Published by Little, Brown and Company on May 27, 2025

Lay Your Armor Down is a spooky story about three people who have survived hard lives and a little girl whose survival skills are even stronger. The story is as much about lives gone wrong as it is about a crime gone wrong.

The novel begins with an elderly woman lost to dementia who fills a shopping bag with cash she has been hiding and wanders into the woods, apparently guided by an inner sight. The woman’s name is Wanetah. The only person who ever checks on Wanetah is a woman named Cara. While Cara was the victim of abuse in an incident that taught her the risk of trusting people we don’t know well, she has not allowed her history to darken her heart.

Burdean and Keal make a living doing dirty deeds for anyone who will pay. They usually deliver duffels filled with contraband or rough up someone who owes a debt, but Burdean has been hired to retrieve something from the basement of a church. Burdean enlists Keal’s help. Burdean doesn’t know what they will find but he was told he’ll know it when he sees it.

The men delay the job when they notice a light in the church. They wait in the nearby woods to consider their options when Wanetah stumbles upon them. They relieve Wanetah of her cash before returning to their motel room.

Keal feels guilty about leaving Wanetah alone in the woods. He pictures her as prey for a wolf he saw. Keal returns without Burdean’s knowledge and, not knowing where to look for her, decides to check out the church again.

Outside the church, Keal finds a car riddled with bullet holes. He sees dead bodies inside and outside of the car. Venturing into the basement, he finds more dead bodies as well as Wanetah and a little girl. Keal finds Wanetah’s address on an envelope in her bag and takes her home, leaving her with his share of the cash he stole from her, before returning to the motel with the little girl.

The plot concerns the efforts of Keal, Burdean, and Cara to decide what to do about the little girl. She’ll only speak to Cara and doesn’t know why the bad guys want her, although Cara comes to understand that the bad guys (who may have watched too many X-Men movies) believe she has a superpower (or perhaps a supernatural power). Whether that’s true remains ambiguous throughout the novel. As is often true, evidence to support an unlikely theory may simply be a matter of coincidence.

Conflict arises between Burdean and Keal about whether they should sell the girl to the man who hired them. Burdean isn’t much of a thinker and few of his thoughts are dedicated to making moral choices. Burdean believes he is good at only three things — drinking, fighting, and fucking — and has little interest in expanding his horizons.

Keal, on the other hand, has spent his life being haunted by nightmares. He spent much of his life avoiding sleep, but the nightmares returned — dreams of storms and lightning — after meeting Cara and the girl. Whether his bad dreams are coming true is again ambiguous.

Cara is something like Keal in that, like Wanetah, she senses a reality that most people cannot perceive. Cara is also given to speeches that sound more like the product a literary crime fiction writer than the sort of prose a real person raised in unfortunate circumstances would employ — although, to be fair, eloquence is sometimes heard in unlikely voices.

Keal’s defining moment comes when he chooses his future, a choice that forces him to confront his role in the lives of Cara and the girl. “He closed his eyes and he could see the three of them hundreds of miles away in a stopsign town where little moved and little was questioned and he could sense a time when he would end up loving one or both of them and that was the last fucking thing he wanted.”

The story’s violent moments contribute to its unyielding tension as the plot advances. The quasi-supernatural elements didn’t work for me and too many questions (primarily about the dead bad guys and what the surviving bad guy intends to do with the child) are left unanswered, but the quality of Michael Farris Smith’s prose and his strong characterizations counterbalance an unconvincing plot. The ending is satisfying even if it fails to offer complete closure.

RECOMMENDED

Written in Michael Farris Smith's inimitable style, with long flowing sentences and sparse punctuation, this is another gem of southern grit. His characters come alive on the page and as a reader you can't help but cringe at some of their choices in spots, root for them in other spots, and overall feel their pains. And there's plenty of pain here. Even in that pain, though, lies hope. There's a practically mute little girl with "special powers," found in a basement full of dead men, and the hard-bitten adults who come into her orbit. There's an old woman with dementia who brings a certain clarity in a moment. There's two partners in crime on a collision course toward a bad end. There's a woman with spunk and spirit willing to step in the line of fire for what she believes in. There's plenty here to enjoy!

Talk about southern grit! Whew! No one writes desperation like Michael Farris Smith! It's as if he knows it deep down in his soul. He has a knack for writing about the downtrodden, about those who are down on their luck and have nothing left to give. He writes about broken people who may never be fixed or set right. He writes about desperate people, no-win choices, hope, and redemption. I found Lay Your Armor Down to be gripping, thought provoking, haunting, and intense. This book has a dark and dreary vibe throughout and feel of this book felt very much like a character as well as it carries the characters on their journey.

An old woman with dementia walks into a field in the middle of the night. She is drawn by a campfire. She is the beginning, but she is not the end. Two men have been given a mysterious job. They are to go find something precious. They only thing they are told is that "you’ll know it when you see it.". That is not much to go on and yet, they find a girl in an abandoned church cellar. She won't talk and yet they know, she is what/who they are looking for. Why is this child being hunted? What is to be done with or to her? It is clear to the men that there is something different about the girl. They take the girl and run. The girl is quite the mystery. There is something otherworldly about her. She is believed to have special powers....

While reading this book, I often wondered what the heck am I reading? Reading this book is like being blindfolded and sent to walk out in a field at night. It's dark, its eerie, is harrowing, it's unsettling, its mysterious. This book is dripping with atmosphere and tension. It sets the mood and when paired with the Mississippi setting, really nails the dark southern gothic vibe. During the book I wondered where this book was heading but enjoyed the desperation, the not quite knowing, the quest for survival, and redemption. What a thought-provoking book!

If you have not read a book by Michael Farris Smith before, you are seriously missing out!

Beautifully written, gothic, dark, and dripping with atmosphere>

Haunting, suspenseful, and unnerving!

This novel swallowed me whole from the first page and didn’t let go until the very last word. It is packed full of anticipation and steeped in the unknown. I never felt fully grounded, and that’s exactly what made it so compelling. The sense of disorientation only deepened the emotional impact. I was desperate to make sense of the strange figures moving through the story, all of them burdened, all of them broken in their own ways.

Michael Farris Smith’s writing is mournful and stripped down, full of aching silences and raw humanity. Every sentence feels weighted, deliberate. There’s a kind of stillness to it, like watching a storm gather in the distance and knowing it’s going to hit, but not knowing exactly when or how.

I had so many questions while reading this. Not about what was real or who to believe, but just about what in the world was actually happening. It is a story soaked in mystery, with answers always just out of reach. But that’s what made it so captivating. I loved that we were left in the dark, wandering blind through the shadows of this dark Southern gothic tale. That uncertainty is part of what made it so powerful.

The characters left a lasting impression: a woman swallowed by dementia, wandering into the woods and into danger, two men sent on a mission they don’t understand, following vague instructions with devastating potential, and at the centre of it all, a child who might be something more than human.

The tension is palpable, the setting is bleak and scorched, and the atmosphere gets under your skin. It’s a story that seeps in slowly and lingers long after you close the book.

Thank you to Little, Brown and Company and NetGalley for the digital ARC. I absolutely recommend Lay Your Armor Down to readers who want their fiction rich in emotion, layered in mystery, and filled with characters clawing their way toward redemption.

As a big fan of Michael Farris Smith's Desperation Road, I couldn't wait to read his latest work. It starts out strangely, with a demented old woman gathering random bits and pieces of her life into a plastic bag before leaving her house and wandering into the night. When she approaches two men sitting around a campfire, they don't know what to make of her. They've been waiting to finish a job they've been hired to do--pick up something valuable in the cellar of an old church and deliver it to...someone. It will earn them more money than they've ever been offered for a job. They don't have time to deal with a crazy old lady. But it turns out she's just the beginning of their troubles.

The story is very atmospheric, very gritty, very Southern gothic, with a touch of the supernatural, as in: 'The hand of God is soaked in blood.' Smith is a master at getting into his characters' heads. Are they likable? I don't know, maybe some are, but definitely damaged and slightly unhinged.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new thriller via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

A somewhat dark and magical tale by Michael Farris Smith that shares the lives of people who seemingly need to protect a child, and all the things that follow. It often feels dark, but there are moments where love is felt, if only briefly..

I've read all of Michael Farris Smith's books and have always been impressed by the balance of his stories, and this one was as perfect as you can get.!


Pub Date: May 27 2025

Many thanks for the opportunity to read 'Lay Your Armor Down'

"Words are powerful. They have the ability to create a moment and the strength to destroy it." (Anonymous)

If you've ever read Michael Farris Smith before, you know that his prose nips and then bites into the rawness of his storylines. His characters reflect the downtroddened and the souls seeking mercy in an indifferent world. Smith allows you to listen to their heartbeats......strong and steady and then weak and almost immeasurable.

Michael Farris Smith respects his readers. He doesn't spoonfeed nor prompt us. We are sprinting into the chase until the end journeying along with our own thoughts and takeaways. We carry the nuggets of the read or we let them filter through our fingertips. Either way, Smith is an experience to behold.

Mississippi carries a mystery unto itself. It's here that we meet Keal and Burdean, an aimless duo who reach for the stars but only come up with a handful of dirt and desire. They have a job to do. It's something that must be picked up in an old abandoned church outside of town. They are met with gunfire and danger. And there in the pitch black cellar of this church is a young girl. With no other recourse, they grab her and hit the road.

Smith encircles this child with a hint of something far greater than flesh and blood. We feel it, too. She is nameless throughout the story, but her presence is impactful. And certainly the weight of protection will take its toll. Just who is she and why are there evil marauders trying to take her away?

Lay Down Your Armor is lined with the flow of circumstances that arrive either by design or by happenstance. There is almost a mysterious thread of prophecy encased in unrelenting fear of the unknown. And those Mississippi woods carry the mist of long ago tragedy and remorse. Be sure to see for yourselves.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Little, Brown and Company and to the talented Michael Farris Smith.

Michael Farris Smith can definitely weave a tale, and I do mean “weave.” He has a way of creating characters that seem both utterly foreign but completely relatable, connecting them in a way that creates a world that is outstanding but believable.

I realize that I’m basically just fanboying at this point, but I don’t know that I can do justice to this novel. I’m seriously debating if I’m going to have to re-rank my MFS novels with this one at the top. While there are still the obligatory kudzu references and the pervasive feel of being in the south that all of his works seem to have, this one felt like it broke free in a universal way that the other novels have not necessarily done so far.

Something about this one had a McCarthy feel to me (maybe the kid, idk). It also reminded me of some other tales, but I worry that making those connections might be a) stupid and b) spoiler-ish.
This definitely still felt like an MFS novel, so long-time readers will rejoice. But it also felt like a significant diversion and really a progression from his previous works. Essentially, this is a lot of yapping just to say when you have the chance to read this novel take it. I think there is a good chance that I give this an immediate reread upon release day, probably using the audiobook to see if I catch anything else or experience it differently through the performance of another. This one also feels inevitably headed to a screen—an 8 episode limited series of this could be spectacular.

TL; DR Another great MFS novel that warrants at the very least one read, preferably a slow, leisurely, thoughtful read.

ARC provided.

is a gripping, unconventional novel that sweeps readers into a world brimming with complex characters and unpredictable twists. As a first-time reader of Smith, I found myself both captivated and confused in equal measure, and while the journey was exhilarating, the ending left me pondering a lot of unanswered questions.

Overall, Lay Your Armor Down is a wild ride — an intense exploration of humanity's darkest and most vulnerable sides. It’s a book that will stick with you, but it may leave you with more questions than answers. I’m definitely curious to see if Michael Farris Smith’s other works offer more insight into his storytelling style and themes, especially given the bold and distinctive way he weaves characters and plots together.
3.5 stars
Thanks NetGalley for advance copy

Lay Your Armor Down
Michael Farris Smith
05/27/2025
Little, Brown and Company

The story is a dark, Southern tale that delves into themes of desperation, survival, and power. At its heart is a child with extraordinary abilities, pursued by those who seek to exploit her. With having so few characters in the book, the readers can easily become part of the story. Smith has an uncanny ability to create a raw, gritty and emotion filled tale that is what we expect and love in Southern Gothic literature.

After finishing Lay Your Armor Down I spent a day going back through all of my annotations and then a day to let it sit and wrangle with what I just read. I went back and forth between what I have learned when it comes to putting on God’s Armor versus what it would mean to literally take it off and lay it down. For me, as well as Cara, Keal and Burdean, one would have to let go of your defenses, let your guard down and even your emotional armor which is what they go through on these pages. Good versus evil. Their own morality and choices against what they know is the right thing to do. One of my favorite things that Smith does is give me, the reader, enough room to be part of the story and think for myself. I will never miss anything he writes.

Confession: I've never read Michael Farris Smith's work before, but after this ARC, I'm a fan. "Lay Your Armor Down" is grit-lit Southern gothic noir at its best. Set in an apocalyptic wasteland where bandits compete to kidnap a 9-year old girl believed to have special powers, a woman who keeps watch over her elderly neighbor gets in their way. Once I started this, I parsed it out (to last longer) and finished in two sittings rather than one. Apparently at this time in my life (and our world) a violent and twisted, dark survival-rescue story is just what I needed. Highly recommended if you want to spend some time in another world, and/or the deep dark South. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. Publication date is May 27th.

#LayYourArmorDown

This is another favorite from one of my go-to authors—I’ve read all of his previous books, with Rivers being my all-time favorite (though it’s undeniably bleak). Like Rivers, this novel leans into the darker side of storytelling.

The book opens with two men sitting around a campfire deep in the woods when an elderly woman with dementia stumbles upon them. She has no idea who she is or how she got there. The men, focused on their mysterious job—searching for something they’ll “know when they see it”—leave her behind and continue on their journey.

Their search leads them to an old church, where they finally uncover the object they’ve been sent to find. Meanwhile, a concerned neighbor, unable to reach the elderly woman, arrives at her home. She finds the woman disoriented, covered in dirt and leaves, and her house in complete disarray. Help is called, and the woman is taken to an assisted living facility.

Eventually, the two men, the neighbor, and the object they discovered become intertwined in unexpected ways. They’re not the only ones after this mysterious item, and as the different groups converge, the tension builds. To say more would give too much away, but trust me—this one is well worth the read.

Once again, Michael Farris Smith has written a very dark book about conflicted people doing dodgy things. The writing is moderately pretty, but fail to pack any real emotion or bring any feeling out of a reader. Fans of his work will like this one just fine, but will likely not be wowed.

This is another of my favorite authors, I have read all of his previous books, Rivers being by all time fav (though it's quite bleak). This book is similar in that it's also on the dark side. Two men are around a campfire in the middle of some woods when an old lady wanders up to them, she has dementia and has no clue who she is or where she is. The two men are on a job looking for something they were told they would know what it is when they see it. The two men leave the woman and continue on their journey arriving at an old church, which eventually leads them to the item they are searching for. A neighbor of the old woman had been trying to get ahold of her, and eventually shows up at her door, she finds her at home though she's covered in dirt/leaves and appears to have been wandering in the woods. Her house is also very messy. The woman calls for help and the old lady is taken away to an assisted living home. The two men and this woman eventually connect along with the item the two men had found, it also turns out there are others also looking for this item, all of these groups end up connecting. To say more would be a spoiler, I really suggest reading this is very good. Thanks to #Netgalley and #Little Brown & Co for the ARC.

Does redemption for the broken exist?

When two men take a shady job to retrieve something important with the description, you'll know it when you see it, they have no idea that they are about to embark on an epic with steep consequences. They find a child in a church cellar who won't speak. It becomes apparent this child believed to possess paranormal abilities is being hunted.

Who or what is pulling the strings: religious zealots, the superstitious, pursuers of idolatry, or something more?
Does it matter?

The Mississippi backwoods in their strange beauty are an ideal place to kick off this journey. I spent a lot of time there camping, swimming, and wandering around as a kid and I can attest that Smith breathed life into those areas with his sparse prose.

He doesn't spoon feed readers every single detail. I enjoy writers who expect readers to keep up and think for themselves along the way. The small cast of characters makes their mark. We get crumbs of backstory here and there, but their current decisions are the focus and never wavers. The frenetic action sequences have the grit and grime of reality.

The pages flew by in this chase of wild intensity and thought-provoking turmoil.

4.5 ⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the Advanced Readers Copy for review. These are my unbiased opinions.

Loved it!
Micheal Farris Smith is a master at grit-lit!
Two men.. one young one old, are doing a job for some dangerous men.. to hunt down something precious but they have no idea what it is.. they are told they “will know it when you see it”
it is a “someone’ that they come across… a child in the cellar of an old abandoned church they’ve been led to who doesn’t speak..
This child is to be brought in.. she’s being hunted down for her supposed special powers.
Will they give her up to them… ?
There are only a handful of full of characters here and trouble around every corner they go to.
It’s a fast, action packed story.
I have read all of this author’s works.. except NICK.
He is a superb writer!

Thank you to Netgalley and Little Brown for the ARC!

A lone, addled woman wanders from her decrepit home in the woods to a campfire with two men around it; two men who happen to be searching for the same thing the old woman is, when a spindle of cash rolls out of her bag at their feet. Not one to waste an opportunity, Burdean prepares to kill the woman over the money, as he has nothing left of a conscience. He and his reluctant partner, Keal, are searching for magic at a time when it is hard to be found and very costly. Keal stops Burdean from committing the murder, knowing she doesn’t have the presence of mind to identify anyone. The woman later finds, in a burnt-out church cellar surrounded by bodies, a young girl, who is rumored to have great powers, which other, wealthy men will pay to obtain. Lay Your Armor Down is an interesting title, because the mystery and tension in the book call for more of a call to arms than surrender, and the no one does atmosphere better than Michael Farris Smith.The book has such a noir feel to it that it’s very hard to put down once you start it, and this novel does not disappoint. Well done, Mr. Smith.

When I saw that there was a new MFS novel coming out I jumped at the opportunity to read it early. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy...

Color me impressed. From the first line and the atmospheric way that MFS wrote the scenes, described the characters, and laid out the story, I was floored with a feeling of wanting to be a bird in the sky or a fly on the wall in this universe. To me, MFS's books always skirt along the magic realism world, but it's a dangerous and somewhat unbelievable setting, I'm guessing on purpose. This is brilliant for a story that takes place in the South and falls under the grit-lit, Southern Noir sub-genre. The South is not a place I understand at all, so for me to travel along with the characters in any of MFS's novels I consider it a dangerous, yet welcome adventure. Lay Your Armor Down is no different, and maybe was a bit more welcoming than some others.

The line between what is real and what is magic is very thin in this novel. I loved it. The prose was incredible, mixing Kerouac's stream of consciousness and MFS's solid descriptive, figurative gorgeousness. The characters were few, but mighty, and I felt that each one developed in their own way from the flashbacks to the current time period and it was genius. I loved the feel of this book. I wanted to keep reading it and probably will go back to it in short order. I'm a super fan of this book and can't recommend it enough. If you are an MFS fan, you will want to read this. If you've never read of his books, this is a good starting point (I'd probably start with The Fighter, but if not, go here). This was a 100% win for MFS and this book will stay with you after you finish. Metaphors, reality, and wonderment await... you'll love it.

Netgalley AR edition review: It's always a pleasure to read a new Michael Farris Smith novel. He has a gift for writing extended narrative prose that is abstract and deceptive, giving the reader enough information and emotion, but not spoon-feeding the plot to the reader. Lay Your Armor Down was no different. There aren't many characters, some are presented with minimal detail, and the setting doesn't change much. No matter. MFS's description and skill at characterization gives the reader room to ask questions and do the mental work to define the plot for themselves. Lay Your Armor Down is loosely centered around a 9-year old girl who is sought after by many people for clearly nefarious reasons, two friends/colleagues that are bound by their willingness to do jobs beyond the reach of the law, and a woman who has experienced trauma and looks after her neighbor suffering from dementia. The plot that unfolds leaves many questions unanswered and, again, requires the reader to come to their own conclusions and to fill in the blanks regarding meaning, symbolism, and motive, particularly with behind the scenes activity surrounding the main characters. To this reader, Smith shows the reader the ultimate respect and, truthfully, it's a gift to be allowed to interpret important details in a novel with no limitations - almost a poetic license. This might be Lay Your Armor Down's greatest attribute; Smith takes the risk of placing a lot of the undefined details of the novel in the reader's hands and, in this case, I believe this risk paid off. Masterful.

I'm surprised to be the first to rate and review this book. I thought Smith was a bigger name than that by now. He's put out a bunch of books, and I've read most of them. Some were four stars, a few were three stars. This is the first two-star, disappointingly enough.
Why the low rating? Well, the book just didn't work for me. It has a lot of the familiar elements: Smith's inimitable style, economy of language, and the Southern Noir vibes which usually just means a lot of poverty, trailers, and "ain't" s. But ... nothing about it really worked for me.
I've tried to nail down precisely why, and here's what I've come up with:
1. It has the wrong density - the prose looped and looped on itself in repetitions, overlong barely punctuated sentences rolling into overlong ooverstylized paragraphs. Smith is an author who can do wonderful things with words, but here he seems to have focused on that over other things, like plot.
2, I didn't really care about any of the characters. Maybe I've had enough Southern Nir. Maybe Smith spends too long playing around with prose instead of developing them. They always feel miles away, buried under narrative stylings.
3. Wasn't much of a plot, really. And it's difficult to gauge what the novel was trying to say.
There's one chapter in the novel, chapter 16, that's clear and clean and as good as anything the author has ever written. The rest is oh so muddled.
The good thing is that the novel's relatively short. But frustratingly, it wasn't worth the time. I'm sure it'll work differently for different readers, as these things always do. Thanks Netgalley.