Brian Panowich is one of my favorite authors. I’m from the Midwest and his depiction of life in the Ozarks feels authentic. I ripped through this book in record time and mostly loved it. However, the ending felt unnecessarily complicated. I really had a hard time keeping the characters straight and it took a pretty big leap of disbelief to accept the ending.
This is not a bad book. I enjoyed it but my head was spinning at the end. I enjoyed the two previous “Bull Mountain” books much more. Still I love Mr. Panowich’s writing style and subject matter. I’m eagerly awaiting his next book.

It took me a long time to read this book. I have been distracted by the relentless scary news about covid 19. As I hunker down with my family, I'm hoping to get back into reading as a form of relief...

Brian Panowich writes a good mean story. I've read all of his previous boos. Hard Cash Valley fits right in there. I'm not going to give much of a description to avoid spoilers. Suffice it to say that we're back in McFalls County. Dane Kirby, who works for the FBI, is called upon to help with a murder investigation that starts in Florida but leads back to cockfighting in McFalls County. The set up was great -- great characters and good suspenseful beginning. It dragged down a bit in the middle, but then I thought the end was brilliant. Panowich is a master at creating tense scenes and the end of Hard cash Valley was right up there for me. Thanks to the publisher, Netgalley and Edelweiss for giving me access to an advance copy.

Brian Panowich makes you feel like you are trapped in a situation so complex and filled with hidden agendas that you are afraid to close your eyes. Small towns seem so bucolic when you pass through and have homemade pie at the local diner. What hides behind closed doors can be too devious and evil to imagine.

In most cases it all boils down to the pursuit of money, in the fastest and easiest way possible, legalities aside. The upper Georgia mountains are no exception to this pursuit or the frightening characters involved. Dane has not had an easy life, he has probably faced more tragedy in 30+ years than any ten people do in a lifetime. Somehow is is still striving to be a valuable member of society and on the right side of the law. When he is temporarily loaned to the FBI he is confused, but figures he can only do his part. What he does not know is that enemies are all around, and Panowich can create some of the most evil imaginable. This book will get your heart rate elevated and keep you glued to the pages.

At the foot of the North GA mountains lies the small town of Hard Cash Valley.  We'll not mess too much with the town proper, it's the rural area that stretches out around it that is of special interest here.  We stop to take a gander at a place called The Farm, way off the beaten track.  It's run by a man name of Eddie Hightower, or Rooster if you are on good terms.  Cockfighting is almost a religion here, and Rooster is in it up to his neck.  Panowich makes good use of the 'hillbilly vernacular' in this story.  Down, dirty, and gritty as all get out.  Fans of Bull Mountain will not be disappointed.  It was a harrowing ride, but it came closer than I would like to an icky-poo-poo ending.  On the other hand, who amongst us won't dig on something that is at least a little positive right now?

Dane Kirby has witnessed a lot of crime and chaos as a life long resident of and arson investigator for McFalls County, Georgia.  Now working for the GBI, he's called to Florida to consult with the FBI on a brutal murder.

Arnie Blackwell, a life long petty criminal from North Georgia, is dead in a Jacksonville hotel room after winning a huge pay day.  The money is nowhere to be found and his eleven-year-old brother William is missing and in danger.

Dane is partnered with FBI Special Agent Roselita Velasquez to locate William and it's a race against the clock as they seem to be one step behind the murderer who is leaving a trail of bodies in their wake.

A trip to Hard Cash Valley may hold the answers they need but they may not get out alive.

Brian Panowich is the author at the top of my list for country/rural noir.  He writes effortlessly about Georgia and its residents because he knows them both so well.  I liked Dane's back story which was explained in depth and enhanced the story without taking over the main plot.  He's a complex character that I trusted instantly and made this an excellent grit lit novel with heart.

Thanks to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.  Hard Cash Valley is scheduled for release on May 5, 2020.

A gut punch of a novel from an author whose mastery over character, place, and plot grows with every novel. Brian Panowich joins that constellation of hard-scrabble writers who deliver fierce, relentless reads no noir fan should miss.

Dane Kirby, former fire chief up in McFalls County, GA. Bull Mountain territory. Kirby is no longer looking at arson cases having joined the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. The sheriff calls on Kirby to look in on a local murder because the suspect says he is a friend of Dane. At least until the FBI tells his boss to send Kirby to Jacksonville, FL to look into a case with a fire link.

One of those ubiquitous airport hotels had a fire in a room. A hot flash fire that burned itself out fast. It was an attempt to cover up a murder so grisly that even a hardened investigator like Kirby gags. The victim was first tortured then disemboweled while still alive. The who and the why can’t be answered. An unremarkable clue suggests the victim has a brother.

Kirby is paired with Special Agent Roselita Velasquez. They learn about the victim – Arnold Blackwell. Two-bit crook with a long string of drug and robbery arrests. They learn that Arnold had a brother. Younger. Pre-teen. With Asperger’s Syndrome. Likes birds. A lot. And he has Rain Man-like affinity for numbers and odds.

The killers are Filipino mafia who have major money in cock fighting. Turns out a major ‘tournament’ that floats from city to city had just concluded in the Bull Mountain area. Arnold’s little brother’s specific skill is an unrivaled ability to pick winners in a cock fight. The two of them took this ‘tournament’ for over a million dollars. The Filipino’s had a big stake in the competition, and they want their money back.

Kirby and Roselita (not ‘Rose’) track backwards in time and upwards in altitude to Bull Mountain. To find the boy. To find the money. To the site of the cock fighting fest. And back around to that local murder.

This is Panowich’s 3rd venture into the Bull Mountain corner of NW Georgia. His first, Bull Mountain knocked me off my feet. His 2nd, Like Lions, blew me away. Hard Cash Valley? Good Lord. Panowich can flat out write. Hard to believe this is just his 3rd outing. The maturity of his storytelling. The turn of a phrase. The depth of pain felt by his characters. The enormity of viciousness of the crimes. The body count. The twists in loyalty and in the story. Call it what you will: country noir, hick-lit, Redneck noir. I don’t care. Panowich is flat out one of the best new voices in fiction I’ve read . . . ever. Three books and he has shouldered his way into my power rotation. And that’s a first. Panowich is that great.

4.5
Another winner by Brian Panowich!
The writing is amazing!
We are taken back to McFalls County and Bull Mountain where we met Dane Kirby, a lifelong resident and former ex-arson investigator with a tragic family history, is called in to consult on a murder investigation.
Unforgettable characters..gritty, tension filled, fast moving..a lot of heart in the story too!
Just loved this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for the ARC!

Hard Cash Valley has been well worth the wait after Like Lions, the second of the Bull Mountain trilogy. Brian Panowich has the innate ability to draw you into the most desperate of predicaments of the most desperate of characters; his underdogs become yours, and I always root for the underdog, because they have the most grit out of necessity, and who hasn’t been there? Bull Mountain has a presence in the Valley, but the novel takes on a somewhat lesser- known vice than the drug trade. It all begins with a suitcase of money...not all the money, mind you, but big money, nevertheless. Arnie flies from Atlanta to Jacksonville with a large sum of other people’s money, money they are looking for. Arnie’s brother William is in hiding for now, waiting for Arnie to come get him.William has a very special talent that puts him in the crosshairs and under the radar at the same time. Dane is a new part- time investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and a full-time ex-fireman living with the ghosts of his wife and child. He is called in on a case of a murdered recluse, said recluse having been dispatched by a friend of Dane’s. And the games begin. Panowich weaves a rich story of pain and loss, desperation and honor; the cost of integrity altered. His writing wrings every emotion from you in turn, and at the end of the book you have lived his vision. He is a treasure.

I had not read previous Brian Panowich novels, so I didn't know what to expect. What I got was a violent, brutal, nothing held back tale of crime in rural Georgia, and really good writing. I was captured from the first, and kept comparing the book to one of my favorites, Ace Atkins. Did I say really good writing? I'll be looking for more from Panowich in the future he has a new fan.

How do I begin to even talk about this hard scrabble book that I loved with such fierce intensity. Panowich is such a great writer; I was lucky to have found him before and read his previous two novels. I finished this book with tears streaming down my face. Who would have thought that I would be attracted to a southern noir novel set in the Bull Mountain area, north Georgia where criminals and fringe of society members live in a world of their own. A world is created whose characters spar between good and evil with pulse racing prose that whirls with tension creating an immensely compelling book. Dane Kirby, an ex-arson investigator lives in this brutal crime area and is called upon to investigate a bloody murder of several people ,and then assigned to a new female partner. But the carnage only leads to a circuitous trail of more crimes and massacres culminating in the search for a young autistic boy who holds the key to it all. It can be violent; but it is also about love, tenderness, and the deep bond of friendship. Oh, how I didn't want this to end!

Thank you Net Galley from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity to review and give an honest opinion of this novel.

I am a big fan of Panowich’s first two novels, and still like his complicated, very human characters. However, this book is almost too complicated and violent for my personal enjoyment. Maybe it was the overall topic area (cockfighting and their raising, with very violent Mexican and Philippine groups involved) or a rather convoluted main story line, it just felt to me that there was so much violence going on that it took away from a main central story.

Hard Cash Valley is a solid 5 star country noir crime thriller. This is the third book in the series. I absolutely loved it. I stayed up way into the night devouring this one. I couldn’t put it down. The story was believable and truly captivating. I highly recommend this one!

I absolutely love this series and the way Panowich has approached writing it. Each book has focused on a different character for a different puzzle to solve.

When it comes to hick lit, Brian Panowich is 100% an author who can get 'er done. And with a best pal who always has my back, I’m sure to be at the front of the line when it comes to requesting an early copy.

As the blurb states, Hard Cash Valley once again takes readers back to Bull Mountain, but this time the focus isn’t on the Burroughs clan. This go around deals with a fella named Dane Kirby, a part-time employee of the GBI who gets called in to an investigation down in the penis of America. Featuring a dead small-time criminal who bit off more than he could chew and (more importantly) a “beat the clock” sort of search for the dead dude’s missing little brother who is being tracked by some seriously bad hombres due to his uhhhhhhhhhhh special abilities . . . . .

Not much more can be said without spoiling all the fun, but let’s just say this kid wasn’t counting cards, the local Farm (as well as the people who run it) ain’t exactly what those of us in flyover country are familiar with, there’s a whole bunch of characters who get introduced and all of them have more to offer the story than first impressions would offer. My notes say “every character is amazing aside from poor depressed Dane.” Not that Dane didn’t have stuff to offer – it’s just not stuff like this . . . .

“Tater – Boner – Rooster – everyone up here sounds like they were named after cartoons. Is there a Tweety Bird out here, too?”

Now Ned looked offended. “Watch your mouth, Velasquez. Tweety is good people. No need to trash talk good folk.”

So as I said above, aside from Debbie Dane Downer and an ending that got just a weeeeeee bit sappy, this was everything I could have hoped for. The fact that I read it in one sitting and upon finishing went around my house declaring things like HOT DAMN! means it gets all the Stars. Keep writing ‘em, Mr. Panowich, ‘cause I wanna keep reading ‘em.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Bull Mountain what? i thought Bull Mountain would be tough to top, but Panowich has done it.
This is now his best work. Dane is such an incredible character with such a tragic back story, which we find out slowly through out the book. Great story and great setting makes this a book to treasure. Absolutely loved it!

Hard Cash Valley by Brian Panowich returns to the rural mountain areas of Georgia for a mostly stand-alone novel of what has come to be known as Country Noir/Rural Noir.

When it comes to Country/Rural Noir, I have found the more enjoyable stories often contain a number of certain themes. One of them, of course, is the writer's ability to aptly describe a region or geographical area in almost touchable detail. Another aspect is creating places most people either don't go or don't want to go and entrance to these places is done under apprehension. Places especially those that are unknown to persons outside of the area. Most successful characters also tend to be haunted or damaged and exist in a world of deep secrets of both their own lives and of those within the story. The better villains also tend to the sort that is terrifying as humans and not bred to contain some sort of exaggerated nature that tends to make them unbelievable or cartoon-ish.

Brian Panowich's writing in Hard Cash Valley contains most of these, which leads to another excellent novel of Country/Rural Noir.
Characters of previous novels by Panowich are briefly reintroduced while Panowich introduces Dane Kirby, an investigator with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, as he tries to unravel a series of murders he at first believes has nothing to do with him or where he is from. Previous characters introduced by Panowich in Bull Mountain and Like Lions are not involved in this novel, but are referred back to for mainly historical relevancy. Kirby is also haunted and carrying demons and secrets of his own.

Kirby is summoned to Florida to assist in the investigation of the murdered man in a Jacksonville motel. He has been tasked by his boss to assist the FBI in the investigation of a murdered man he does not know. At first Kirby questions why he was even summoned until it is revealed the murdered man has ties back to the rural area where Kirby is from and Kirby possesses relevant regional information helpful to the investigation.

Along the way, it is also learned the brother to the murder victim, a boy with Asperger’s Syndrome is missing and is being hunted by others for some unknown reason. Against his wishes, Kirby is paired with resistant Roselita Velasquez, an abrasive, by the book hard-edged FBI agent, and ordered to locate the boy before harm comes to the boy.

Panowich's tales are consistent, well-crafted tales and this novel is highly recommended to those that enjoy all of the current writers in the Country/Rural Noir genre.

This is the third book in the series; it follows Bull Mountain and Like Lions, although you do not have to have read the first two before reading this one. Unlike the other two, Clayton Burroughs and his family are not the main characters; the focus has switched to a GBI employee – Dane Kirby. The story follows Dane as he is asked to help the FBI on a rather gruesome case, the body of a man is found burned and badly beaten in a hotel room. As the details become clear as to why the Feds want his help, Dane works with a female FBI agent to investigate the murder and subsequent disappearance of the 11 year old brother of the dead man. I really found this book to move along at a rapid pace, there were a few twists that I did not see coming and the author maintained the suspense level. There is a lot of violence, though if you had read the previous two books, it’s in a similar vein. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Thanks to Brian Panowich, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel.

Panowich’s previous novel, Bull Mountain, was one of my favorite books of 2016, and I also very much enjoyed his next novel, Like Lions, so I couldn’t wait to start Hard Cash Valley. While this novel is set in the same part of north Georgia and has some of the same characters as the previous two novels, it is very different. I enjoyed Dane’ Kirby’s complicated backstory and I liked him a lot as a character. However, I liked the plot of this novel less than the previous ones — the cockfighting angle and the very long list of bad actors in this novel left me kind of cold.

Overall, I would recommend this book but with a few caveats. I hope that Dane Kirby will be a recurring character in a future novel from Panowich and I look forward to reading his next work.

I really enjoyed Bull Mountain and Like Lions by this author so when I saw Panowich’s latest offering on Netgalley, of course, I had to request it.

This is a page turning action packed mystery crime novel set in the North GA mountains that I love and reside in. Hopefully, we don’t have anything this sinister going on in our small town mountains.

There is a lot going on in this novel. Loss and love, deep friendships, new friendships, hard work, gruesome murders, missing autistic child, betrayal, and loyalty. The perfect combination for a suspenseful read.

Thank you Netgalley and Minotaur Books for an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review. It was enjoyable to read a book by a local author set in areas I know well.