Clayton Burroughs is a shadow of the man he was once. Still with physical scars, it is the mental scars he cannot get over. Forced to do something he cannot forgive himself for, he has tAken to drink in a big way. His relationship with Kate is stressed because of it, but he hopes that at least the illicit trade on Bull Mountain has been stopped. Hope springs eternal, but reality bites. Money is missing, and where money is involved, trouble comes looking.

Brutal, a very big, bold and brutal story. Truth to tell, a little more brutal than I can usually handle, but there is something about these characters that draws me into their lives. The thin line between good and bad, the forces within a person that keeps them moving even when they want to quit. Plus, I just love kick ass women, and that definition certainly fits Kate. Love the little details strewn about in his writing as well.

Clayton must find his way to the answer to his question, "Would he be the man at the top of the mountain or the one crushed underneath?" You may grimace, be tempted to look away, but you won't be bored while reading this fast paced story. Also an revealization will be given for a thread left hanging in the previous book.

ARC from Netgalley.

This is a well written and topical story of a man fighting crime on multiple levels in a town many have forgotten. I missed Bull (my loss) but this is perfect as a standalone because the characters come through so clearly. Sheriff Clayton Burroughs knows the rot that's been in his town for generations and now there's opioids and other things adding to the mess. This starts off with a bang and doesn't let go in a way that has less to do with the action than with the sense of time and place. Clay and his wife Kate are trying to hold things together in the wake of his being shot and his brothers (not good people) killed but that's not easy. How Clay deals with the need to balance his family's safety (as well as that of the community) with doing the right thing is at the root of this dark read. Thanks to net galley for the ARC. Fans of southern crime fiction, especially, although those who like crime fiction in general, will appreciate this for the language and style Panowich brings to the genre.

This series is quite intense and an emotional roller coaster. I liked this better than the first in the series. Author developed the characters much better, but I’m still left feeling unsatisfied and wanting more from the story. I just want more!

Glass of whisky in one hand and Like Lions in the other. Great story about bad families, gangs, drugs and paybacks. Characters are deep and serious, no messing around. I haven’t read the Bull Mountain but after meeting Sheriff Clayton Burroughs and his wife Kate I can’t wait to put my hands on it. I enjoyed every page of this very well written book.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

HA!......SLICK 1972 Prologue/Epilogue......VERY SLICK!

We're back at Bull Mountain with Sheriff Clayton Burroughs now the only surviving family member of "deddy's" old fallen blood-thirsty clan....and he wants no part of reviving it. Still ailing from past injuries and feeling responsible for all that has gone wrong in his world...including problems with his marriage, Clayton dulls his pain with drink and visits to his family's gravesite....until threats aimed at his wife and baby bring him to his senses, and a surprising request gets him to thinking.

LIKE LIONS is the gritty sequel to BULL MOUNTAIN and it all begins with an attempted robbery gone very wrong introducing some colorful and dangerous characters, i.e. Freddy the aging drag queen and one Nails McKenna, (my favorite) and when Coot Viner and his gang of hooligans enter the picture, all types of crazy ass violent hell breaks loose.

Fear is the name of the game here....Fear of predators trying to cash-in on a defunct territory prime for selling drugs and guns....Fear of brutality and paybacks....and Fear of not knowing who to trust.

***Arc provided by The NetGalley team at St. Martin's Press in exchange for review***

Big thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press (Minotaur Books) for an eARC of Like Lions in exchange for an honest review.

Sometimes family goes beyond blood.

Clayton Burroughs is spiraling fast in the aftermath of having to shoot his own brother, in an act as the McFalls County Sheriff. As Clayton struggles to come to terms with his actions, and convince himself that he's not a murderer, he is also being forced to face his family history.

The Burroughs clan has long run Bull Mountain, located in North Georgia. Clayton was raised with his two older brothers, Halford and Buckley, by "Deddy" Gareth Burroughs - one of the largest crime families in the South - after his mother left them when he was just a baby. After his father's death, eldest brother Halford stepped in and seemingly took to running the crime family like a fish takes to water. During this time, Clayton had next to no contact with his family, choosing instead to walk the path of lawfulness, being elected County Sheriff. Paranoia near the end of his life though lead to a lot of questionable actions on Halford's part, according to his "deputies", including midnight meetings, unexplainable requests, and calling meetings just to count ammunition inventory...in the middle of the night. The Burroughs and those who followed them were effectively a hillbilly tactial unit.

Enter the Viner clan of further South. "JoJo" Viner, an idiot kid, convinces two of his friends that the Burroughs are in a state of disarray after the sudden death of their leader, and that now is the time to strike to take control of Bull Mountain. Defying the word of his father "Coot" and grandmother Twyla, Jojo ends up getting himself and his friends killed, and dumped on his poor grandmother's front porch. Jojo by none other than the County Sheriff himself.

As often does between opposing crime families, all hell breaks loose and Clayton is unwillingly pulled into the fray when his wife and infant son are threatened as retribution.

Like Lions is packed with drama from the first page. It's a typical shoot-em-up, drugs and lying fueled type of crime story but the setting is more unique. This isn't your typical shoot 'em up cowboy story, nor is it your typical "big city" crime family war. The battles in Georgia are bloody but contained. There's a subtlety to them that isn't typical of crime novels.

Panowich did a great job developing his characters, and his descriptions of a lot of them made them easy to imagine in my head. I really enjoy descriptive writing and I think Like Lions nailed it. I loved Kate's character, she matched perfectly as a representation of a lioness, showing strength, resilience, and a fiercely protective nature over those in her "pride". Clayton's pain was perfectly written. Sometimes authors will go over the top in an attempt to make their characters seem to be the woe-is-me type, and Panowich did a great job balancing Clayton's attitude. While he felt like he carried the weight of the world, when push came to shove, he knew what was the most important.

There were so many characters in Like Lions, some extremely important, others less-so, but I felt like none were truly neglected in their development, which is incredibly rare to find in a novel. There was only one characters who I never really felt like I found out who they were, and if you read Like Lions, you'll probably recognize who I'm talking about (and if you figure it out, please explain it to me!).
Overall I really enjoyed Like Lions and found it to be a really nice change from all of the historical fictions that I've been reading lately. There was also a clever plot twist at the end of the book that I definitely didn't see coming! I'd definitely recommend Like Lions.

Review:

In the foothills of McFalls County,
Waymore Valley.

“Clayton had defined himself as a good Sheriff—a good man and husband. The only good son born of a crooked tree.”

A place ruled by fear before and continues to try emerge.

The tales starts with a robbery pulled off by
“dumbest shit-bird this side of Bear Creek”

And then…

One adversary a member of the Viner clan said,
“Deddy will rain fire down on this place like you ain’t never seen. You know ain’t nobody up here got the juice no more to stop us.”

Sounds like a while lots bad things going to converge in North Georgia.
Some also want a deal to run certain commodities through the land too.

“Burroughs’s time in North Georgia was over.”

Will it be, we will have to see.

But things will have to be kept maybe cleaner because:

“McFalls County is not run by the Burroughs family anymore, but by the law.”

Let’s hope the Law can protect the innocents with the war ensuing.

Gripping you to the end of the escalating events, with at the helm of things, and main character of this tale, one that will not partake in leadership over that ancient Oak farm table, the war room in the Compound, yes that’s right like the one in Sons of Anarchy, this is men of Bull Mountain, Sons of Burroughs, brotherhood and kin, with blood loss and weighty things presiding over peoples consciousness.

The same reasons you may love the writings of Elmore Leonard, William Faulkner, Daniel Woodrell, Chris Offutt, and Donald Ray Pollock, to name a few, you would love this work.
All the desperation for preservations, trying to pave new ways, not the old ways, when fear was the currency of Kings, a mighty hard task undoing bad doings, bad legacies, the past, but never dead, all before the reader with the careful craft of a potent storyteller.

Featuring:

Gareth Burroughs
Halford Burroughs
Clayton Burroughs
Kate Burroughs

Wallace Cobb
Scabby Mike

Twyla Viner
Coot Viner
Vanessa Viner
Tate Viner
Joseph Viner

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martins Press and Minotaur Books for the preview copy. If you liked Bull Mountain, don't miss this one! I felt like I was watching a movie unfold as I read. The characters- both the good guys and the bad guys- were well done. The story just pulls you in. I wasn't sure that the sheriff could turn his life around in a positive way. I wasn't sure if Scabby Mike was a good guy or a bad guy. Wasn't sure about Twyla...

Well written-enjoyed the story.

In 2015, I attended the Decatur Book Festival and a title for one of the sessions caught my eye. I can't now remember what it was: Revenge in the Mountains; or Mountain Justice or some such thing (but much more clever) and I saw Brian Panowich (with his debut Bull Mountain) and Julie Keller (author of the Belle Elkins) books. It was one of the best author talks I've ever seen. This firefighter cowboy and Harvard educated middle aged woman from West Virginia had the most delightful conversation about writing, Marvel vs. DC comics, and when to go low and when to go high (brow, that is). I immediately picked up their books and Bull Mountain was one of the most surprising and delightful books I've ever read. It's a mystery, and falls clearly within the (relatively new) category of "Grit Lit", but it its so smart and literary and speaks to the push and pull of family in such a remarkable way. Needless to say, everyone on my holiday list got a copy that year and I've been waiting ever since for Panowich's next book.

AND HERE IT IS!!! Like Lions takes place in the same world as his debut. You could read this as a stand alone, but it would spoil a few plot points of Bull Mountain, and since you will fall in love with Panowich and want to read it too, I would suggest starting there!

Like Lions takes the conclusion of Bull Mountain (not just the conclusion of the mystery, but also of the resolution of the questions that it asks about family, community and boundaries) and immediately stirs up the pot.

Once again, Panowich's writing does not disappoint. It's literary and Southern and the plot is spot on. Panowich fills the plot with twists and turns, often several in a single scene. It was a fabulous County Fair joy ride of a book and one I highly recommend. But, if you are on my Christmas list, hold off . . . you might get it as a gift this year!

This story begins with a reflective prologue, set in the year 1972, back when Clayton’s family was still whole, living under one roof. A mother, father, and two brothers, filling in some gaps from the past, and then continues in the present.

The Burroughs family has lived on Bull Mountain for generations, but in the present time, his brothers are both gone, as is his father. His mother hasn’t been in his life for as long as Clayton can remember. The generations of men that came before him were moonshiners, then marijuana growers, and then meth, only Clayton’s turned his back on the family business, but business keeps trying to pull him back in. Now it’s OxyContin. The Leek clan means to run OxyContin through the county and all they’re asking is for Clayton to turn a blind eye. The Viners have plans of their own.

When his wife and infant son’s lives are threatened, what’s a sheriff to do? Should he -can he - rely on his team of somewhat inept law officials, who are no match for his enemies, to keep them safe? Or should he turn to his ancestral criminal ways?

Where this excels is in Panowich’s transportive prose, the emotionally raw and beautifully descriptive details that share the beauty of this rural area, and the determination of these people. Perhaps especially Clayton, whose body and soul bear the scars of the wounded so that you can’t help but feel his physical pain with each step, as well as his emotions as they come to the surface.

”Clayton was the exact opposite, he held onto everything. He hoarded guilt and pain the way some people did magazines and newspapers until it just became part of the everyday landscape.”

From the Prologue to the Epilogue, and all the pages in between, this covers the good, the bad, and the ugly in life. Poignant moments throughout keep this from being one tense moment after another, wrapping things up with an astonishingly fantastic conclusion that I never saw coming.

Call it grit-lit, southern-lit, hillbilly noir, whatever you like, just read this expressively electric, incredible return to Bull Mountain.


Pub Date: 30 Apr 2019

Many thanks for the ARC provided by St. Martin’s Press / Minotaur Books

Clayton Burroughs is back after the events in Bull Mountain. It’s about a year later, and he’s picking up the pieces after the feds ran roughshod over his family to bring down the drug business that his brother ran. Clayton has no desire to take up the mantle and continue the family business, he’s looking to keep the peace. However, a robbery gone wrong, an accidental death and he finds himself having to defend himself from some people who would like to rub him and his family out to take over the business. People are killed in not very pleasant circumstances. This book was told in more of a linear format than the first, there are only two flashbacks, one at the beginning and one at the end, that one at the end is a real eye opener. Overall very enjoyable, I look forward to further work by this author.

Bare-knuckled, surprising, twisty and raw, this is superb suspense fiction peopled with richly defined characters and studded with powerful moments. Panowich is on his way to becoming a superstar.

Copy furnished by Net Galley for the price of a review.

Back to Bull Mountain in North Georgia, revisiting scars, goiters, and red Solo cups of hooch and sweet tea.  Scabby Mike is here, and Coot Viner, as is a skinhead by the name of Nails McKenna.  There is business to attend to, and some question as to who has the loudest say-so about it.  This is a follow-up to the excellent <u>Bull Mountain</u>, so I don't want to wade into spoiler territory for those who have not yet read that one.  Just that family is the only thing worth fighting for, worth dying for.  Well, unless you count money.  And drugs.

1972. Bull Mountain is in north Georgia. It’s been run by the Burroughs clan for 4 generations. 3rd generation boss is Gareth Burroughs. He runs guns, drugs, ‘shine’, through his county, anything that’ll make him money. Cruel man. To everyone. Wife Annette has been beaten enough and sneaks out with Clayton, the baby of their 3 sons. Leaving pre-teen older sons, Buckley and Halford. But she doesn’t get out of the compound before Gareth stops her. With Halford keeping a gun on her, Gareth keeps Clayton and lets Annette leave, penniless with just the clothes on her back.

Present day.
Gareth died some time ago with his meth shed caught fire. Buck is also dead. Clayton decided not to continue in the family business and got elected county sheriff. That left Halford in charge. Just like his deddy, a cruel cruel man. Ruthless and a killer of those who challenged the mountain. But one thing he did was he kept order on the mountain. He was more of a middleman who had to be paid to move contraband through his county to points north. But he did drugs. A lot. And got even meaner when high. One day, he chased a girl into the sheriff’s office, drew a shotgun on her and was met with two slugs to the chest. Courtesy of the sheriff. His brother Clayton. (most of that is what I gather happened in book #1).

Bull Mountain is home to an off-the-books club called The Chute. Rumor has it that it launders Burroughs money. Four idiot kids from some low-life family looking to expand their territory, hit The Chute and don’t find what they are looking for. Three fall. The fourth, JoJo is delivered to the man who was Gareth’s chief lieutenant (Scabby Mike) where he, Clayton and another member of the Burroughs followers interrogate JoJo. When done, JoJo is delivered back to his family’s homestead and dropped at the front door of the Viner matriarch.

Family against family for control of the criminal empire that is Bull Mountain. It’s the Capulets v the Montagues; Hatfields v McCoys; Corleones v Barsinis . . . on Bull Mountain, it’s the Burroughs v the Viners.

And make no mistake about it. This feud involves money, drugs, guns, pride, vengeance, vendettas and a whole lot of history. The violence is merciless, and the revenge is vicious. And no one is immune. Anyone remotely connected to either family is at risk. Clayton’s wife Kate and their 1yo son Eben are targeted. And we quickly learn about family loyalty and the depth of that loyalty.
Panowich is from Grovetown, GA that I’m guessing is near Augusta. His debut novel Bull Mountain was the 2016 International Thriller Writers Award winner for best first novel and was also the Pat Conroy Award for best crime novel. Other reviewers have called his work ‘Country Noir’ or ‘Southern Crime’. I’ve used the term Redneck Noir, but this might be in its own class. Hillbilly Noir maybe?

Whatever. This isn’t our normal political thriller or police procedural. This is about family and the extent to which family will go to protect family and anyone important to that family. In doing so, Panowich plants twist after twist in the plot, most of which you will never anticipate. Especially the final twist in the epilogue.

What you need to do is find this book. And not even having read Bull Mountain, based on this one, I’d suggest you find them both and read them in order. Also found a note that a British studio, ITV, has optioned his work for TV. Nothing more than that. Stay tuned.

Great story about hill people which most of us have heard of either in books or in movies. The story and characters ring true to themselves. I felt like I was watching a movie where the characters are bigger than life and stronger too, just like a movie where the heroes keep fighting no matter how many times they go down. I like the way the story develops along with the characters.

Thanks to Brian Panowich, St. Martin’s Press, and Netgalley for providing me with a digital advance copy of this novel. Panowich‘ s first novel, Bull Mountain, was exceptional, and was one of my favorite books of 2016. I eagerly awaited his second novel, Like Lions. Sequels can be tricky, but I think Panowich largely succeeds in this second outing - I did not find the story to be quite as riveting as Bull Mountain, but still I was interested enough to have trouble putting down the book. The novel is well-plotted and wraps up nicely. If this is the end of the series for these characters, I think it’s a good conclusion. If not, I look forward to a change in setting/plot for Clayton and his family. Highly recommend, with a note that this book includes graphic violence.

1500th review. That’s proof I have no life a milestone moment. It would have been great if I had some knock-my-socks-off-everybody-best-run-and-get-it-immediately 5 Star rave or (even better) a 1 Star flamefest. Buuuuuuuuut it’s me who tends to fail despite her best intentions so you get this. On the bright side, Like Lions was my most highly anticipated release of 2019 and it made me break the “I don’t like to read sequels” S.O.P. which are my reading habits.

Okay, let’s get on with things. To say Bull Mountain knocked my socks off would be an understatement and, as I mentioned above, as soon as I finished I was like gimme a sequel now be-atch. Although it took a while and there were not only release date changes but what appears to be a publishing house switch-a-roo as well, my wish finally came true and my family dealt with a wife/momma screaming stuff like "MY METH IS HERE!!!!"

I’m not going to outright spoil things for anyone who hasn’t picked up the first one yet, but I am going to say this 100% didn’t go the direction I thought . . . or hoped might be more accurate . . . that I thought it would. (Maybe it’s because David Joy wasn’t the author haha – Panowich might not be as darksided as my mind wanted him to be.) Even the title was a bit of a bait and switch for me because you know the lioness is the boss bitch and the male??? Well he sleeps and humps a lot.

Like Lions picks up where Bull Mountain left us with the Burroughs family legacy. It took me a minute or two to get my head in the game that was actually being played rather than the one I had devised during my impatient waiting period, but once I found the rhythm this ended up being another winner from a great storyteller.

Note to anyone thinking about reading this – it absolutely does not work as a standalone. Suck it up and get Bull Mountain first. Trust me, you’ll have no regrets.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

I have been waiting with baited breath for this sequel to the marvelous Bull Mountain. I would definitely read Bull Mountain first as it will really add to the enjoyment of the novel, however, I think it could also work as a stand-alone. Sheriff Burroughs is trying to police his area after government enforcement stripped his family's empire and killing family members. Different from his deceased brothers, he displays a soft touch and only wants peace to come to his area. However this is not to be as rival clans want to swoop in and deal in the drug trade. When a young boy from the other clan is killed it steps up the fight. Burroughs has to call in the remainder of his loyalists to help bring order. The tension is high throughout powering me to burn the midnight oil and beyond to one of the greatest endings ever. Panowich may be a new author but is one to watch for creating suspense at new and arresting heights. I just loved the book.

Like Lions is a superb and masterful follow up to multiple award-winning debut Bull Mountain. Well worth the read!

I loved this authors first book and loved this one as well. I like. Gritty mysteries and real characters and this one has it in spades and is true to the region he writes about.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review this book