Beluga (Nick Reid Novels)

In the second installment of this series Nick Reid and his giant friend Desmond continue to collect debts in the Mississippi Delta for a rent-to-own business, now part-time since they’ve come into money they took from a meth dealer. They chase down the hard cases, “people so filthy you’d rather rent furniture to an incontinent cat.”

When they finance a stolen tire scheme by Desmond’s ex-wife’s boyfriend Larry, who legally changed his name to Beluga in prison, they create “a tapestry of problems” with a bad family, the Shambroughs, “vicious bastards all dolled up and walking on their hind legs.”

Gavin is masterful at describing people. “A dough planter” is “all gut an entitlement.” This is a humorous and show more satisfying crime novel. I’m looking for to the next one. show less

This is just a fun rollicking ride through the Mississippi Delta, even better than his first novel, Ranchero. With a group of memorable and somewhat twisted characters it strikes a fun chord with readers. It may be a bit violent for some, but who doesn’t like a good fight scene at Wal-Mart.

Free review copy

Rick Gavin knows how to write and one of my favorite parts of his writing is they way he knows how to close the book out satisfactory. If you like Joe R Lansdale's Hap and Leonard series, you should check out the Ranchero series from Rick Gavin.

While I didn't find Beluga as good as Gavin's first book Ranchero, it's still a darn good read. If you would like a book that's sort of like what you would get if you crossed Hiaasen with Lansdale, then both Ranchero and Beluga are the books for you.

4.5 stars

This is such a fun series! Noir set in western backwoods Mississippi and eastern backwoods Arkansas, complete with all of the insane backwoods characters you could ever imagine.







The dialogue is perfectly crafted, the settings are described perfectly, and overall, it was a perfectly plotted book.

Almost as good as the first one, not sophomore slump for this author.