Chiefs

By: Stuart Woods

Narrated by: Mark Hammer

Length: 17 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1919, Delano, Georgia, appoints its first chief of police. Honest and hardworking, the new chief is puzzled when young men start to disappear. But his investigation is ended by the fatal blast from a shotgun. Delano's second chief-of-police is no hero, yet he is also disturbed by what he sees in the missing-persons bulletins. In 1969, when Delano's third chief takes over, the unsolved disappearances still haunt the police files.

Author Stuart Woods' riveting novel spans three generations while also probing deep into Southern small-town attitudes and behavior. The residents of Delano, with their reluctance to disturb a familiar social order, provide the perfect backdrop for this tale of dark secrets and murder.

Over 40 years ago, Woods found a battered chief-of-police badge in his grandmother's house. It had belonged to his grandfather, who had been shot in the line of duty. The story of the lawman's death inspired Woods to write Chiefs, which won an Edgar Award and was made into a popular TV miniseries.

©1981 Stuart Woods (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"A riveting story of the Deep South that mixes murder mystery with political intrigue." (Publishers Weekly)
"A fascinating, compelling tale." (The New York Times)
"The homey wisdom of [Hammer's] voice, coupled with Woods's engaging story, makes this audiobook memorable." (AudioFile)

Amazing!

Only a well crafted story can rivet your attention through multiple characters over generations. This one is spectacular!

A keeper!

it's a great listen. Takes one back to the early times in the South. The story slowly develops into an intense intermingling of personalities, history and societal realities of that era. That's right, I'm not purposely going into specifics. But I believe anyone can enjoy a good read. This is one.

Loved it. And the reader did a fantastic job.

I watch the mini series as a kid and when I found this in audiobook I just knew I had to get it. As years go by thibgs are not always as good as you remembered them. This was not the case here. I listened to it every chance I could till the end and it did not disappoint. Fantastic book.

Simply a great 40yr story!

Loved the story...it combines small southern town life, politics and racism ranging from 1930's to 1960's. The characters and story paints a perfect story. I really do not want to provide a summary of this book as it deserves the right to tell the story. One thing that I will mention, a few parts are difficult to listen as they describe the racism in the past. The narrator takes some time to get used to but then you will realize that his voice is a perfect match for the story. I highly recommend this book if you like small town. it is in my Top 5 of all times.

Gripping and wrenching

I grew up in the South. Woods has it all right, it’s painful and necessary to relive. What a saga!

Loved the miniseries and loved the book

This was a lovely rendition to one of my favorite stories.

I feel like I know the characters personally and would like to live in the Delano of that time.

Mark Hammer brought the characters to life!

great story tying in Will Lee background

loved it. It gave great background for the later books including Will and Kate Lee.

Simply outstanding

This is a phenomenal book, and I can’t recommend it highly enough. Narrator is excellent and the author has created memorable characters and a riveting plot.

Fantastic Story Line

Wow, I couldn't stop listening to Chiefs. sl
Stuart Woods at his Best! My favorite auther of all time.
I wish though his Stone Barrington series still read like Chiefs or the Blood Orchard series. Not the case though.

Sadly messed up narration

4 stars for the story, 3 stars for the oddly messed up narration.

This story is well written and holds up surprisingly well given when it was written. There is a lot of painful language and situations that are difficult to listen to. Unfortunately all of that is appropriate to the times the stories are set in, the 20s, 40s, and 60s. Even more painful is that so many of those things are still happening today. There are a lot of characters and interwoven stories in this book and I occasionally lost track of people but I think that was partially due to listening rather than reading. The interconnected storylines is the most impressive part of the book. I enjoyed it even though I was often wincing at the language and saddened by the subject.

The audio was fine, amazingly even though the narrator made everyone sound like they were exhausted and well into their 80s he did manage to distinguish the characters from each other. The problems I had were with the editing and mixing. The breaks between chapters were either very long or completely nonexistent, in one case the final words of the chapter were cut off by the beginning of the next. And I really could have done without hearing the narrator breathing and swallowing. But he did a great southern accent.