Hill Country is a fast paced work of crime fiction. In this noir caper that careens through central and south Texas, Gabriel Hill searches for answers. He finds a brother unlike the drug addicted young man he forgot, new threats, new enemies, dead bodies, a courage he didn't think existed, a love that he didn't expect and a truth that he feared.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
"R. Thomas Brown writes like grain alcohol burning, blue and hotter than shit. In HILL COUNTRY, the story barrels down country highways towards characters hard as nails and rough-and-tumble as they come. It is one of the best and freshest new entries into crime fiction today." - John Hornor Jacobs, author THIS DARK EARTH and SOUTHERN GODS
"R. Thomas Brown's HILL COUNTRY is a demonic Tilt-A-Whirl of murder, mayhem, and betrayal that straddles the line between crime and horror. Lean, fast-paced, and unflinching, HILL COUNTRY will crawl under your skin and stick with you long after you've turned the final page." - Chris F. Holm, author of DEAD HARVEST and THE WRONG GOODBYE
"In HILL COUNTRY, R. Thomas Brown has written a tale full of passion and human fallibility. Characters run from broken to brutal, from raw as an open wound to cold and dark as a winter midnight. When you start this tale, plan on not putting it down till you're done, and don't forget to breathe." - Bill Cameron, author of COUNTY LINE
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
By nigel p bird
Format:Kindle Edition
Gabriel Hill. Gabe. An unusual name for a story that's out of the ordinary.
He arrives home one night, steaming drunk to find a body on his doorstep. The body's been dismembered and it holding on to his missing organ. The body happens to belong to a paedophile who has been in a fight with Gabe that very night - and lost.
It's not a good night for him, even though he has connections with the police.
Needless to say, he ends up as prime suspect.
Appearing that same night are animal carcasses pinned to trees in the wood. Reminds the folk there of some odd goings on 20 years earlier when there was a cult operating in the area.
Gabe's brother happened to be in the cult. Was also into drugs and maybe doing things that were distasteful to get them.
Thing is, his brother's just died and it seems that there are a lot of people after what he had, whatever that was.
A trio come to town to find out what Gabe knows and what he is doing with the goods, only now they're split into a duet and a solo. They're not nice. They know how to get what they want and exactly how to get it.
And there are others after the same thing.
The sensible thing for Gabe to do might be to give everything up there and then, only he hasn't got a clue what they're on about.
Nor is Gabe about to anything sensible, in spite of his post-grad degree.
It's a great read from the start.
All the way through, there's a sense of menace in the book that means it's not easy to settle as there's no way of knowing what's likely to happen next.
The people chasing Gabe share not only the motive for being after him, but an expertise in the exploitation of whatever means might be necessary to get what they want.
Gabe paints himself into corner after corner, forms alliances and breaks them in order to stay ahead of the game and to stay alive.
I like R Thomas Brown's short fiction rather a lot and was nervous that this attempt at a novel might have stretched his skills too far.
Not a bit of it.
It shows him to be the craftsman he is. The plot is cleverly put together and the execution is bang on - tension, menace, humour and a constant energy made this a book I'm heartily recommendation.
Among the things that stamp this book out as unusual is the dialogue. It has a different quality to it, somehow. Like Brown is after something new. Somewhere between the conversations of fiction and real life and all the more curious for that.
He has also produced a cast of characters that have roots in tradition, yet who have grown into grotesque mutations one reaching the light above ground.
Totally engaging and worthy of any reader's time.
He arrives home one night, steaming drunk to find a body on his doorstep. The body's been dismembered and it holding on to his missing organ. The body happens to belong to a paedophile who has been in a fight with Gabe that very night - and lost.
It's not a good night for him, even though he has connections with the police.
Needless to say, he ends up as prime suspect.
Appearing that same night are animal carcasses pinned to trees in the wood. Reminds the folk there of some odd goings on 20 years earlier when there was a cult operating in the area.
Gabe's brother happened to be in the cult. Was also into drugs and maybe doing things that were distasteful to get them.
Thing is, his brother's just died and it seems that there are a lot of people after what he had, whatever that was.
A trio come to town to find out what Gabe knows and what he is doing with the goods, only now they're split into a duet and a solo. They're not nice. They know how to get what they want and exactly how to get it.
And there are others after the same thing.
The sensible thing for Gabe to do might be to give everything up there and then, only he hasn't got a clue what they're on about.
Nor is Gabe about to anything sensible, in spite of his post-grad degree.
It's a great read from the start.
All the way through, there's a sense of menace in the book that means it's not easy to settle as there's no way of knowing what's likely to happen next.
The people chasing Gabe share not only the motive for being after him, but an expertise in the exploitation of whatever means might be necessary to get what they want.
Gabe paints himself into corner after corner, forms alliances and breaks them in order to stay ahead of the game and to stay alive.
I like R Thomas Brown's short fiction rather a lot and was nervous that this attempt at a novel might have stretched his skills too far.
Not a bit of it.
It shows him to be the craftsman he is. The plot is cleverly put together and the execution is bang on - tension, menace, humour and a constant energy made this a book I'm heartily recommendation.
Among the things that stamp this book out as unusual is the dialogue. It has a different quality to it, somehow. Like Brown is after something new. Somewhere between the conversations of fiction and real life and all the more curious for that.
He has also produced a cast of characters that have roots in tradition, yet who have grown into grotesque mutations one reaching the light above ground.
Totally engaging and worthy of any reader's time.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Ed Lynskey,
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Dr. Gabriel Hill discovers his brother Mike has been murdered. The brothers have been estranged due largely to Mike's drug habit and criminal activities. Of course, Gabe decides to investigate Mike's death while at the same time trying to learn about the brother he hasn't known for a long time. Thrown into the noirish stew is the foxy but dangerous Abby and the unforgettable psychopath Tyler. Ron Brown's debut novel HILL COUNTRY is a sturdy narrative populated by gritty folks and filled with tight jams. His laconic prose reminds me of Ken Bruen and Peter Rabe, and the hardscrabble setting he uses is in rural Texas that the great Charles Williams also wrote about. I liked reading this entertaining noir that should also satisfy other fans of the genre.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By CFH
Format:Kindle Edition
Look, I'll tell you right now: this book ain't safe. Ain't polite. Ain't predictable. Ain't easy. But HILL COUNTRY ain't aiming for any of those things. HILL COUNTRY is as dark, winding, and treacherous as a country road on a moonless night, but I'll be damned if it isn't also deeply human as well.
From the moment we meet him, freshly beat to hell by a man whose mutilated corpse he then finds on his front porch, Gabriel Hill is a man in over his head. He's got sense enough to know it, but not sense enough to leave well enough alone, choosing to dig deeper into the mystery of what's happened when those closest to him beg him to just run.
Or maybe it's not that he hasn't got the sense to leave well enough alone. Maybe he's smarter than all that. Maybe Gabriel's learned a thing or two in his sometimes hardscrabble life. Enough to know that sometimes, the only way out is through.
I dare you not to follow breathlessly along with him.
From the moment we meet him, freshly beat to hell by a man whose mutilated corpse he then finds on his front porch, Gabriel Hill is a man in over his head. He's got sense enough to know it, but not sense enough to leave well enough alone, choosing to dig deeper into the mystery of what's happened when those closest to him beg him to just run.
Or maybe it's not that he hasn't got the sense to leave well enough alone. Maybe he's smarter than all that. Maybe Gabriel's learned a thing or two in his sometimes hardscrabble life. Enough to know that sometimes, the only way out is through.
I dare you not to follow breathlessly along with him.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
I did not like it
Terrible editing, for starters, that spoils the joy in reading.
The novel did not do it for me. Too long for so little. Read more
The novel did not do it for me. Too long for so little. Read more
Published 18 days ago by Bordeaux Dogue
1.0 out of 5 stars
This author is 12 years old
This is just a horrible book if it was written by an adult. It reads like it was written by a 12 year old boy. Read more
Published 2 months ago by K. Shoop
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hard-boiled crime, Texas-style
Picked this up from an Amazon suggestion after buying a couple of novels by Anthony Neil Smith (check him out). R. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Joshua Gordon
1.0 out of 5 stars
senseless violence
I finally decided that nothing with this much gratuitous violence is worth my readership. Right! I put it down half read!!!!!!!!!
Published 7 months ago by omoth
4.0 out of 5 stars
A quick, violent attack to your senses.
By far R. Thomas Brown's best work. A rather quick read for a novel, very dialog heavy. It's a double-crossing story where not only the protagonist is oblivious. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jean-Benoit Lelievre
1.0 out of 5 stars
5 stars, are you kidding me?
The only way I can see this book getting 5 stars is if the author had 9 of his friends submit reviews. Read more
Published 9 months ago by George Sherwin
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Entertaining Crime Caper
Hill Country is a good old fashioned crime caper. Gabriel Hill is left with lots of questions following the death of his drug addict brother, Mike. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Grooydaz39
5.0 out of 5 stars
Solid and satisfying
From the first sentence it is clear this will not be a typical tale.
Yes, the elements for classic noir are all present: a man in over his head and out of his element, a... Read more
Yes, the elements for classic noir are all present: a man in over his head and out of his element, a... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mike Miner
5.0 out of 5 stars
Texas noir
Gabe Hill comes home one night to find a pedophile dead and mutilated on his doorstep. This happens to be precisely the same pedophile Hill just got into a fight with only hours... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Christopher Rhatigan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A whip-crack
`The only thing worse than getting beat up by a paedophile was coming home and finding him dead on your porch. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Paul D Brazill
More About the Author
R Thomas Brown has been a story teller as long as he can remember. Many of those were devised to escape punishment of one form or another. He has over time turned his creative energies toward crafting stories he hopes will both entertain and provoke thought.
You can follow him at rthomasbrown.blogspot.com
You can follow him at rthomasbrown.blogspot.com
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