Enjoyed it quite a lot. The protagonist isn't unique in the genre but he was well-written. Emotionally damaged loner who gets into more trouble than he expects while trying to help people.

If another book featuring Arlo Baines is in the works, I'll certainly read it. ( )

Gripping. I loved the piecemeal way of getting the main character's background. I thought he was compelling and would read more of his adventures as he travels around Texas. I devoured this book. Thank you to Netgalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review. ( )

All Arlo wants is to be left alone. Since his family was murdered has he been drifting from place to place and now he has come to Piedro Springs. What he didn't anticipate were the woman begging him to help her and her children and neither did he anticipate everything that happens next. The woman ends up dead and the sheriff seems less than thrilled about having Arlo in his town. This is a town with secrets, secrets that they are hellbent on keeping, but Arlo will not give up his hunt for the woman's children's.

The Devil's Country is a thrilling book about a man with a tragic past. In many ways did Arlo Baines reminded remind me of Jack Reacher especially since the last Reacher book I read had a similar concept as this one. I quite liked Arlo. Arlo's life as a Texas Ranger ended when his family was murdered and we get the full story in this book in flashbacks to the past.

The missing kids and the woman that were killed belonged to a cult and there is something wrong with it. However, the cult basically owns half the town so it's hard to get anyone to talk. But, there is a journalist there whose sister joined the cult and together they try to find out what happened to the children as well as the journalist's niece.

Lots of action, an interesting story, and a very tragic ending. I liked this book and I liked Arlo. I hope to read more books with him because he was such an interesting character and I would like to see some happiness in his life again.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ( )

The version of "The Devil's Country" that I read was in a format that I've never before experienced, something called "Kindle in Motion." For readers using a Kindle or other capable device, this "motion" version greatly enhances the reading experience by including a series of photos and ten-or-fifteen-second films that relate directly to what is happening on the written page. Hats off to the team that produced this one; it's very well done.

This is also the first book in Hunsicker's new Arlo Baines series, and it's a doozy. Arlo, until a few months earlier a Texas Ranger, is now just a wanderer going wherever his last bus ticket happens to take him. He's a modern drifter - but he's still a do-gooder and a good cop at heart. So when he stumbles into a little West Texas town that has been taken over by some very bad people, including a weird religious cult and the Russian Mafia (a rather strange combination of bad guys), he is not going to leave until he gets to the bottom of things. With the help of a couple of brave folks - and a woman fresh from a stint with the New York Times - Arlo chips away at the problem until it all starts to make some sense. This is a high bodycount novel that is fun to read - especially in this version. ( )

Former Texas Ranger Arlo Baines was just passing through Piedra Springs, Texas, with nothing more on his mind than enjoying the peace and quiet and a good book. Haunted by the memories of his deceased wife and children, he just wants to be left alone as he drifts from place to place. With just five folks in the only bar in the tiny West Texas town, if he counted himself and the bartender, he thought the odds were in his favor. He also thought the threat posed by any of the clientele was low to nonexistent.

That was until Suzy took more than a passing interest in him. She is clearly trouble in more ways than one and is also in trouble herself. It is also obvious to the former lawman that the man she is with is a significant problem. A problem that is not just going to go away on its own as the interest that Suzy showed in him was a small piece of the far bigger issue. Predictably, it is not long before the situation has moved outside to a parking lot outside the bar. Then things really go sideways and pull the disgraced former Texas Ranger into a hideous mess involving the Russian mafia, a cult, multiple murders, and more.

The Devil’s Country is very reminiscent of a Reacher series book. Loner, with a military or, in this case, over a decade in law enforcement by the way of the Texas Rangers (the real deal and not the baseball team in Arlington), comes into town, and just wants to be left alone. Alone to nurse his drinks, his thoughts, and his haunted memories of the past. All is fine until there is a person in distress that needs help. Usually the person is a woman which triggers our loner hero’s need to be a knight in shining armor to protect the fair damsel. Upon intervening, the loner hero runs afoul of the local law (who may or may not be as crooked as a dog’s hind leg). Arrested the first time (loner hero will spend lots of time arrested) and then released for whatever reason, said loner seeks to have questions answered and garner support. As it happens, many of the local populace are either part of the unspoken nefarious deeds, criminal conspiracy, or on the outside and powerless to stop it as they are heavily weighed down emotionally, or physically, or financially, or all of the above. Said loner begins to wage a one person war to fight back for justice and intends to destroy the evil doers so that the place can be turned back over to the few good folks living in the area. Loner hero will have some help along the way that almost always will include at least one female, who may or may not, become physically intimate with the loner as she understands him and seeks to heal him at least a little bit.

All that, like in a Reacher series novel, is certainly present in The Devil’s Country. All that being said, even when you know the framework and can predict with a high degree of accuracy how things are going to play out, author Harry Hunsicker throws a few curveballs while unleashing a fast moving and very entertaining story. Violent and complicated, the read moves forward at a rapid pace as Arlo Baines works to solve the many unspoken mysteries of Piedra Springs.

The second book in the series, Texas Sicario, is due out on January 15, 2019.

The Devil’s Country
Harry Hunsicker
http://www.harryhunsicker.com
Center Point Large Print
http://www.centerpointlargeprint.com
April 1, 2018
ISBN# 978-1-68324-744-9
383 Pages
$37.95

Material supplied by the good folks of the Dallas Library System.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2018 ( )