There is much to savor in this mystery. For one thing, Babs, of the title, is a strong female protagonist with the complex personality of a mob boss trying to do what she sees as the right thing. The book opens with the death of her daughter Lori from an overdose, but after Lori is revived by EMTs she becomes the novel's central figure as she tries to find her younger sister Sis. We know early on that Sis has died, so the suspense comes from the unraveling of this powerful family that rules its community. Outside influences threaten to upset the balance of power in this mill town, and we see the tension of the younger generation wanting to escape their past while still feeling loyal to it. It was a personal pleasure for me to read about a Waterville I knew very well when I lived there in the 70's, complete with landmarks like You Know Whose Pub and the Chez.

In “The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne” (March 25, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, $29), award-winning author Ron Currie crafts a gritty, genre-blending crime saga starring Babs Dionne, a sharp-witted Franco-American widow who reigns over her family’s drug empire in Waterville, Maine. When her youngest daughter is found dead, Babs ignites a relentless quest for answers, confronting a shadowy enforcer and unraveling secrets that threaten her family and legacy. Darkly funny, this literary thriller delves into loyalty, identity and intergenerational resilience, delivering an unforgettable tale of power, love and survival in the heart of Maine.

I really like it when women kill violent men as retribution. It's just a kink I have.

From a grizzly origin story to a giant matriarchal crime ring, following this family try to adapt to the trauma that altered their entire lives is incredibly fascinating. The voice and poetic nature of the writing elevates the gritty crime genre.

<i>Thanks NetGalley for the ARC</i>

This is the first novel by Ron Currie that I’ve read. It is at once the story of the Dionne family, and simultaneously an examination of the long tail of violence that can change individuals and communities. Currie’s prose quickly hooked me, and the story kept me reading well into the night. This is a really, really good novel.

At the heart of the novel are two women, both of whom find themselves at the centre of what could well be the savage, violent end to their way of life: Babs and Lori Dionne. The majority of the novel is told from their perspective, with a handful of others thrown in to add depth, and also to provide additional perspectives on the protagonists.

Babs is the matriarch of the Dionne family, who has effectively ruled Waterville with an iron fist for a few decades. Unlike some king-/queenpins, though, that iron fist is encased in a velvet glove. She is fiercely protective of the community, her heritage, and her extended family. Under her leadership, much of the city has been corrupted, but in that almost-altruistic way that keeps the more violent crime, and dangerous drugs to a minimum. Nobody wants to cross Babs Dionne. Nobody in Waterville, that is… Because Babs’s business has caught the attention of a powerful criminal up north, who has decided that he has the right to take Waterville for his own.

Lori Dionne, Babs’s eldest daughter, is barely keeping it together. Haunted by what she experienced in the army in Afghanistan, she has fallen into addiction — a hole that swallows up so many suffering from PTSD in under-served neighbourhoods and regions. She works for her mother (as do many of the other women in the community), and at the start of the novel we meet her… well, a little worse for wear. Babs tasks Lori with finding the youngest Dionne daughter, Sis, who has gone missing.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is an excellent examination of heritage, identity, family, and the different types of violence that can upend people’s lives. It’s viscerally told, in tight prose. Every word is well chosen, and the story never flagged. The characters are always compelling, and sometimes sympathetic. The two primary protagonists are especially strong characters, with Lori a real stand-out.

I have a feeling this might appeal to any fans of crime (family) sagas. I was reminded of Don Winslow’s latest trilogy, in some ways, despite them being quite different in details — …Babs Dionne is also, in my humble opinion, a much stronger book. This is a great cross-over novel, I think, which should appeal equally to crime fans and contemporary/literary fiction fans.

As I said at the top, this was the first of Currie’s novels that I’ve read. It will certainly not be the last. (His others all sound quite different in tone, but I nevertheless am really looking forward to reading them all.)

Very highly recommended. I think a lot of people are going to dig this.

Wow, Babs had a fascinating life.
I got a murder mystery and a complete background of every character and Waterville.
I love that there is a female drug boss. girl power. A heartbreaking tale the entire way through, but a great story.

Babs Dionne is a criminal, a crime MATRIARCH, ruling her small Maine town with a punitive lens. This heartbreaking story is a criminal tale that could lend to modern folklore. Babs goes up against a drug kingpin and the townspeople can do nothing but hide in fear. This is a gritty, bloodthirsty story
Great for all crimelovers of gang stories, intrepid pirates and criminals and all of us that want to escape the lives we were born too. #penguin #thesavaenobledeathofbabsdionne

This was not at all what I was expecting...not in the best way. It was a lot heavier than I was anticipating, and overall felt disconnected. I don't love writing for the sake of writing, so the full history of Babs Dionne really slowed the book down for me. Not my favorite.

Ron Currie's brutal depiction of the small town of Waterville Maine, as told from the perspective of a drug dealing family was jarring. It kept me interested however. Babs has suffered a rape in her teenage years and extracts revenge immediately. She continues to hold the anger throughout her life and the repercussions of her actions and her lifestyle and career resound through her two children. They hold their Canadian heritage close and create a shield against outsiders. Yet this is a family story as well, one that reveals all the flaws that all families hold and the friends who are considered family members too. The story is also told through Babs' daughter Lori who is a veteran, having served in Afghanistan and who has witnessed horrific crimes during wartime and has turned to drugs herself. She is a terrifically damaged character whose frequent hallucinations direct some of her actions, yet she does her best to save her family, what's left of it. It is remarkable how much these characters accomplish when drunk and high but that also leaves me with disbelief. When a major drug lord tries to interfere with their business, Babs is not having it and the war is on and Currie introduces the creepiest character ever as the enforcer. It's hard to say I enjoyed this book but I did appreciate the prose (exquisite at times) and the pacing. I flew through the pages and though I think it leaves an unrealistic portrayal of Waterville, there are elements that strike true as well. Thanks to Putnam and NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is the second time I've said this recently, but I feel like I read a different book than everyone else... Readers seem to universally love this book, but from the opening pages I was lost. I felt like I stepped into the middle of a story and could never catch the threads to connect them into anything coherent. I must just be the massively wrong reader for this book, because I could not engage with this story at all.

Wow, what a emotional, touching family story, told with humor and grit. I've enjoyed the other Ron Currie books I've read and had very high hopes for this one, and was not disappointed.

The story follows Babs Dionne, a French Canadian crime boss in Maine. She runs her town and everyone knows it. We spend time with her family, both blood and otherwise. The characters are all strong and unique, deeply written, almost lovingly brought to life from Currie. Life isn't great for Babs but she's dealing with it, until things take a very big turn for the worst. Her daughter, Lori, back in her hometown after time in Afghanistan, is the second main character. She's not doing well with life, making some bad choices trying to handle what she's seen in war, also seeing ghosts. That was definitely a weird addition to the story and the only supernatural element and yet, it didn't feel out of place. Lori and Babs have to find a way to keep their family safe but crime is a hard job.

My grandmother was from Maine, not Canada like Babs, but they were both similar women, strong and expected you to be too, no matter what. I pictured Babs as my grandma throughout the book and did not finish it dry eyed. The time spent with Babs and Lori is mostly over a week in July but it seems like you've know them forever and you want to see them win. From the title, you have to assume Babs doesn't come out on top, but does she do it her way? Absolutely!

I would recommend this book to anyone that loves a good, tragic family story, or if you enjoy crime dramas, it's a lot of both of those. It was an easy read even if it was heartbreaking from start to finish, but that seems to be what Currie does to me.

When I started reading this I was expecting a murder mystery. Instead I got not only a murder mystery, but a complete history of Babs Dionne's life and ancestors, a mysterious shadowy hitman, flashbacks of what led to the downfall of Babs Dionne's family, and glimpses of the downtrodden underworld of Waterville, Maine.

This book was interesting to me on a personal level as I was born in Waterville, although my family left when I was a baby, so I was completely unaware of the history of French settlement in the area and the economic struggles of this region. I was also unaware of how French people were treated and forced to assimilate into mainstream American culture. There is an interesting exchange in which Babs Dionne challenges a wealthy Colby College trustee on her assumptions about privilege.

Throughout the book someone is dead although as the title suggests, Babs Dionne will also be dead. The primary factor in Babs's death is she is the leader of a large drug ring (opioids) which operates in that part of Maine. The story primarily follows Lori, her daughter struggling with an opioid addiction following a stint in Afghanistan (for context- this book takes place in 2017), and who has the ability to see the dead- and know who is dead even before the official confirmation. The most haunting is a young Afghan girl who speaks to her in Pashtun and shows up multiple times throughout the book. Lori is tasked with figuring out the truth behind this death before Babs does and destroys the town to get revenge. In the meantime, Babs is being pursued by a mysterious hit man who has a business demand of her.

This book has fascinating backstories for almost every character which could be a story in their own right. I wish that both of Babs' daughters were fully fleshed out characters however, not just Lori. Her other daughter Sis only has one day of her life explained which does nothing to explore who she actually was. We understand though that rather than being cliched bad guy drug dealers, these are all folks grappling with their social and economic circumstances to get by however they can. Despite their rough lives and experiences of abuse, Babs at least tries her best to do right by her family, even if it leads to a feud or having to address that she has failed them even if she loves them.

This book was excellent in how it wrapped up the primary mystery and then allowed the remaining characters to either die with dignity or move on to honor Babs' legacy. It was mysterious, funny, and thought provoking to read.

Many thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and to NetGalley for this ARC to review. This review is my honest opinion.

This was some read! The brutal life of people embroiled in the drug trafficking business and the destruction of the lives of the recipients of those drugs, as well as the destruction of the supplier's’ lives. Babs Dionne was one tough dame! Her life was shaped as a young girl and what happened to her then, decided her future. This book kept my interest. Craftily written with bloodthirstiness events. Some described and others were hinted. Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own. #TheSavageNobleDeathofBabsDionne, #PutnamGroupPutnam. .