The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins: A review

I've been spending a lot of time in Mississippi lately. Last week it was Yoknapatawpha County with William Faulkner's Absalom, Absalom!. This week I've been in Tibbehah County with Ace Atkins' Quinn Colson. It turns out that the two counties have a lot in common and the main thing they have in common is secrets. Secrets that can wreck lives, destroy families, and sometimes get you killed. The thing is, the "secrets" are often known by everybody in the county!

We met Quinn Colson in Atkins' previous book, The Ranger. He was an army ranger, fresh out of serving in Afghanistan and he had driven over from Fort Benning to attend his uncle's funeral. His uncle had been the sheriff of Tibbehah County and, in this entry, Quinn has followed in his footsteps, being elected sheriff in a special election to fill the post. He has swept the sheriff's department clean, firing most of the staff who had been involved in some corrupt practices. But Lillie Virgil, the tough chief deputy, is still there to give Quinn on-the-job training and watch his back.

Corruption in county government is still a problem that Quinn has to confront, but that has to take a back seat for a while. There are bad things happening in Tibbehah. It starts with a report from the local doctor of injuries to a baby that look like abuse. The investigation of child abuse leads Quinn and his deputies into the sordid world of human trafficking, a bootleg baby racket, and extreme animal abuse. If that isn't enough, there's a Mexican drug cartel making inroads in the area. They've come to purchase guns and it seems that Quinn's boyhood friend, Donnie Varner, who runs the local gun shop and shooting range, may be involved. Things get even dicier when it looks like the bootleg baby racket, the drug cartel, and the gunrunning may all be intertwined.

(I find it very interesting that the characters Donnie Varner and his father Luther, who owns a store, have the same last name as a family in some of the Faulkner books - The Long, Hot Summer and The Hamlet spring to mind - the patriarch of which owns a store. Coincidence? Unlikely, I think. An homage, perhaps.)

Ace Atkins has a genuine feel for and understanding of small town Mississippi and he portrays his characters with an empathy that helps to make them real for the reader. He's particularly good about emphasizing the role that the military and respect for all things military play in these communities.

In this book, too, we get to know a little more about Quinn and his relationship with his younger sister, Caddy, and their childhood together. Caddy is back in town and trying to walk the straight and narrow for the sake of her son, Jason. This insight into the family relationships helps to humanize Quinn and lets us understand him a bit better.

Atkins has created an interesting world, as rich in its own way as Yoknapatawpha County. I look forward to visiting there again.

Poetry Sunday: Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver

How about we share another Mary Oliver poem? After all, you can never have too many of those. In this one, the poet seems to acknowledge that it is often hard to simply live in and enjoy the moment, perhaps because we are afraid it can't last. She urges us to give in to that moment and fully experience the joy. Although "much can never be redeemed, still, life has some possibility left." Don't Hesitate by Mary Oliver If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still, life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happens better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that’s often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don’t be afraid of its plenty. Joy is no...

Poetry Sunday: Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney

My mother was a farm wife and a prodigious canner. She canned fruit and vegetables from the garden, even occasionally meat. But the best thing that she canned, in my opinion, was blackberry jam. Even as I type those words my mouth waters! Of course, before she could make that jam, somebody had to pick the blackberries. And that somebody was quite often named Dorothy. I think Seamus Heaney might have spent some time among the briars plucking those delicious black fruits as well, so he would have known that "Once off the bush the fruit fermented, the sweet flesh would turn sour." They don't keep; you have to get that jam made in a hurry! Blackberry-Picking by Seamus Heaney Late August, given heavy rain and sun For a full week, the blackberries would ripen. At first, just one, a glossy purple clot Among others, red, green, hard as a knot. You ate that first one and its flesh was sweet Like thickened wine: summer's blood was in it Leaving stains upon the tongue and lust ...

Poetry Sunday: Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman

You probably remember poet Amanda Gorman from her appearance at the inauguration of President Biden. She read her poem "The Hill We Climb" on that occasion. After the senseless slaughter in Uvalde this week, she was inspired to write another poem which was published in The New York Times. It seemed perfect for the occasion and so I stole it in order to feature it here, just in case you didn't get a chance to read it in the Times . Hymn for the Hurting by Amanda Gorman Everything hurts, Our hearts shadowed and strange, Minds made muddied and mute. We carry tragedy, terrifying and true. And yet none of it is new; We knew it as home, As horror, As heritage. Even our children Cannot be children, Cannot be. Everything hurts. It’s a hard time to be alive, And even harder to stay that way. We’re burdened to live out these days, While at the same time, blessed to outlive them. This alarm is how we know We must be altered — That we must differ or die, That we must triumph or try. ...

The Nature of Things

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