Customer Reviews

Chiefs

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

"Chiefs" is the story of three police chiefs in a small Georgia town: one was the town's very first Chief of Police in the 1920's, the second in the 1940's, and the third in the 1960's. The common thread among the three is a series of disappearances of teenage boys who were traveling through the vicinity of the town when they disappeared.

The book isn't really a mystery, since the reader knows the solution to the crime fairly early in the book. What sets the book apart is the well-drawn characters and the unerring and evocative portrayal of the evolution of a small Georgia town from the 1920's up to the middle of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960's.

Woods has perfect pitch when it comes to dialogue. Every conversation, every confrontation, every characterization rings vividly true. Politics, on a local, state, and national level, is a sub-theme of the book, and the author has obviously done his homework on those topics as well. But the book's most noticeable strength is in its ability to transport the reader almost physically into a sultry Georgia town. Even if you read this during a winter in North Dakota, you'll feel the heat, the tension, the passion, and the fears of a sleepy Georgia town during the mid-20th century for as long as you're reading "Chiefs".

The characters in Chiefs are without a doubt some of the most interesting and well-developed characters that have ever surfaced in any novel to date. Woods does a great job creating such a diverse group of people all the while keeping them realistic and life-like. He paints a very accurate picture of what the south was like in the early 1900's and the 1950's. Since he created such life-like and believable people, I found myself either hating or loving the characters. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. The three Chiefs that are the focal point are all very different, and they all have amazing qualities that make them come alive. Aside from holding the same position at one time or another, they also were committed to solving one of the worst series of crimes the south had ever seen.

I got Chiefs after reading all the Amazon 5-star reader reviews. Usually, I'd walk on by a book about small town Georgia cops, never imagining it could be this enthralling. The author is masterful at drawing the reader into this little world; I found myself talking out loud to the characters. He doesn't rely on the graphic gore and language of the typical modern shock thriller, hence making the terror more real. What makes the southern authors so good!? This belongs with "Gone With the Wind" and "The Prince of Tides." As a serial killer story, it belongs with the best of Lawrence Sanders.

Essentially, this novel is about three generations of police chiefs in Delano, Georgia, who attempt to solve the mystery behind the disappearance of several young men, and capture the elusive serial killer who victimizes them.

However, Edgar Award-winning novelist Stuart Woods has written not only a riveting mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat, compulsively turning pages, he has described the history and culture of a small Georgia town from 1919 through the 1960s, and created such a realistic a populace that, at times, it is difficult to believe this is a work of fiction. Woods' characters are well defined and complex. There are many good moral people who live in Delano, but there are also the corrupt and perverse, those who have many secrets to hide. The story of the town's growth, as well as that of its inhabitants, over the years is absolutely fascinating, as are the details and intrigues of Georgia's state politics. And the history of the tense race relations during the entire period recalls a time of gross injustice that most of us would like to forget.

This is one of the best mysteries I have read in a long, long time, and, to my mind, Stuart Woods' best novel.
JANA

One of Woods' earlier works, CHIEFS, reads like the work of a veteran author. Woods is one of the masters at pacing and it is obviously a skill he possessed early in his career. If you are a fan of his more recent books like THE RUN or DEAD IN THE WATER, you will surely not be disappointed by this one.

A serial killer exists virtually unsuspected over the span of three generations of police chiefs in the small farming community of Delano, Georgia. CHIEFS is divided into three separate books, one for each police chief, but the divisions are more complex than merely who is running the department. Delano, the town itself, experiences its own changes in each phase of the story. We see the town flourish in times of economic prosperity, and then struggle as its farming inhabitants grapple with the blight of the boll weevil which destroys their cotton fields. There is the ever-present race clashes, the black and the white fighting for their dignity and place in the rural desegregated South. And Delano's proudest son aspires to establish himself as a viable candidate for the Governor's seat in Georgia.

All this provides an intricately textured backdrop in front of which the killer is defying both time and the law. Each new chief of police stumbles across clues left behind by his predecessor, but will the third one figure it out? The killings and the killer's ability to go undetected so long are certainly the focus of the narrative, but the reader becomes just as fascinated by the political, industrial, and cultural development of Delano as well.

Once you get into it, you can't help but get hooked. You can read CHIEFS in a weekend's time, because you won't want to put it down.

I found this book many years ago and recently recommended it for my book club to read and then re-read the book again myself. Wow!!!!! I had forgotten how much I really enjoyed the book. In fact, I have several copies in paperback to lend to friends to read. It is suspenseful and gripping. This is Mr. Woods first novel I believe and was made into a mini series (which I own also) and a can't put down book. My book club throughly enjoyed the book and wanted me to recommend more of Mr. Woods work. If you read his books in order of publishing with the first being Chiefs you will always find a reference to one of the characters or Delano, Georgia in his subsequent books. Totally a GREAT read and I highly recommend it to all.

Chiefs is a rare, not so distant past mystery, which accurately and credibly qualifies as true historical fiction.

It predominantly chronicles the small Georgia town of Delano and the three generations of police chiefs who deal with the mundane, the dull, the ridiculous and the demoralizing intimidation of everyday life in the deep South. The story centers on a succession of disappearances of teenage boys and how each Chief attempts to solve the crime and uncover the identity of this baffling killer. It is utterly masterful how Woods seamlessly weaves the individual personalities of his three main characters from different eras into the unraveling of the arcane felony.

What is amazinlgy refreshing about Chiefs is its total and complete lack of political correctness. The dialogue is gritty and raw. The politicians are players, corrupt, yet with their own morality. There are no 'pretty' words for African-Americans. Yet, there is no offense here. The words ring with the truth of the tension between the races and the echo's of the early civil rights movement.

Woods' has filled his novel with tense moments, an uncommon plodding wittiness, history, culture and best of all a great story that keeps you flicking pages so quickly a bookmark isn't even need...you can't put it down!

This is a haunting book. The kind you think about days and weeks after reading it. It's really a story about the racial journey of Delano - a small southern town - from hardcore bigotry (i.e Ku Klux Klan) to slow mutual acceptance and integration of the black and white communities. Some passages of intimidation and torture of Delano's black citizens are downright chilling.

Delano's three Chiefs are all interesting, well-developed characters. Their pursuit of a serial killer over 40 years provides a creepy backdrop and keeps the story moving at a fast pace.

I recommend this book for anyone interested in race relations, the old south, or just a creepy murder story.

I listened to Chiefs unabridged on audio tape, narrated by Mark Hammer. Hammer does a fine job, his southern drawl adding a nice complexity to the story and characters. Only downside is his limited vocal range. Even the female characters sound like old men.

I had seen the tv mini-series several years ago and liked it very much. When I started reading Chiefs, parts of it came back to me (the mini-series was extremely similar) but I was still held in suspense. Once in a while a book comes along that I can't stop thinking about even when I'm not free to read--I can't wait to get back to it. This is one of those books. There are several characters and plots all leading into one major plot; yet, it never gets confusing or boring. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time.

While I have not seen it mentioned here, I think it is important to note this book won a Edgar Award in 1982. After having read the book I can see why it did as well as the high comments provided by others here. A few additional comments follow.

I often find books spanning several generations such as this one to be very entertaining. The development of the characters as well as the community in which they were set was particularly well done. A few of the characters along with the common theme that spanned the length of the book gave additional depth to the story. After reading the last line in the book I came away with the feeling, "Well done"!