Ali Karim was a Board Member of Bouchercon [The World Crime & Mystery Convention] and co-chaired programming for Bouchercon Raleigh, North Carolina in 2015. He is Assistant Editor of Shots eZine, British correspondent for The Rap Sheet and writes and reviews for many US magazines & Ezines.
This extraordinary crime thriller set in Northern Maine caught me completely by surprise; but once I cracked the spine - the narrative would not release its grip until the elegiac climax. Recommend by debut novelist Travis Kennedy, I was curious due to Whyte Python authors’ enthusiasm. However, as I had not heard about the author Ron Currie before, nor read any other reviews or word-of mouth – my expectations were low – hence the surprise when I clung to the narrative as if it were a life-raft.
Ostensibly a criminal family saga, set over generations of French Catholic Immigrants to the [north-eastern] American state of Maine – Currie’s novel details how the crime boss, a tough woman in her Sixties, the eponymous Babs Dionne finds herself in the cross-hairs of the Canadian Mafia.
Dionne is the matriarch and leader of a cabal [which includes family] that supplies their town with the drugs that distract the populace from their demons, their desperation, their poverty and their deprivation. Dionne’s two daughters Sis [Celeste] and Lori, both work for her, and both get high on the supply of Crystal Meth, Heroin, and synthetic Opioids such as OxyContin that Babs controls. Even the local Police Chief ‘Bates’, and local [prescribing] Physician ‘LaVerdiere’, her Sister ‘Rita’, and her network of old girl-friends are embedded in the town’s illicit drug supply.
Babs Dionne finds her grip on the throne of her criminal empire challenged as a ruthless and amoral hitman [referred to purely as ‘The Man’] arrives in town, despatched by Canadian Mafia Boss Ogopogo.
At the same time Dionne’s daughter ‘Sis’ vanishes, so she despatches Lori to investigate. What she uncovers is not pretty.
Rippling with curious characters such as the Catholic Priest Father Clement, the ghosts of the past such as Dionne’s late husband Rheal, her late Son and Brother [both ex-soldiers named Jean who both died in foreign wars], alcoholic son-in-law Bruce and grandson Jason.
Currie’s thought-provoking crime novel forces the reader to pause for contemplation upon the existential themes that lurk mere micrometres from the surface gloss of this polished narrative.
When I put the book down, the themes and thoughts that ricocheted like stray-bullets remained in my mind, echoing further contemplation about life, family, death and the fragility of existence.
Worth your time and attention.
