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J. D. Rhoades is quickly becoming the master of "redneck noir," a classic description for dark thriller fiction set in the deep or rural south. William Faulkner arguably is the godfather of this genre and James Lee Burke is his heir, but there are such authors as Ace Atkins, Jack Kerley, Jim Born and Jonathon King who also can be counted among its practitioners.
Rhoades is one of the most recent additions to this list. His latest novel, GOOD DAY IN HELL, is but his second, yet his voice is as steady, confident and strong as a seasoned journeyman with a groaning shelf of books to his credit. Rhoades's primary protagonist is Jack Keller, a bail enforcement officer who travels the rural areas that lie between North Carolina's growing urban centers, resulting in an uneasy and often deadly mixture of old and new South.
Keller's target in GOOD DAY IN HELL is Laurel Marks, a good girl gone bad who is wanted on a parole violation. His girlfriend, Deputy Sheriff Marie Jones, is simultaneously investigating the robbery of a gas station and the murder of its proprietor, as well as the apparent abduction of the proprietor's son. Neither Keller nor Jones anticipates that their respective assignments are about to intertwine into what is only the beginning of an explosive, angry and senseless rampage, reminiscent of the Starkweather/Fugate murders in the late 1950s.
What results is a dark character study of individuals on opposite sides of good and evil who are alike in that they are drawn to their inner, dangerous darkness even as their actions spring from opposing motivations. The ending, which ironically takes place in an area far removed --- geographically and socially --- is perhaps inevitable, but carries with it a hope, however faint, of redemption.
Rhoades's main strength is his ability to imbibe his characters with subtle and conflicting complexities that by turns make them interesting and extremely, almost painfully, real. Keller in particular has miles of bad road within him that undoubtedly could be explored for however many books Rhoades chooses to write about it. Keller's venue of North Carolina is in such a state of change and growth that he should have plenty to keep him busy in the years to come. And the winner, of course, will be the reader of this fine series. Recommended.
--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub
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