A former Texas Ranger comes into a dying town simply because he was tired of being on a bus. The night he arrives he attempts to "save" a free wheeling woman from her NeoNazi ex boyfriend (she didn't want rescuing), is assaulted by two bad-doers when he attempts to help a woman and her two children they are chasing and survives a tornado. The next day, the second woman is found murdered. He starts to investigate the situation and havoc ensues. I won't go into detail because of spoilers, but found this novel to be engrossing. A sub story is told throughout that explains his departure from the Rangers and is equally well told. Lots of action and a protagonist who has the potential to be a new Reacher. I hope the author does some follow ups for our hero. Thanks to Net Galley and Thomas and Mercer for an ARC for an honest review.

The only way to cope with losing his wife and children for Arlo Baines has been to keep on the move around the state of Texas. Hopping off a bus in the small town of Piedra Springs however brings Arlo into the middle of a mystery. Arlo used to be a Texas Ranger before the loss of his family and when outside of the small bar he happened upon a woman and her two children seem to be in danger Arlo can’t help but interject.

The next day after saving the woman and her children from two thugs though Arlo finds out that the woman has turned up murdered and the children are nowhere to be found. The local sheriff of course has every reason to suspect the newcomer but Arlo maintains his innocents and insists they much find the missing children.

The Devil’s Country is a fast paced suspense read where former Texas Ranger finds himself deeply involved in a mystery in the small town he’d stopped in. Because of Arlo’s past he isn’t exactly friendly with the law but since he had been a Ranger he’s trained to investigate so that put him in his own one man army trying to solve a crime that the locals didn’t seem to want to investigate.

The story also contains a lot of flashing back to build up Arlo’s character and slowly let readers learn of his past and just what really happened to his family. Both the past and the current really seemed to hold my interest as the story developed and was a bit surprised at how the whole story turned out.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book was not what I had expected. I thought it would be a suspense story.. but kind of went down the mystery side very fast. Arlo is traveling by bus around the country side ever since his family was murdered. All Arlo wants to do is sit and eat his food and be left alone to read his book. However he seems to be drug into the drama of a woman in a peasant gown with two children that need his help. One minute they are there asking for his help, the next he is defending them from two goons and they disappear!

Arlo will not leave town until he finds the woman and her children. Then he becomes the main suspect in a murder, however instead of being locked up or told not to leave town. He is told quite the opposite, he is told to get out right now. Arlo is the type of character that just can’t keep his nose out of everyone else’s business and leave well enough alone. He needs to know those kids are safe before he can leave. It seems one strange event leads to another and no one in this god forsaken town will give him straight answer until he meets an unlikely ally.

There were some things I did like about this book, the action scenes were spot on I could see them vividly in my mind. I could almost latch on to Arlo’s character most of the time, especially when he would have flashbacks. The plot line was a fantastic idea and where it all came together in the end was really good. However there were some scenes in the book that were never explained in any way. Was it a ghost or a mirage? Is Arlo loosing his mind? Those types of things need explained somehow somewhere. My lack of character connection really killed it for me. There was a lot of jumping around between the past and now, honestly I would’ve rather had the past story told than the now story.

This book had me intrigued at parts and confused at others. I’m not sure this would be everyone’s cup of tea. I would suggest picking it up at your local library or bookstore and trying a couple chapters out first.

This synopsis sounded so intriguing to me. I love a good suspense novel and this was a decent one. I was surprised at some of the situations it involved though. I can tell you that this novel could be a trigger for anyone that finds cults, child pornography and abuse, domestic violence, financial fraud and kidnapping and murders as triggers. This was an intense and very involved story. I wasn't too sure about it when I first started reading it but I did get sucked in quickly.

Although Arlo is a rough and tough guy, you can see the tender-hearted side of him in this story. I was with him every step of the way cheering him on. Although some of the situations were unnerving and made me so angry, I enjoyed this novel.

A fast paced mystery about an ex-Texas Ranger. Nothing fancy here, just good clean fun. Arlo Baines ends up in a small west Texas town and helps a woman and two children escape two thugs. But the next morning, the woman turns up dead and Arlo is seen as the prime suspect.

There's a touch of Jack Reacher to this story. One man against the world. This is action movie simple. In a bygone year, Bruce Willis would play the lead. Or Tom Cruise, despite the height discrepancy. Lots of fights, one man against multiples. Of course, the good guy is impossibly good and talented. There's a woman, of course, that helps him, an ex-reporter from The NY Times. What character development there is comes in the form of flashbacks to Arlo’s earlier life when his family is alive and he's still a Ranger.

This is the first Harry Hunsicker book I've read. A constant diet of this kind of book would wear thin, but once every now and then is a fun break from the serious literature.

My thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for an advance copy of this book.

Harry Hunsicker is the former executive vice president of the Mystery Writers of America as well as a successful author. Reading this suspenseful and at times almost surreal tale makes it easy to understand why so many people want to read his work. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. Thanks go to Net Galley and to Thomas and Mercer for the DRC, which I received in exchange for this honest review. This book is available to the public April 11, 2017.

Arlo Baines, a former Texas Ranger, is on the road when it all unfolds; he’s stopped at the tiny town of Piedra Springs, traveling from one place to another by Greyhound Bus, and he doesn’t intend to stay. He finds a place to get some food, sticks his nose in a copy of Gibbon, and tries to ignore everyone around him. Friendly conversation? Thank you, but no.

Unfortunately for him, there’s a woman with kids, and she’s in big trouble. Clad in an outfit that screams sister-wife, she is terrified, tells him she is pursued, and next thing he knows, she is dead. What happened to the children? Before he knows it, Baines is hip deep in the smoldering drama of the Sky of Zion, a cult that has deep tentacles into the local business and law enforcement establishments.

The narrative shifts smoothly back and forth between the past and the present, and Baines’s motivation is revealed. He is on the move because his wife and child were murdered by corrupt cops, who he then had killed. One particularly chilling scene, the one in which Baines is told to leave town, gives me shivers. In general, however, I find that the scenes taking place in the present are more gripping and resonant than those in the past.

Interesting side characters are Boone, a retired professor with a crease on his head and flip-flops that are falling apart; the local sheriff, Quang Marsh; journalist Hannah Byrnes; and the bad guys in Tom Mix-style hats, with the crease down the front. Setting is also strong here, and I can almost taste the dust in my mouth as Baines pursues his quest in this little town with quiet determination. Every time I make a prediction, something else—and something better—happens instead. In places, it's laugh-out-loud funny!

Readers that love a good thriller and whose world view leans toward the left will find this a deeply satisfying read. Hunsicker kicks stereotypes to the curb and delivers a story unlike anyone else’s. I would love to see this become a series.

Hey, we might have a book about a hero who is not heroic; you know the Jason Bourne/Batman character. Give this one a try as a down in the heart law man goes against a town with no heart. I liked it

A fun and fast-paced crime thriller that truly engaged me. Loved this book!

He just got off the bus because the town's name was interesting and he thought he'd snoop around for a bit and then catch one the next day. Drinking a beer at the local bar shouldn't cause any trouble. But it did...

Thomas and Mercer and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It will be published April 11th.

This is a tale of a man who had nothing to lose. He's traveling because his whole family was murdered by dirty cops. It was his father-in-law's fault but it was his fault, too. He didn't intend to get involved in bad things but he didn't want to tell his father-in-law no. Now the bad cops are dead, the father-in-law is in jail and he's no longer a Texas Ranger. He's still angry, though.

A woman asks for help in the parking lot. She has two children with her. The cowboys from the bar come out and try to take her way. He objects and fights them both. She and the kids disappear and he ends up in jail. When she shows up dead and the children are missing, he gets concerned. The cop dismisses her as a prostitute and doesn't pursue it.

Arlo isn't happy with that solution. She was wearing simple plain clothes and was in fear of her and her children's lives. He wants to find the children. However, nobody in town will answer any questions or tell him anything. When he runs across a lady journalist, she's looking for her niece. They decide to look together.

They have a religious cult compound in town and no one is allowed to leave it. If they try, they are disfigured and required to stay in the town. No one sees any hope for the future. But Arlo has already lost everything. They can't take anymore from him and dying doesn't scare him...

This a well written book about an ugly subject. There's plenty of action, death, and a surprising friendship built in the story. Arlo survives to fight another war. I wonder where the author will take him next...

The Devil's Country by Harry Hunsicker wasn't a bad read, but neither did it have that certain quality which makes you recall it clearly and recommend it to others.

Former Texas Ranger Arlo Baine's wife and children have been murdered so he takes to wandering from place to place, thinking that it may ease the pain. But his life is turned upside down again when he rescues a woman and her two children from her attackers, then she is found murdered and the children missing.

This isn't really a western, which is what I thought I was getting, but is more of a murder mystery/thriller, another genre I enjoy. But this is a plot that has been done before, and better. An okay read at best.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing a digital ARC of The Devil's Country by Harry Hunsicker for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Arlo Baines is an ex- Texas Ranger . He's on a one-way bus ride away from the horror and pain of the death of his wife and children. He decides to stop in a small West Texas town and runs into a women with her two children pleading for help to get away from the men who are trying to kill them. Things happen and Arlo is drawn into a massive web of violence and murder. The whole town seems to be in on it, but no one's talking. It seems like he is the only one who cares about finding out the truth. Harry Hunsicker is a master of words. Reading his prose is a twist of hard-core noir, smooth and sleek like a Phillip Marlowe of the West! His short, terse dialogue recalls Raymond Chandler. Arlo is edgy and tough, ready for anything. I loved it! Recommended for any mystery lovers.

The Devil's Country by Harry Hunsicker will be available April 11, 2017 by Thomas and Mercer, an imprint of Amazon. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

Harry Hunsicker ramps up the usual tropes in this stranger in a small town thriller/mystery. Arlo Baines stops in Piedra Springs, a west Texas town where most people would have driven on through. But Arlo isn’t most people. He is a former Texas Ranger working to put his tragic past behind him….by reading, of all things, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. But story time is soon interrupted and Arlo isn’t the type not to get involved. When a strangely dressed woman asks for help for herself and two children, Arlo jumps in. When a young abused bar girl is about to get manhandled, Arlo jumps in. Kidnapping, cults, killings….Arlo is soon in the middle and trying to keep one step ahead, while remembering the dark road where his past actions and inactions led him. The laconic pace at the book’s beginning quickly morphs into a wild, fasten your seat belt read. So fast, that it is easy to ignore the logic that in a town this small, can so many bad guys hide and be empowered? But who cares? You’re hooked till the end and hoping Arlo soon gets to the next town for another adventure.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an opportunity to review this book by an author I had not previously read.

Thank you.
Enjoyed it.
Will get copies for family and friends.

I was invited to read this book, but it's not something that interests me at the moment. However, I do appreciate the opportunity.

Very gripping story which doesn't let you go until the last page. Very well-crafted layers to this story.

Solid, well written story. Arlo Baines is a former Texas Ranger trying to outrun the emotional loss of his family. He just wants to be left alone but the small Texas town of Piedra Springs has other plans. He is inadvertently drawn into investigating several murders and a shady cult. Interesting characters and a well developed backstory made this a quick, enjoyable read.

First time reading this author and enjoyed this book. Recommend it.

First time reading this author. I will be looking for more of his writings. It was an enjoyable, well paced read. The characters were well developed.

Found it hard to get engrossed in this book. The story seemed to ring old with the whole cult aspect. The cult story line is ok but would have been nice to have a new twist or something new and different about it. Wasn't a fan of this one. Sorry

The main character in The Devils' Country is Arlo Baines. Although most of their circumstances are different, Harry Hunsicker's Baines reminds me a lot of Lee Child's Jack Reacher. Fast pace current mystery to solve with Baines background thrown in the mix. Both excellent stories. A definite page turner with edge of your seat moments. I'm hoping The Devil's Country is the beginning of a series from Mr Hunsicker. I was given an early copy to review.