Blackwater

Excellent book. Interweaving story lines that keep a hold of you wanting you to keep reading. If you like James Patterson you will enjoy this book. Will be looking for other books written by GJ Moffat

Fantastic thriller,enjoyed this book from first page to last.

Excellent read that gallops along.

Blackwater is the story of Deputy Sheriff Early Simms, a decent man policing a tranquil small American town. It’s the kind of place where nothing much happens, a decent burgh populated by conservative minded, hardworking, decent folk. Early has demons, but at heart he’s a kindly giant, a product of this environment. But unbeknownst to the population of Blackwater and its deputy sheriff twin dark clouds are on the horizon. Kate Foley, Early’s childhood sweetheart returns to town, bruised from a beating dished out by her husband. He’s spiraling dangerously out of control and wants either his wife back at any cost, or no other man to have her. Meanwhile, the Cain Brothers, Jimmy and Marshall, are on the warpath. Both more than capable of serious they’re on what can only be described as a criminal road trip, the viciousness of which is speedily escalating. Both clouds are hurtling towards Blackwater and the town’s deputy sheriff, Early Simms. When reading this accomplished novel, I was first tempted to characterize it as a slice of small-town noir, but writing this review I don’t think that’s accurate. Rather, I would consider Blackwater to be a modern Western, noir Western if you like. You have the good townsfolk of a small town, you have your outlaws riding in to rob and pillage, and finally, you have your decent lawman in the shape of Early Simms. Blackwater is an exciting read and the author does a good job setting the scene and ratcheting up the tension. I particularly liked the Cain brothers, who made believable and sinister villains.

If a story is going to grip me then one of the best ways to do it is to have a lead character that I want to read about. Blackwater has Early Simms – he is a Deputy in the Blackwater Sheriff’s Department and he is exactly the kind of character that I want to read about. Early can outsmart the bad guys, take down the brawlers and he is comfortable and respected in his hometown of Blackwater. He is the character you hope will appear in many more books. As I got to read Blackwater very early I didn’t know what to expect before I started reading. I had reached the half way point (and just come up for air for the first time) when I noticed GJ Moffat had tweeted a response to a blogger question “What is the book about?” His reply: A good man. Some very bad men. A love story. A crime story. Basically, it rocks. He nailed it. Especially “it rocks”. The good man is Early. A tragic incident which occurred while he was at school changed his life forever and he now seems to be trying to ensure that the overwhelming perception that others will have of him is that he is a good man. The “very bad men” are truly bad people. Two brothers will lose control of a situation that will spiral into a manhunt which draws in the police and FBI. They are without compassion and their crimes were shocking (but they made for compelling reading). It should be noted that the brothers may not be the only bad men. If there *were* to be others then I couldn’t possibly discuss them in a review as that would be creeping into SPOILERS territory. I don’t do that. But I would suggest that reading Blackwater would let you find out for yourself about the other bad people that I cannot discuss! Next up “the love story”. Yes indeed and here is where I can laud the author for brilliant characters and great story pacing. This is an action packed thriller but GJ Moffat still manages to give his cast a proper backstory and lets them develop and grow while the action is unfolding around them. The “crime story”…well I refer to the brothers again and also to those unmentionable spoilers. There is a lot going on in Blackwater but the different story threads are woven together will real skill by the author. I read with increasing anticipation as events started to build towards their climax and I was wholly unprepared for the unexpected twists. Blackwater is a book which will suck you in and is a richly rewarding read. I absolutely loved it and has left me with that dreaded book hangover feeling…where you know the next book you pick up will not be as good as the one you have just finished. Highly, highly recommended – Mr Moffat can tell a great story. 5 stars all the way.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader. --- Early went to [redacted]'s body and hunkered down in front of [redacted]. His skin was flaccid and his jaw and face swollen and misshapen from the effects of his injuries. His shirt was entirely soaked in blood. Early shook his head, thinking: this is what men do. Take Walt Longmire (Deputy Longmire, before Lucian Connally's retirement) throw him into Jesse Stone's Paradise, and then tell a story imbued with the spirit of Fargo (movie or show), your results will be pretty close to GJ Moffat's stunning Blackwater. It's a tale of violence, bloodshed, power, inevitability and death -- what men do. Deputy Sheriff Early Simms of Blackwater County is the son of the previous sheriff and probably the only member of the Department really fit for the job. A tragic accident in High School changed the direction of his life, and as a result he's in the same dying New England area he grew up in. He's made peace with this, and even seems to be happy -- he'd be happier if his boss (and colleagues) cared a bit more about the job and his father wasn't battling Alzheimer's, sure. But this is his life. And then everything changes in a couple of days -- his old high school flame (and love of his life) returns to town, there's an investigation into a corrupt public official, an investigation into an assault/attempted murder at a nearby jail, and a couple of brothers on a killing spree have come to the region. There's also some drug running, spousal abuse, a pretty nasty bar fight. I don't want to say that Early Simms is the only one investigating the crimes, in trying to preserve the peace -- there are three (that we know of) other members of the Sheriff's Department, some other local law enforcement officers and some FBI agents running around. But Early's the only individual who's in each of the stories -- he's the region of intersection in the Venn diagram of Blackwater (and frequently the most capable person around). One of the criminals we meet in these pages (not saying which one) is clearly not an evil man. There's some sort of undiagnosed (by the author or by any professional this criminal has ever encountered) mental health issue affecting him. Which does not lessen the evil he does and the trauma he inflicts on others. Part of me wants to know more about the whys, hows, wherefores, and whatnot about this disorder and is a little frustrated that Moffat doesn't give us any of it. The other part of me is so glad that he didn't succumb to temptation to get into tall that, instead merely showing his readers what was going on with this man, leaving it to us to do the work. There's someone else who probably has some sort of Traumatic brain injury symptoms -- not quite the same, but some of the same results. We also see crime perpetrated by someone motivated by power, money and meanness. Also, there are some criminals who just don't seem to have options, means or inclination to do anything but break the law. It's up to Early to face down these people, no matter where on the spectrum they seem to be found, to prevent them from inflicting too much harm on the community. How successful he is at that, well . . . Moffat can write. That's all there is to it. It took almost no time at all to recognize that. You get a strong sense of every character in just a few lines and his world is as fully realized as you could hope for. He presents the evil Early sees and fights against in this book fairly realistically, in a way that is as capricious and destructive as anything you see on the news. So many times -- almost every chance he gets -- Moffat will do precisely what you don't expect. What people just don't do in this kind of book. He'll put the characters in a situation you've seen dozens of times before, and just when you think "X will happen right after I turn the page," B happens before you can turn the page. I realize there's a danger in saying that -- you'll be looking for that kind of thing. But I expect that the same thing'll happen to you as it did to me every time he pulled the rug out from under me -- you'll get sucked in by his writing and the characters (and possibly still be reeling from the last shock) and you won't even think to expect that he'll do it again. I finished the book I was reading before this earlier than I expected to, and didn't have the next on my list with me, so I took the opportunity to pay a visit to what I call my Kindle's "Fahrenheit Ward" -- where I stick all the Fahrenheit Press books that I buy without time to read -- and I grabbed this. I'm so glad my timing worked out that way -- this is exactly what I needed. I got sucked in by this immediately, and it was practically impossible to put down. Before I got to the novel's final confrontation(s), I jotted in my notes, "Man, I hope this isn't the first of a series -- I don't know if the community can survive another book." But if Fahrenheit published a sequel today? I'd shell out cash before the end day. I strongly expect you'll feel the same way once you recover from Blackwater.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was truly unputdownable. Early Simms, the archetypal, troubled hero, is a character I'd like to see more of. I also loved the Cain brothers - two of the many bad guys involved in the story -characters reminiscent of Steinbeck's Lennie and George. The touching ending was satisfying and brought a lump to my throat.