe Waylon Jenning’s estate a royalty payment now.

This one starts out way back in the prehistoric days of the 1993 with Tibbehah County Sheriff Hamp Beckett finally nailing his nemesis, a hell-raising pot-farmer named Heath Pritchard, with enough weed to send him to prison for a long stretch.

Twenty five years later the nephews of both men have gone into their respective family businesses. Quinn Colson is the sheriff while Tyler and Cody Pritchard grow some of the best pot around, and they use the money to fund their love of dirt-track auto racing. The lady who runs the *ahem* gentlemen’s club, Fannie Hathcock, is also the local representative of the Dixie Mafia, and she suspects the Pritchard boys might be cutting into her profit margin with their higher quality weed.

This is a powder keg getting ready to blow, and the fuse is lit when Heath Pritchard gets out of jail and inserts himself into his nephews’ lives. While Tyler and Cody just want to make enough money to pay for cars and Jack Daniels their uncle thinks that he should be able to resume his place as the stud duck of Tibbehah County with no regard for the law or the criminals currently running the show.

As this is going on Quinn’s best friend, Boom Kimbrough, has taken a job as a long-haul trucker, but he discovers that his company is a critical part of the supply chain hauling all kinds of illegal stuff across the South. As if he doesn’t have enough on his plate, Quinn also has to get ready for his upcoming wedding.

I’ve enjoyed every book of this series, but this is my favorite of them so far. Ace Atkins has built up each character and the setting so that Tibbehah County is its own vivid world now. While each novel has its own self-contained story there’s also been a complex overall arc going on in the background. One of the more interesting aspects is the way that the nature of crime itself is evolving in rural Mississippi over the last ten years. When the series started the ruling redneck kingpin was a good ole boy county politician who engaged in more traditional forms of small town corruption. Now the game has changed with politicians more focused on trying to roll back the clock as cover for far more ambitious schemes then just milking the county’s expense budget. Money seems to be flowing everywhere except to people looking for good jobs, and this includes expansion by organized crime who want to move drugs by the truckload instead of just letting a couple of good ole boys sell a little weed.

I also really like what Atkins did with the Pritchards here. He’s sprinkled references and homages to other works in his books like a subtle homage to True Grit into one of his Spenser novels. Here, the Pritchards obviously seem to be inspired by The Dukes of Hazzard TV series.

If this was Atkins winking at the reader and playing this as a jokey reference, it’d just be a gimmick. However, what’s he done with this idea is pretty clever. Bo and Luke Duke were just a couple of redneck Robin Hoods fighting corrupt local officials. However, the Pritchards aren’t running moonshine, they’re growing high end weed, and their enemy isn’t the comical Boss Hogg, it’s an entire murderous criminal syndicate. Similarly, their uncle isn’t a lovable old rascal with a talent for making shine who doles out good advice. Heath is a strutting criminal with poor impulse control who pisses off everyone he deals with by acting like it's still 1993, and that he's the biggest swinging dick around.

In short, the Dukes are the fantasy of the good-hearted Southern boys who like to raise a little hell, and there ain’t no pickle they can’t get out of by driving fast and jumping over the nearest creek. That won't help when facing an organized system that has far more resources and no hesitation about killing off anyone who might cost them a nickel.

Everyone in the book is getting squeezed by the powers that be in some fashion. Frannie has made a fortune for her bosses for years, but the second they think she’s got a problem in her operation they start questioning her capability and start making moves to muscle her out. Boom is just trying to mind his own business while making a honest living, but he finds himself caught up in the schemes of criminals and the demands of law enforcement. Quinn is under pressure from shitbird politicians more concerned about checking the immigration status of anyone who isn't white rather than dealing with the growth of organized crime in their backyard.

That’s the effective theme that Atkins is working with here. It’s the collision of the dream that all a country boy needs to survive is a can of Skoal and his trusty shotgun vs. the cold hard realities of the 21st century, and it makes for a helluva read.

Thanks to netgalley.com, Ace Atkins and Penguin Group Putnam for the advance ARC copy for my honest review.

Quinn Colson's back, the tougher than nails Sheriff of Tibbehah County, he's ready to battle the Dixie Mafia, the redneck Pritchard's and can't forget his pending wedding. His former right-hand women Lillie Virgil just 99 miles up the road in Memphis, wears a U.S. Marshall badge now and 'The Sinners'
picks up action wise were 'The Fallen' ended.

'The Sinners is one heck of an awesome read, definitely in the running for my favorite read in 2018. Atkin grabs you from the first page reminiscing about Sheriff Hamp Beckett, who happened to be Quinn's uncle and why he wanted to be Sheriff.

So strap yourself down in your favorite spot, then go on a wild ride in a badass brand new Ford pick-up, as your favorite Sheriff turns the county upside down trying find out who killed the Preacher's son, the never ending battle to shutdown the Dixie Mafia, full of twists and turns, vivid characters and let your imagination flow, as Atkins takes you on a realistic, heart pounding read.

With 'the Sinner's', Atkins offers up, yet another multi-layered intertwining storyline, ripped right out of the headlines, he keeps raising the bar with each offering, with new elements added to the mix
and leaves you eagerly waiting for the next Quinn Colson adventure.

How can you not like the Quinn Colson character? He's blue collar, digs old Country and Western music, not the candy ass shit they play these days, he's tough as nails, an ex-Ranger who makes Reacher look like a wimp, protecting troubled Tibbehah County as it's Sheriff, family oriented, thinks of nothing to help friends and Atkins just makes him larger than life with his words.

Atkins is the ultimate master of character development. He breathes life into them good or bad, they play a vitale role in the storylines and aren't just needless distractions to the overall story.

The cool thing with Atkins, even bad guy characters will be written in a way that they play a vital role to the story, with the Sinners, you have Heath, Toby and Cody Pritchard and being a fan of the Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series, enjoyed the racing parts in the story.

Then you have Quinn's mom Jean, his sister Caddy who seems to have her life in order, his nephew little Jason, his dog Hondo, his fiancee Maggie, her son Brandon, Boom and they make the story all that much more better.

Also like that Lillie Virgil's still around, just up the road in Memphis wearing a U.S. Marshal badge now, still larger than life and as badass as ever.

Atkins should be in every reader's book case, he's that good of an author and just feel he deserves more recognition than he gets.

Author Bob Mayer refers to the big known publishing house authors as Airport Authors. Well Ace Atkins would be my favorite airport author, he can out write James Patterson and has a legend smilin' down on him.

Reviews already posted on goodreads.com, once it's released on amazon.com, B&N.com, Kobo and Bookbub.com

I've been reading Ace Atkins since the Nick Travers novels. It has been a great pleasure watching him grow as a writer, now to the point where he is arguably the best crime novelist on the planet. That is not hyperbole. You can count on Ace Atkins to deliver a novel with hard characters making hard choices. You can count on those characters delivering lines of sterling dialogue. You can count on those characters being so developed you the reader will feel as though you can reach in the pages and touch their skin. You can count on a sense of place developed enough that you will feel as though you are a denizen. With THE SINNERS, Atkins' eighth Quinn Colson novel, we find the writer in a well-established groove. Colson, a former Ranger, now Sheriff in Tibbehah, Mississippi, faces off with the Pritchards, a ne'er-do-well family of drug-dealing lowlifes. There's the two brothers, Tyler and Cody, and, worst of all, their Uncle Heath, just released from prison and with a score to settle with Quinn Colson for some past bad history. Of course, this trio is headed for a collision with Colson that no one will leave unscathed. What makes Atkins' novels so extraordinary is the different balls he manages to juggle along with the main storyline. In THE SINNERS we have Colson's upcoming nuptials and a number of other interesting diversions. I won't spoil all the subplots, but suffice to say every one of them is as interesting as the other. Atkins never disappoints. Slot this one in already as a best-of for 2018.

It pains me to rate a Quinn Colson, let along an Ace Atkins novel a 3-star rating, but allow me to make my case.

I have been, and still am, a fan of the Colson and Tibbehah series since i first read the very first chapter of The Ranger. I was actually very excited about The Sinners. The plot seemed to go out of the beaten path of the series and The Redeemers had given Lily Virgil the place she deserved in the series, which is basically more of her.

Unfortunately, The Sinners falls into the exact same molds of its predecessors. Don't get me wrong. It is a good novel. It serves it's purpose. It's gritty and raw and funny. Pure Ace Atkins.

I just feel that there is this mold now in the series where the author just changes the names and the action. The newest books in the series are almost identical to the others although Atkins changed Safe robbers to Bank Robbers to trucking mafia and the déjà-vu straight-out-of-prison-bad-guy-looking-for-revenge.

I will still read every Colson books Ace Atkins throw at me. It is still an enjoyable novel, but I deeply wish that the next one will take us somewhere else.

3 Stars

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group / Putman for the arc.


I think I've read all of the Quinn Colson books by Ace Atkins now and have really enjoyed them - the "redneck noir" elements especially (I am from Alabama). I enjoyed this one, too. But this was felt like Mr. Atkins ( and Quinn) are getting tired. The expected sense of the absurd was missing from this book and some of the characters (Mama and Elvis) are beginning to wear thin. The actions was there -- plenty of it -- but it felt like some of the characters were just phoning in their parts. I've enjoyed other series that have run out of gas on me and hope this isn't going that way, but I was a little disappointed with The Sinners.

Another great thriller in the Quinn Colson series by Ace Atkins! I felt it started a bit slow but then took off with lots of action - can't wait for the next one!

THE SINNERS by Ace Atkins is the 8th book in the Quinn Colson series where Quinn, the former Ranger, is now again sheriff of Tibbehah Country, Missouri where he grew up, and is investigating the disappearance of a young man who worked for Fannie Hathcock and is now presumed to have met with foul play.

Heath Pritchard is a local criminal recently released from prison after 23 years for a bust by Quinn’s Uncle Hamp back in the day, who returns to the family farm with intentions of taking over the marijuana growing and selling business that his two young nephews Tyler and Cody have turned into a thriving operation, although racing is their first passion that the marijuana business enables them to pursue.

Fannie, who succeeds “good ole’ boy” Johnny Stagg (currently incarcerated), has turned the former “Booby Trap” truck stop/strip joint into a much classier establishment, yet she is forced to take a backseat at the insistence of the Dixie Mafia in order to put two sleazy & questionable characters in charge of her operations.

Boom, Quinn’s lifelong friend is currently driving a semi one-handed due to his artificial limb and is suspicious of what the trailers contain that he’s been hauling, and he informs Quinn of his suspicions.

Quinn starts to put together that several of the events taking place may be related to the Pritchard farm, the trucking operation, and Fannie’s club and staff, including the biker gang she formerly employed, and the likelihood of Dixie Mafia involvement in all of this.

Maggie, the woman Quinn has fallen in love with, has been patient as he works through all that’s required of him in the days leading up to their wedding.

Lilly, Quinn’s former partner, becomes involved when situations require her, as well as an attractive female FBI agent looking into the trucking operation who seems to be attracted to Boom even as she places him in harm’s way.

Will Quinn stay safe long enough to marry Maggie with all that’s taking place, and will Boom be able to provide the evidence needed to bring down the criminal trucking operation without being found out?

Ace Atkins once again comes through with an action packed novel that puts the reader right in the heart of Tibbehah County and the local criminal power struggles taking place that involve Quinn and his family, friends and deputies.

I’m a huge fan of the Quinn Colson books, as well as Atkins’ work on the Robert B. Parker “Spenser” series since Parker’s passing, and am looking forward to all future books in both series.

5 stars.