Quinn is recovering from being shot and almost dying. He has also lost his job, been replaced by a temporary Sheriff. Quinn is trying to track down the people responsible for him being shot. The temporary Sheriff has been brought in to take care of corruption in the area, but he is part of the problem. This book was part of a series which might have contributed to me having trouble keeping track of characters. I haven’t read the previous books. I would give this book 3 1/2* rounded up to 4. Thank you ones galley for an advanced readers copy.

Ace Atkins is such a consistent writer. He always delivers and The Revelators is certainly no different. The characters are so well known and well loved by now, that sitting down to read one of the titles in this series is like sitting down for Sunday supper. Even if you’re new to the series, there’s a welcome sign on the door, come on in.

It looks as though the Quinn Colson series is ending in "The Revelators." When we last left our intrepid hero, he had been shot and was barely hanging on. Now it's summer again (it's always summer in Mississippi in this series) and Quinn is recovering and his wife, Maggie, is expecting a baby. But the man who replaced Quinn as sheriff during his injury and recovery is corrupt, bought by you-know-who, Fannie Hathcock, the owner of Vienna's Place and all things dirty in Tibbeleh County. But there is no rest for the wicked, and no rest for former Rangers either, as Quinn and his friends seem to be headed to a final showdown with Fannie and her cronies as human trafficking, gun running, corrupt officials and murder all come to light.

This has been an addictive series with plenty of colorful characters, Southern fried charm and plenty of action and crime to go around. While everyone seems to get their fitting end (including my favorite character) I can't help but wish this would continue on.

This book packs a wallop. I’d never read any of the Quinn Colson novels before now, but that didn’t matter: I was rooting for him from page one. Quinn Colson has just been shot. From some writers, this might’ve felt melodramatic. Here, a strong narrative voice captured my emotions. By the end of page two, I was invested in Quinn’s survival and in seeing justice served. But is it?

Well . . . Let’s say that the path to justice is a long, winding uphill road, and nothing is ever truly final. Nor is it ever perfect.

MULTIPLE PERSPECTIVES, ENGAGING CHARACTERS

Atkins uses multiple perspectives to build up his story. It’s particularly effective as we get close to the climax of the novel. We see the different agendas and varying levels of knowledge leading to conflicting goals. Or are they really conflicting? The suspense builds steadily throughout the novel. As I neared the end of the story, I was reading in an almost breathless state, eager to find out what happens next.

There are a lot of story threads to follow. Fanny and her organized crime ring. Donnie Varner’s return from jail. Caddy’s determined fight against the deportation of immigrants and equally determined fight for their children. Jason’s determination to protect his first love, Ana Gabriel. And not the least of all, Quinn’s fight to regain his status as sheriff. Lots of story threads here. But Atkins makes it work without much confusion, even for a first time reader like me.

Part of this lies in his characters. He gives us well-developed, complex characters who are as emotionally engaging as they are interesting. Even Fanny Hathcock, depraved and warped, tugged at my emotions–even when she was killing someone. Especially when she was killing someone.

It’s not always easy to tell the good and bad guys apart from each other. (Or as Quinn’s mama might put it, the righteous from the unrighteous.) Atkins played with my expectations, making me question what my assumptions based on appearances. And while I know appearances can be deceptive, somehow I was still deceived. Or maybe that’s a mark of how powerful Atkins’ writing is.

NARRATIVE VOICE

And oh my stars, the narrative voice. It sucked me into its vortex on page one and swirled me around and around, deeper and deeper into its grip, and didn’t spit me out until the final page. The story has perfect pacing. Every time some problem seemed resolved, then a new one hit the characters in the face.

As someone born and raised in the “Bible belt,” I’m sensitive to how “Yankees”–that’s Southern-talk for anyone not from the South–portray us. Most of the time, they resort to cliches about trailer parks and fried okra and a superficial understanding of our area, especially the complicated, horrific racial history that still affects us. Not so here. Atkins has nailed the voice of Southern fiction. It feels genuinely Southern, all our quirks and complexities and contradictions captured on the page, the beautiful and nasty and bewildering tangled together.

ONE FAVORITE THING . . .

Oh, it’s hard to pick only one! But I’ll go with Sancho. He’s Ana Gabriel’s little brother (Ana Gabriel is Quinn’s nephew Jason’s first love/crush/girlfriend.) and he is a hoot. He made me snort with laughter at several points.

In short, this is a wonderful novel. I recommend it to any fan of crime fiction.

5 stars.
Thanks to Putnam Books and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This review will appear on my blog on July 10, 2020.

Reading this book was like welcoming an old friend. I’ve read all the Quinn Colson books and this is just as good as the rest of them. I’ll look forward to reading the next one. Ace Atkins does a wonderful job with his characters, and reading it was a real pleasure.

Quinn Colson was shot and left for dead. After some rehab he is out for revenge. along with his most trusted friends he set out to do what has been coming for years.

Harsh. Surprising. One of the clearest tales of good verses evil I've read in a long time. Although it started out a bit rough it got going as soon as the characters became dimensional. There are no double twists to upend everything you read .at the end. Clear, intense storytelling with a terrific conclusion.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

Thanks to NetGalley for making an eARC copy of this book available to me.

Atkins did a wonderful job with this book that wraps up the long story arc of this series. Quinn is still recovering from the gunshot wounds that almost killed him at the end of the previous book, but he is still hell bent on taking down the good old boy network that has plagued his home town since this series began. Quinn gets lots of help from his various supporting cast members, and lots of headaches from all of the returning bad guys, as well as a few new bad guys. Now if only Quinn could convince Lillie to come back and rejoin his department. Maybe in the next book?

The Revelators by Ace Atkins-In Quinn Colson's tenth outing we find the stage set for redemption. Everything bad that's been happening in Tibbehah County, Mississippi, including Sheriff Quinn Colson being shot in the back four times near the end of the last book(The Shameless), has finally come to a head. The FBI, DEA, and several other agencies are discretely looking into the strange goings on. Meanwhile Fannie Hathcock is wheeling and dealing to beat the band. Everyone has something to loose, though they might just not realize it right away. Then the pieces start to fall in place and the payback becomes real.
This is an enjoyable edition in this series as despite the darkness surrounding this simple rural life, there is a glimmer of hope and restoration. All the main characters are back and filled with life. Quinn, sidelined by his injuries, takes a smaller roll in this tale, allowing some of the other players more time to develop. Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this ARC.

Although this is the 10th installment to the Quinn C0lson series, this is my maiden voyage. This gem can certainly be enjoyed as a standalone as Atkins seamlessly provides necessary backstory. Obviously many of the characters are recurring , nonetheless they are easily woven into the present narrative. The story begins with Quinn fighting for his life after being ambushed and sustaining multiple gun shot wounds. The newly elected and crooked Governor Vardaman has placed Quinn on administrative leave while installing hand picked officials and an "interim" sheriff to "enforce" the law in Tibbehah County. Enforce is merely a euphemism for letting the crime syndicate run rough shod over northern Mississippi .... and notably in the town of Jericho. The epicenter of the local crime wave is commandeered by the red-haired bombshell, Fannie Hathcock .... owner of the local strip club, Vienna's Place, and the high class brothel on the lake for Southern gentlemen of means, and mastermind for most of the local vice .... prostitution, drugs, internet porn, and procuring stolen goods. Fannie has her finger in everything and appears destined to continue to expand her enterprises. The local Choctow Indian Chief Robbie refers to her as a poisonous flower .. a sorceress ... " you can no more trust that woman than a hissing snake." Without Quinn in charge crime runs rampant. However, behind the scenes Quinn and his confederates ... federal agent Jon Holliday, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil and his lifelong friend Boom Kimbrough, and undercover agent, Nat Wilkins ... have formed a task force with the goal of taking down the criminal empire strangulating Mississippi. Adding salt to the wound, the Dixie Mafia has decided to round up the undocumented Mexican workers from the local chicken slaughtering company, separating them from their children and replacing them with prison workers.
Ace Atkins weaves a multi-layered twisted gritty and dark narrative punctuated with his lyrical and authentic prose that rivals that of James Lee Burke ... and which is infused with charm and local color. His pace escalates to a harrowing and exhilarating denouement. Atkins graft makes it a necessity to further explore his oeuvre. Thanks to NetGalley and G.P. Putnam's Sons for supplying an Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. ( at readersremains.com )

Another spectacular book by Atkins . I love his southern grown mysteries set in a place I know well as I lived in North ms most of my life. . He has a way with plot and characters that is special.

Ace Atkins has probably done more than any writer to make me determined to avoid travel to Northern Mississippi! That said (tongue firmly in cheek), I love traveling to Tibbehah County to visit with Quinn Colson and his family, friends and enemies. And in this 10th installment, the action is ramped up to an excruciating level.

Quinn Colson is recovering from an ambush that left him for dead. His wife Maggie is soon to deliver their first child. The corrupt governor has put Quinn on leave while he is "investigated," while the interim sheriff is free to carry out the governor's agenda. Little does Vardaman know that Quinn and his confederates are still working to take him down.

Since Quinn has been out of action, the crime syndicates that are strangling northern Mississippi have had pretty much free reign, protected by the interim sheriff and his hand-picked enforcers. Atkins brings together Colson, federal agent Jon Holliday, U.S. Marshal Lillie Virgil, and Nat Wilikins, an undercover agent burrowed into the empire of crime queen Fannie Hathcock. As an area factory shuts down, a labor leader ends up dead, and Quinn's own nephew goes missing, everything seems to be coming apart. But Quinn Colson and company are ready to bust apart a criminal empire and retake their county. The showdown will end with lives lost, and lives changed forever. Highly recommended1

The Revelators by Ace Atkins is number ten in the Quinn Colson series and picks up exactly where the previous novel left off - with Sheriff Quinn Colson fighting for his life after being ambushed, shot and left for dead.

As the story continues, newly elected and corrupt Governor Vardaman has placed Colson on temporary leave and has inserted his own selected group of crony replacements to enforce the law as they see fit in Tibbehah County, Tennessee. At the same time, Colson and his department have been placed under a fabricated investigation for the corruption in Colson's jurisdiction.

With the replacements doing little of productive law enforcement while conducting acts of overt criminality, Fannie Hathcock has been continuing to grow her own criminal enterprise with free reins. Hathcock's power has taken an upward trajectory, with her criminal invasive tendrils reaching out through any crevice thought to be profitable for her, no matter how nasty. Through her successes, Hathcock becomes even more lethal in her pursuits, seemingly without end.

With corruption running rampant in the county and beyond, Colson and those close to him worry if law and order will return and if those responsible for the lawlessness will ever face justice.

In The Revelators, Atkins brings back previously introduced characters with continued development, while avoiding allowing the characters to grow tiresome and stale and in this tale, doors close and door open, allowing the promise of the return of the Quinn Colson character.

In the Quinn Colson series, Atkins has been one of the rare writers that have been creative enough to maintain a long series without losing steam or missing a beat.

The Revelators is highly recommended to readers that enjoy regional crime thrillers with characters that are believable and storylines that are not impossible to imagine.

This advanced reader copy was provided for the promise of a fair review.

Ace Atkins is hands-down one of the best crime writers in the business right now. The Quinn Colson series belongs in any collection where crime fiction is popular.

The Revelators by Ace Atkins offers another winner featuring his main character, Quinn Colson. This time around Colson is recovering from injuries sustained in the previous novel. Not only is he getting his health back together, but he is also looking forward to becoming a father again, and further hopes that he is reinstated in his job.

As with any Colson books the family dynamics and history, come into play and it and they do here as well. As always I find it a delight to revisit the characters i his novels. This book has, as the main story, the deportation of Mexicans from the area. This is done in a quick, rather inhumane way, and tears families apart. Because of this event, some young children left without their parents go in search for them, but are led astray by modern day sex slavers

If that is not enough, the book has even more plot lines, again typical of a Quinn Colson novel, and adeptly handled by author, Atkins. Though I did not read the previous work, the writer carefully told this story which helped me get up to date with everything that I needed.

What was nice about this book is that it provided a lot of conclusions to the various stories in this series. Having said that, you might not want to make this the first Quinn Colson novel you read. Still, this is a worthy book in the series, and as the others do, I immediately want more!

Free ARC from Net Galley

Since I live in MS and I am a USA Ranger, I went in thinking hmmmmm

Great story and all around fair and what may have been or sometimes still is

My first "Ace", I need to find the rest I think

Quinn finds himself recovering from near fatal gunshot wound. Meanwhile the corruption has taken over Jericho and surrounding North Mississippi that Atkins has become know for writing and describing so well. Thoroughly enjoyable series gets more dark and dirty with The Revelators. Do’t miss this fine addition to fine series is southern corruption.

What a timely and suspenseful weekend read. I'm a huge fan of Atkins, and really happy to get this latest, which I shall proudly talk up. Gritty, topical, and so well done!