annieb123's Review of Ain't Nobody Nobody

by Heather Harper Ellett

Still reeling from the scandal that cost him his badge, Randy Mayhill—fallen lawman, dog rescuer, Dr Pepper enthusiast—sees a return from community exile in the form of a dead hog trapper perched on a fence. The fence belongs to the late Van Woods, Mayhill’s best friend and the reason for his spectacular fall.

Determined to protect Van’s land and family from another scandal, Mayhill ignores the sherriff who replaced him and investigates the death of the unidentified man. His quest crosses with two others: Birdie, Van’s surly, mourning daughter, who has no intention of sitting idly by and leaving her father’s legacy in Mayhill’s hands; and Bradley, Birdie’s slow, malnourished but loyal friend, whose desperation to escape a life of poverty has him working with local criminals, and possibly a murderer.

A riveting debut novel about family and loyalty, old grudges and new lives, AIN’T NOBODY NOBODY is like a cross between Faulkner and “Breaking Bad”, from a talented new writer with an authentic Texas voice.

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Ain't Nobody Nobody is a remarkably promising debut novel from Heather Harper Ellett. Released 24th Sept 2019 by Polis Books, it's 320 pages and available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This novel's southern gothic Texas tragicomedy is hung on a skeleton of a murder mystery around whose gravity vortex swirls a potent mix of family, redemption, guilt, poverty, ignorance, pride, drugs, corruption, and small town East Texas life. The reviewers who have likened it to Breaking Bad meets Joe Lansdale with a touch of Faulkner are spot on.

For some (scheduling) reasons this book kept getting shoved around in my reviewing queue and I missed reviewing it at release. I sat down this weekend and read it start to finish and found it funny, sad, nostalgic, and human. The characters are well written and flawed and remain in character throughout. The plot drew me in from the beginning, and developed slowly but inevitably. The language and situations are rough in places, but not gratuitous.

This is a well written, intelligent, and engaging narrative, well delivered. It certainly doesn't read like a debut novel.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Ain't Nobody Nobody

by Heather Harper Ellett

Reviewed by annieb123 on Dec 8, 2019

Reading updates