Impressive for a debut, gritty, raw and honest story about the prescription opioid and fentanyl crisis in Appalachia. Sure ,Sweetie sells pills but for some reason I kinda like him. John and Anne and Lucy break my heart. I wanted more from the ending, felt abrupt for me. Overall, a nice surprise especially for a debut

Thanks to NetGalleyfor the attempt at this ARC. Unfortunately, for this one title, my Kindle did not like the download so I was unable to receive it. I do plan on reading this at some point as the plot seems very well laid out.

Childers’ debut is a timely book that deserves to be read. Given the current political climate, in tandem with the opioid epidemic tearing this nation apart, Turkeyfoot will hit home for many readers.

“ The Eastern Kentucky community of Turkeyfoot is ravaged by the opioid epidemic and Sweetie Goodins has played no small part in feeding his neighbors’ bad habits. Having spent his life peddling painkillers, Sweetie struggles between accepting responsibility for his actions versus blaming the will of the addicts around him.”

This book is so much more than its description. It certainly does not read like a debut, or even a sophomore effort for that matter. It’s clear that the author has lived and breathed the environment, as the description and dialogue are spot on.

If you’re a fan of gritty literature, this is the book for you.

TURKEYFOOT by Rick Childers is a story of lost souls and the innocents unable to escape their destructive orbit; a story set amidst the melancholic beauty of today's Appalachia. A story to humanize the damage and destruction the opioid epidemic has dealt to rural communities across the country. Such a description may echo with familiarity, but make no mistake, TURKEYFOOT, the eponymous tale, quickly and firmly finds its footing in the small Appalachian town where its people have sought joy and sustenance in a place that offers little of either and few of life’s modern comforts—and that’s without the corrosive force of widespread addiction.

Two characters are key to the story: Sweetie Goodins, 73 years old and sensing his own mortality and young Lucy Perley, the 4th grade daughter of two addicts. Sweetie provides the pills to those who must have them—whether they can pay or not—while young Lucy observes helplessly as her parents, two of Sweetie’s many customers, spiral endlessly downward. The story pulls you in immediately; the writing is heartfelt and at times lyrical. The sense of place is the tale’s beating heart as Appalachia, like any worthwhile character, shows its true self as it suffers changes wrought by darkness.

The ending arrives as simply as it begins and in a moment of bleakness but as your breath hitches and your reading slows you realize that amends are being made. Childers is subtle here, choosing not to embellish the moment before he closes the story with a sense of hope, showing us that beauty and goodwill remains within reach of those determined to see it in Turkeyfoot.

This is a striking and worthy debut from an author who is surely someone to watch. Be sure to read it.
Thank you to Shotgun Honey and NetGalley for the copy of Turkeyfoot to read and review.

Thanks NetGalley for the free ARC! I thought this was a good novel. It’s very well written with a good pace and excellent dialogue. The storyline was nice and gritty with vivid descriptions. However, I felt that it lacked a conclusion and sort of drifted off. This is my honest opinion and I’m leaving this review voluntarily.

Thanks to Shotgun Honey Books and NetGalley for this ARC of Rick Childers' 'Turkeyfoot.'

This is well written novel about a well-trod subject, the destruction wreaked on rural American people and places, specifically Appalachia and her people, by prescription opioids, fentanyl, meth, and other prescription and non-prescription drugs.

There's nothing overly original here and you know by this stage that there's going to be no happy endings, it's just a matter of how sad, bad, and tragic things turn out. Maybe the fact that the main character - Sweetie - is a drug peddler (and an older one at that) is different than many of the other depictions we've read and seen on the screen. We get to see the worsening impact of the drugs on individuals and the community through the eyes of a person who's central to its progression and who has complex feelings on the matter. More familiar are the tales of families destroyed, children abused and abandoned, family support abused and strained, addicts attempting to straighten out, and no support from 'official America.'

The author is very obviously someone who's close physically and emotionally to everything that's going on in the book as mirrored in/from the real world and you can sense this in the writing. He loves the place and the people and hurts to see what's happening. The use of words and the closeness to the subject elevates this for me.

Congratulations to Rick Childers and his publisher.