It's Chris Offutt, it's Mick Hardin and the dark contradictions of the commonwealth of Kentucky....

Mr Offutt is one of the best wordsmiths in the US today and I'll never get enough of his gorgeous prose and bottomless imagination
It was simply fabulous!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Exit Press for giving me the opportunity to read this fabulous novel!

Mick Hardin returns to the killing bills of Kentucky in this sequel from Chris Offutt to find himself helping Shifty Kissick identify the killer of her son, Fuckin' Barney.

Offutt offers a similar experience to the opening book in the series as Mick investigates mostly on his own running up against his sheriff sister and her deputy, Johnny Boy as she campaigns to remain in post at the forthcoming election.

It's a book with a lot of connective tissue to the first including the quality of the writing as Offutt takes us to different settings in the hills and colours in a more unknown side to life up there describing the operation of what was once a mushroom mine.

Again, for comparison, I would point to Ace Atkins Coulson series, which is no mean feat in itself. You can feel the bigger antagonists on the fringes of this book ready to rain down help on Hardin in future instalments.

This is a really well written thriller from the author, book 2 to feature Mick Hardin, set in Kentucky. it's a comfortable and easy read, with an interesting plot and some great characters. it ticks along at a steady pace, no real tension, twists or unexpected ending but nevertheless, a book which I really enjoyed and would recommend. Thanks to Net Galley for my ARC.

I thought this book was okay, the characters were well written, and the pace was good. The story kept me interested. Well worth a read.

Chris Offutt introduced military investigator Mick Hardin in his previous book The Killing Hills. That book had Hardin home from leave in the rural Kentucky community of Rocksalt where everybody knows him and his sister Linda is the acting Sherriff. Shifty’s Boys is the follow up and finds Hardin back in Rocksalt and living with his sister as he recovers from an injury to his leg incurred when an IED killed many is his squad. But you can’t keep a good investigator down and soon he is investigating the murder of a local drug dealer.
Hardin agrees to investigate at the insistence of Barney’s mother Shifty, an old woman who once dated his father Shifty does not believe that her son Barney was killed in a drug deal gone wrong and it does not take Mick long to find some issues with that version of events. In the meantime his suster is campaigning to be elected as Sherriff, making Mick’s job both easier (he is deputised for a while) and trickier (when he needs to do something illegal). The investigation builds up to a very American climax that has Mick digging into his other set of skills as a soldier. Some readers may baulk at the use of violence to solve some of the more intractable issues but Offut handles those action scenes well and allows Hardin time to reflect on his actions.
Much of the pleasure in reading Shifty’s Boys is in the detail Offutt brings to the community of Rocksalt. Offutt brings the town – its characters, its history its environment and its wildlife – vividly to life in a way that makes some of the final reveals hit harder. Mick himself is a bit of a classic character who rides into town, agrees to solve a problem because it is the right thing to do and has an armoury of both mental and physical skills to back him up. A little bit of Jack Reacher-style but less of a drifter and with a more defined community to protect.
Much like the current wave of Australian outback noir, there is plenty of room in the US for small town-based crime fiction. Shifty’s Boys is an atmospheric and enjoyable crime novel with a strong central character and a great sense of place. If there is a third Hardin book it may well be set in Rocksalt but, given Hardin works for the US army Offutt has left the door open to send him anywhere.

Shifty's Boys was a very pleasant surprise and an engrossing read.. This is the second book by Chris Offutt about army CID agent Mick Hardin, who is on leave and staying with his sister who is the sheriff in a Kentucky town where a local drug dealer has been murdered and the body left in town. He is asked by the family of the deceased to `look into the death and bring them justice.
I have not read the first Mick Hardin novel, but definitely will after `this well written, well paced thriller. The characters are well rounded, the interactions and dialogues well described and appropriate.
Overall I highly recommend this book. Looking forward to the next one in the series.

This is the second in Chris Offutt Mick Hardin series, but my first, an American rural noir set in the remote backwood town of Rocksalt in the hills of Kentucky. Offutt makes the place come stunningly alive, lovingly relayed through the details, the descriptions of the landscape, the woods, the wildlife, such as the snakes, birds of prey, bats and the bugs, and the melancholic undercurrents to the season of spring. The characters have a quirkiness, idiosyncracies and distinctness, that lend them an all too believable authenticity, along with the pitch perfect tone of the dialogue between the locals, a community bonded by their personal histories, long relationships and knowledge of each other, ties that bind in a town where beauty, goodness and darkness simultaneously reside side by side.

This is Mick Hardin's home, he is an Army CID office on medical leave, recovering from IED injuries, but struggling with PTSD, sinking into a haze under the influence of prescription painkillers that is irritating Linda, the sister he is living with, the local Sheriff campaigning for re-election. On top of all this, he is an emotional wreck, finding it hard to move past his love for his wife, Peggy, and the breakdown of their marriage as he sits morosely on the divorce papers. So when a body discovered in the centre of town turns out to be Barney Kissick, the local heroin dealer, the police write off the killing as the inevitable consequences of a fallout between drug gangs. However, when Barney's mother, Shifty, asks Mick to investigate, he welcomes the distraction it provides him from his troubles. It is not long before Mick senses that all is not right, finding himself having to confront deadly dangers, getting shot at, as he starts to understand that there is something much more powerful and more toxic at play.

In this absorbing and immersive storytelling of crime, grief and revenge, Mick joins forces with Shifty's son from San Diego, Ray-Ray, an ex-marine, taking actions that have Mick breaking his own personal moral code, leaving him judging himself far too harshly. This is high quality rural crime noir that I recommend highly, with an appealing and compassionate central protagonist with the humanity to believe in people when others might not. There are a slew of memorable characters and the incredible location is itself an unforgettable major character, making this a must read. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

Shifty’s Boys was my introduction to Mick Hardin and the unique Kentucky hill culture and it left me craving more of both. Chris Offutt has written a tight, pacey thriller with brilliantly drawn characters and wonderfully atmospheric descriptions of the Appalachian community in which the action is set. I will definitely seek out the earlier Mick Hardin novel and look out for the next with eager anticipation.

A second investigation for Mick Hardin, with enough ties back to the first that I would recommend you read The Killing Hills first - not essential, you will just enjoy the characters more. Mick is back in the Hills, recovering from injuries sustained from his Army CID job, in time to look into the death of a drug dealing local. More deaths occur before Mick works out the motives behind killing. Like the first book, the locals and the locality are the stars of the book, and I am hoping that there will be many more adventures/ slice of life stories / for Mick to come.
3.5 Stars

I would like to thank Netgalley and Oldcastle Books for an advance copy of Shifty’s Boys, the second novel to feature Army CID Investigator Mick Hardin, set in rural Kentucky.

Mick is home in Rocksalt, Kentucky rehabbing his leg after an IED encounter, flirting with prescription drugs and disagreeing with his sister, the sheriff. When the body of a local drug dealer, Barney Kissick, is found the police write it off as a drug deal gone wrong. His mum, Shifty, isn’t so sure and asks Mick to investigate.

I have not read this series before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I loved Shifty’s Boys and would have finished it one sitting if I hadn’t fallen asleep in the wee hours. It is a shortish read, but it packs a lot in, not just crime but the realities of life in rural Kentucky.

The plot is the start of this mixture. Drugs are rife throughout the world, so the death of a dealer isn’t specific to the area, nor is Hardin’s flirtation with prescription drugs, but it seems to fit the world the author has created. It’s small time and appears to be a Kissick family endeavour. More to the point, the motive behind the murder is a rural issue and a dangerous one to boot. Hardin’s investigation moves at a fast pace as he maximises the few clues he has and I found myself hooked and intrigued by the way it moves along, unfurls something particularly nasty and culminates in a shootout, that, while not particularly likely, is immensely satisfying.

I think that the characters are realistic and seem to come to life through their actions and dialogue. It made me laugh at times and depressed me at the sense of resignation at others. There’s not a lot of money or care invested in these communities and the vignettes of the characters expose this. Having said that it’s not a depressing novel and, at points, is quite uplifting and funny. It’s a real “it is what it is” novel and I loved it for that.

Shifty’s Boys is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

Shifty's Boys is Offutt's second book with Mick Hardin who is back in Kentucky. As usual his method of escaping his own personal troubles is to involve himself in the troubles of others. So I followed him up and down the hollers and down the mines and greatly enjoyed myself.

Shifty and her Boys. All born and bred in the Appalachians. Like Mick the Appalachians are in their blood and this effects them even when far away. Would greatly love to see Ray-Ray again.

As usual Offutt's way with the pen just puts me at ease and I just relax and enjoy by book. Looking forward to more and more.

4/5 Very Good.

I read the first Mick Hardin novel late in 2021 and wasn’t massively enamoured by it but still I found enough there to read this 2nd book, Shiftys Boys. And I’m glad I did as I thoroughly enjoyed this shortish little banger of a book.

The small town vibe is there , Hardin is struggling with PTSD and other things, but when a local drug dealer is found dead, he finds himself making an unlikely alliance with the a less than reputable family.

With lots of southern dialect, a protagonist who doesn’t let up, and a cast of likeable characters especially the introduction of Ray- Ray, this turned out to be an action packed thriller with some superb story telling, explosive moments and a writing style to admire.

This thriller ticks many boxes, Jack Reacher he Ain’t, He’s Mick Hardin and I really hope there is more, the finale left an intrigue that needs to be discovered.

Well written, compelling storyline and well developed characters. This was gripping right from the start, fast paced and tense, with twists and turns.