My thanks go to NetGalley and Black Cat for a review copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback.

The Great State of West Florida is the fourth instalment in the The Woolsack Family series, written by Kent Wascom.

In this book, we follow Rally, a young boy who has a family history that would make the bravest and strongest of us wince at. He spends the majority of this tale with his uncle Rodney, a professional gunfighter on an application that gets very little explanation in the sum of this books 200+ pages. The rest of Rally’s family are no longer around and so Rodney takes him in and aims to show him how the world of West Florida operates, with gunfighting maniacs lurking around every corner and co-opting far-right politicians looking to take every crumb that’s on offer to them. Wars are breaking out and the histories around families and political parties cover the scene in every corner. Rally is slap bang in the middle of all this, and it’s his journey to uncovering the truth of what’s happened before that carries the narrative of the book.

This novel - this world - is set in what feels like a John Wayne - meets Star Wars- meets Silicone Valley world. One page we’ll have mentions of social media and new not-so-in-the-future technologies, and the next we’ll feel like we’re sat in a salloon surrounded by tobacco smoke and the aromas of whiskey. This may be what some readers want, the haziness between two vastly different environments and making it seem to work naturally, but I found it to be too distracting for the overall reading experience and I don’t think Wascom makes it work.

You feel hooked at the beginning, and despite the slight annoyance of the narrator (Rally himself) bringing up the fact that something bad is about to happen at the end of every chapter, you do feel a sense of skillfully built anticipation from the writing. There is very little annoyance in the characters themselves, despite perhaps finding them flat and one dimensional at times. So all of this works in the novels favour. Where it falls down slightly for me is in the pay off that eventually arrives, the pay off that we’re told for pages and pages is monumentally impactful. It is anything but that. Perhaps the impact is felt less because the book warns of it, but in that case, don’t mention it? Let the reader come to that themselves. It felt shoddy and purely crafted in the way it plays out.

I have not read the first 3 legs of this series, and I understand that that may take away from the overall understanding of the world and the story, but this felt confusing in large parts. Many of the things mentioned received little background explanation. Things were left to the previous books to build up the world. Not only is this confusing for someone coming in at book 2/3/4/5/6, it also asks of the reader that they actually go back prior to reading this instalment in order to recall the basics of the series. I don’t feel like you as the writer should be asking for that much buy in from the reader, and it is down to you to make the standalone book interesting and understandable enough for anyone to pick up.

This is a book that, for large parts, as a singular reading experience, rides well on the coattails of some of the mainstay characters, but eventually leaves a lot to be desired in the last 40ish pages. The world is confusing but may be suitable for certain audiences, while the world building at the start feels to quickly rushed and shallow. I would only really urge you to pick up The Great State of West Florida if you’re a fan of the author and have read the series already, or if you enjoy the mashed together world building style that this book lives in.

The Great State of West Florida, by Kent Wascom, has the distinction of being my worst read in 2024. I loved the cover, and was intrigued by the Wild West possibilities of a renegade state. First mistake: Never judge a book by its cover. Second mistake: I did not research the author so as to know that this was the last book in a series. All of that was completely my fault. I found the book completely unreadable. Had I read the previous books, I probably would have had a starting point to understand the characters and context. Nonetheless, the real breaking point was the extent of brutality that included gory descriptions and sexual violence, some of which involved children. Although I appreciate NetGalley and the publishers' allowing me to read a digital ARC, I cannot recommend this book. I do encourage prospective readers to read other reviews of this book, some of which are very positive. What does not work for me may well work for others.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for an ARC of this book, in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was so excited for this book because the synopsis drew me right in. (I wasn’t aware it was the fourth in a series, and felt like a lot of information was quickly thrown at me that would have been from the first three books).

I had to DNF this book at 17% because it was just too violent and gory. Not only did it have several descriptive acts of violence in the beginning of the book, it also has several acts of child abuse happening.

Where I drew the line at stopping this book was the joking and planning of rape/sodomy to a child using frozen hot dogs. I’m unsure how this book passed through so many hands before it was published, and this material was given the okay to be written and included.

I would not recommend this book.

This is Kent Wascom's funnest, most character- and plot-driven outing to date. As usual, the writing is superlative, and the dystopian world he creates is nightmarish, outlandish, yet believable. A little bit of Ballard, a little bit of Harry Crews, a little bit of Kill Bill, and a whole lot of warped imagination and ingenuity.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

I was not aware that this was the final book in a four part series when I requested it. I was drawn by the cover and the idea of a near-future/post apocalyptic setting. This book was far too violent for my personal taste and was really unexpected. I was drawn to the mystery and the family and political drama, but I was not able to finish this one.

I do think this one is going to be popular with fans of the genre.

I chose this entirely for the cover, which I absolutely loved. Maybe a bit of a mistake as I don't typically like Westerns and this was the 4th (and I believe final) book in a series.

That said the book holds up as a solo work. I enjoyed this book about two warring factions in a near future civil war. Weird, dark, twisted and enjoyable despite not being my typical genre.

A book of it’s time.

Didn’t find a character to like and kept hoping as characters are butchered for various reasons the writer would wipe out the rest. The writer has an amazing ability to machine gun the f word out without creating a depth of the characters as to why the language is used. Thus, all the character’s dialogue is mostly interchangeable.

Not helping is a plot that has been machine gunned out so often that the usage is now lazy and shameful.
Want to read a similar, but better, book like this? Read Star Wars adaption.

The ‘I hate Christianity’ books are so very 1980s. Yet, here’s still another one! How about going after another religion, at least? Vonnegut just made up one.

About Florida. The writer swaps Pensacola Christian College for his version. He must really hate the school. Wonder if he hates the Drowsy Poet coffee shop, too, because it's nearly attached to the school?

Apparently this writer has written other "books". I hope, in the future. a plot is included ...and maybe the slightest of levity.

Bottom line: I don’t recommend this book. 1 out of 10 points.
I'm providing an honest review of this book via NetGalley.com.
I highly recommend book lovers, like me, preview and review books to help get new readers.

This novel is a banana pants take on what might happen with the escalation of the Christian nationalism that has erupted. Frenetic in plot and pace.

This had everything that I was hoping for from the description. I enjoyed the concept and that it had the Western element perfectly in this story. Kent Wascom writes a great story and had a overall great concept with characters that I was hoping for. I thought the cover worked well with this story and I was glad I got to read this.

Thanks to Grove Atlantic/Grove Press/Black Cat and NetGalley for this digital ARC of Kent Wascom's 'The Great State of West Florida.'

First, what a book cover - absolutely gorgeous!

In a barely near future (2026) scenario we see the (what feels the like) logical culmination of the right-wing-driven, Christian Nationalistic, culture- and political wars that have been brewing for several decades and which have exploded into the US mainstream since 2015.

The Florida Panhandle and surrounding areas are seceding to form the eponymous Great State of West Florida triggering a civil war in the locality that filters into the broader US, though we only hear about that in a very limited way. The protagonists are led by a typical and recognizable right wing Christian nationalist on one side and The Governor, a semi-mythical woman who leads the more secular, pioneer-like family-driven group that was left to her by the family patriarch. A couple of key figures emerge on The Governor's side - Rally and Rodney and its through the teenaged Rally's eyes that we see much of the action unfold.

That action is frenetic and chaotic and hard to follow and so, I'm afraid, is the narrative which reflects the chaos of the story. Maybe it's the unfinished layout of the proof copy version but almost from the off I had considerable difficulty keeping the characters and the action straight - one seemed to bleed into the next for at least the first third of the book. Maybe that was intentional but by 40% in I was already lost and trying to claw my way back to understanding. It's a pity because from that point forward when Rally and Rodney connect the book - for me - improves considerably in terms of its pacing being able to follow the narrative.

It's a pity because The Governor is a glorious character of whom I'd like to have seen more and, despite my difficulties with this book, would love to see return in a more obviously central role in another novel.

All the contemporary politics and violence of Florida living is presented in a new novel set in West Florida. The craziness is apparent. Recommended for fans of the dark side of the Sunshine State, the place many people go to recreate their lives and start over.

This book is fast paced and attention grabbing. I personally found the book to be a bit graphic for my taste, but as that is a personal preference, it doesn't take away from the quality of the writing and the storyline. Kent Wascom has a talent for description and story telling. The book is exciting, and one that you don't want to put down. Well done.

This was a rowdy, compelling near-future history that centers more on the perspective of those with the power to change it than the politicians normally centered in these stories. This book is a bit on the graphic side when it comes to gore and sexual assault but it doesn't detract from the storytelling or message. I would highly recommend.

I do not deny the author's enormous talent that is radiant in this book, but for me, it was too violent. Personal taste here, as for others it might be a great read.

The novel begins and ends in a blood bath of violence, and random violence is scattered in the pages between. There is also enough sexual violence--not graphic, mind you, more like references to it in passing--to be an issue for some.

Still, it's a riveting, fast paced, heavy on action story set in the barely-future (2026) about a 13-year-old boy, Rally, who is being rescued for the second time. The first time he was saved in a family massacre as an infant. The time that dominates this book he is rescued from a deranged, cruel, and violent family by Rodney (another survivor of the family massacre), who is either his uncle, cousin, or father. (Not sure if I was just confused by the many convoluted family entanglements or if it was meant to be confusing as to the true relationship). Regardless of blood connections, Rodney acts like a father to Rally, the youth who is the narrator and center of the story. They are--to say the least--a nonconventional family unit, caught up in a violent attempt to create a new state--West Florida--which triggers a kind of civil war between the warring factions. Cynical look at politics (how else could one look at politics these days?) and bitter, cynical look at religion, culture, and the future make this a dark book. But the "what happens next?" qualities are outstanding, as are the characterizations and the world-building.

It is a brutal, intense novel with sprinklings of magical realism and harsh views of the future. It's hard to read, but harder to put down. Totally compulsively page-turner quality to this tale.