The broiler is a breed of chicken favoured by the American poultry industry for its flesh. If you’re hatched a broiler, you’re dead meat, and the sense of fatalism hinted at in the title is something that will certainly cast its shadow across the narrative in this new novel from Eli Cranor, a rising star in rural noir. This is the tale of the haves and have nots at a chicken processing plant, the widening financial and social gap between them, and what happens when they come into conflict. Broiler was on our list of the most wanted crime novels for 2024, so let’s see what it’s all about.

The setting is Springdale, Arkansas which is the headquarters of one of the world’s largest meat producing companies. The author was a public school teacher in Arkansas and many of his Mexican American students used to fall asleep in class. They’d been working 10-hour night shifts at the chicken processing plant – and talking to his students has given the author insight into the industry as well as inspiration for the novel.

The book opens with a group of women who lunch and who are active in local junior baseball. They are the wives of Detmer Foods plant managers. Mimi Jackson hopes to form a support group with the other young mothers and shares the fact that she has postpartum anxiety. In fact, Mimi actually has postpartum depression along with suicidal thoughts.

Her husband, Luke, grew up poor and is a very ambitious man. He now runs Detmer’s largest plant in the state and there are seven chicken houses plus a luxurious two-story mansion on their property. They appear to have it all. Luke intends to work his way up the Detmer career ladder to join the executive team.

In contrast, for Gabriela Menchaca life hasn’t worked out as intended. Her family returned to Mexico, leaving Gabby alone in Springdale. She was a good student and it was her dream to go to college. She supported herself by working on the production line at Detmer Foods, dropped out of high school and gave up her plans of college. Now she dreams of owning a house.

Edwin Saucedo and his mother lived in the Econo Lodge where she worked. After his mother died, Edwin moved into the trailer that Gabby rents. They have furnished it on the cheap with makeshift furniture. He and Gabby have been working at Detmer Foods for seven years. After a personal tragedy, Edwin tried to file a claim and organise a walkout. He was unsuccessful and feels hopeless so he tries to numb his feelings with alcohol.

Conditions for undocumented workers like Gabby and Edwin are horrendous. Cranor’s descriptions of the production line will give you an appreciation for those who perform this physically taxing work. Anyone who complains know they can easily be replaced. Even bathroom breaks require permission from the supervisor, who rarely grants it to the Mexican American workers. The number of chickens processed within a specific timeframe takes precedence over the dignity and hygiene of the undocumented employees. Cranor’s writing will pull you into the lives of Gabby and Edwin.

Edwin cannot catch a break. He arrives at work a couple of minutes late on a day when Luke expects to learn that he is being promoted. Luke seizes the opportunity to impress some plant inspectors and fires Edwin on the spot. Edwin wants revenge and payment for the unpaid $50,000 for the overtime hours that he and Gabby have worked. His ill-conceived plan is also a challenge to the power Luke holds and results in a wild ride with many twists and turns.

While on this journey, you will encounter other themes that are important to Cranor. Motherhood, the fierce love for a child and loss all figure prominently. Both of the male characters exhibit toxic behaviour. Neither hesitates to use other people as a pawn to get what he wants. In the midst of the madness, Mimi and Gabby forge their own connection.

The action in Broiler will keep you burning though the pages to see what happens next but it is Eli Cranor’s portrayal of the haves and have nots that will remain with you long after you finish the book. It is clear that Luke’s success was built on the backs of poor immigrants. Cranor is a skilled writer with the ability to create a strong understanding of Gabby and Edwin’s lives without ever being patronising about poverty. Broiler is a perfect example of a taut thriller that also provides meaningful commentary on social justice in contemporary America, and the South in particular.

This book is about power, strength, will, and doing the right thing. Transporting, raw and emotional. Heartbreaking. Loved it

Eli Cranor won the Edgar Award for Best First Novel by an American Author for his 2022 book, "Don't Know Tough." In 2023, Cranor followed that with "Ozark Dogs." Both works featured a small cast of characters involved in, let's call it, the gritty side of life. "Broiler" is along those same lines, but with his latest release, Cranor steps a bit outside that world and adds the more comfortable but no less cruel world of an executive at a chicken processing plant to the mix. Hence the title, "Broiler," and the cover image of a feather.

"Broiler" follows two couples on opposite sides of the processing plant hierarchy. On one side are Edwin and Gabriela, who work long shifts on the line. On the other side are Luke, who manages the plant, and his wife, Mimi.

Edwin and Gabriela are undocumented laborers who spend their days shifting between their trailer and the plant in their barely-making-it Dodge Neon. At the plant, the two work dangerous but repetitive jobs in hazardous conditions. They are forced to wear diapers because the broilers never stop coming down the line, and the supervisors rarely allow the workers to take bathroom breaks. The two have worked at the plant for seven years, but there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel, as Gabriela has been scrupulously budgeting their money to get them out of the trailer park.

Meanwhile, Luke and Mimi live comfortably with their newborn son in the mansion they built before Luke was promoted to plant manager. Both Jacksons have late-model vehicles. She drives a Toyota 4Runner, and he owns a "hundred-thousand-dollar Ford." While Mimi is suffering through postpartum depression, Luke is doing everything he can to get a promotion that will take him out of the plant and into the corporate offices.

Things go awry for both couples when Luke fires Edwin for being late on the day of an important, to Luke, inspection at the plant. The abrupt dismissal and a quickly grabbed bag set the novel's action, a kidnapping, in motion.

This is also the point where Cranor does an excellent job of developing the characters and showing how alike Luke and Edwin are and the similarities between Gabriela and Mimi. It's this action that drives the rest of the novel.

Luke and Edwin are the type of fuck-ups who don't, or can't see that they are fuck-ups. They're men of conviction, but they cannot or will not process why they have those convictions, nor do they take the time to think about how their actions affect those around them, especially the women they profess to love and respect.

Mimi and Gabriele are left to clean up the messes their significant others create. However, Mimi and Gabriele are smart enough to see when things have reached a point of no return. When the situation reaches that point, the two women must think about how to extract themselves from the bleak situation Luke and Edwin created.

Cranor has taken a big step with "Broiler," one his previous works hinted at. He looks at contemporary problems in today's society in a way that most books that fall under the "crime" or "noir" heading do not. Cranor's examination of the modern workforce, class, and the societal issues created under capitalism are some driving forces behind "Broiler." Cranor also tackles relationships, masculinity, and force of will to make the novel a more full and fulfilling read.

With "Broiler," Cranor is still working in the Southern noir/crime genre, but he is expanding his view, making this a powerful work.

I’m always amazed at authors who start off strong and still manage to get even better with each book. Eli Cranor has somehow managed to top his amazing first two books with this pulpy and grimy and terrifying, yet incredibly timely novel. Eli Cranor is the poet laureate of the bottom rung of society.

I loved Eli Cranor's first book - Don't Know Tough - so when I saw that he had another one coming out I immediately jumped on it.

Broiler follows four people - Luke and Mimi Jackson, a couple of new parents - Mimi a stay-at home mom and Luke a manager at a chicken processing plant, and Gabriela Menchaca and Edwin Saucedo, an undocumented couple who work for Luke in deplorable conditions for the employees. When Luke fires Edwin, it sets off a chain of events that deeply affect both couples.

I really loved this book. It really shows you the disparities between different "classes" (for lack of a better term). I especially loved the women in this book, and the ending was perfect.

As a fellow Arkansan, I was immediately drawn into this novel due to the location and subject matter that are the backdrop for this stellar work. Chicken processing plants are the norm in Northwest Arkansas and the reality is that immigrants, legal or not, are the primary employees of the plants. Cranor has created a collision of the "Haves" and the "Have Nots".

Plant Manager Luke Jackson had a strident upbringing in Arkadelphia. He has a rigid idea of what success looks like. He married the "perfect" wife, Mimi, that he met at the U of A. Currently, she is a stay-at-home Mom with their five-month-old son that is struggling with post-Partum depression. As the novel begins, she is attempting to reach out and establish a group of supportive friends similar to her situation.

Gabby is an illegal Mexican-American who works at the plant. She was a successful student on her way to college until her family decides to return to Mexico and she must work to support herself. She is living with Edwin, who due to circumstances and lack of ambition, also works at the Chicken Processing plant on an opposite shift from her.

As the story begins, Cranor has provided rich details about these characters and the reader clearly understands the characters' motivations once the incident occurs that establishes this thriller. Without wanting to share too much, this novel captured my interest and held it. In the first part of the novel. I thought the focus would be on the male characters, but was pleased that the characters who drive the story are Mimi and Gabby. This novel will be my recommendation for my Book Club for the Summer. There are so many rich details to discuss.