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)

Wonderful Story; Beautifully Told

Wow. This was an amazing book that spanned generations. In its historical context it gives an accurate view of how blacks were treated by whites in Georgia in the early part of the 1900s. Having lived in the South during part of this time, it feels pretty accurate to me. Equally lovely was Mark Hammer's telling of the story with his slow southern drawl. It was easy to identify different characters because of his superb acting. My one and only teeny tiny complaint is that the sound wasn't fully edited. I think the studio just quit too early in their editing. There were often no spaces between chapters so that it was hard to tell when one chapter ended and another chapter began. A brief space between chapters would have been appreciated.

Beyond Awesome!

I have listened to this book twice and never got bored. As far as I’m concerned, this book is the best audiobook I have listened to. I have ordered four more of Will Lee series based on how well I liked this one. This is an amazing book.

Incredible Read

One of those intense books that will stay with me forever. Thank you, Stuart Woods.

Great Read

This is one of the best books I have read! Hope you enjoy it too.

Almost the same

Back in 1981, I had seen this as a Mini-series on TV. The are a very few changes from the Mini series Plot. Some of the plot was enhanced by those changes. The two endings though were quite different. They were suttle changes.

Lifelike and Engrossing

The story line was realistic and riveting. I listened from start to finish because I had to know what happened next. Can't wait to read more from Stuart Woods.

Best book in years.

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes ,just a great listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Chiefs?

None,just a great book end to end

What about Mark Hammer’s performance did you like?

All

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Karma

Any additional comments?

If you get one book this year,get this one.

Great Read!

I loved this book. I watched the miniseries many years ago and tried finding the movie to buy it. Since I could never find the movie, I bought the book instead and loved it just as much.

Best Novel & Performance in 4 or 5 Years!

My first audiobook was Ludlum's Bourne Identity on cassette tapes in the early 80s. I was hooked. I read 124 books on Audible last year. I'll read as many this year. In all this time, this will be my very first Audible review. It had me from page one, and it never let go. The story was compelling, unique in its plot, and I couldn't guess what any of the characters we're about to do. It was so fresh and interesting, with a new punch in the face every few pages, that it literally kept me guessing until the incredibly satisfying ending. Long reviews reveal too much and bore quickly. If you prefer dramas, whodunits, police procedurals, historical fiction, legal thrillers, or crime novels, or if you enjoy books about the South in the first half of the last century, local politics, or just having a lot of fun listening to a master storyteller, GET THIS BOOK!

Great story with few flaws

This is not my typical genre of book, but it came highly recommended and I gave it a try when it was on sale. Great decision. I was drawn into the story and the characters were all well crafted, if not a bit on the stereotypical side. As a native Southerner, I grow weary of some of the broad application of all Southerners as unsophisticated, unworldly and dark-hearted (especially in terms of early to mid 20th century. Some of the characters were a little too rigid in their morality whereas it was never really that "black and white." But this book does have a solid ring of authenticity. I did not see the TV mini-series from the 1980s and don't think I will try to see it out. It would not come close to measuring up to the book.

The characters overall were either all good or all bad. But the protagonists were pretty consistent and the moral dilemmas some faced were particularly authentic. This book was set in a fictional town in west Georgia, but many of the ancillary characters and surrounding communities were quite real. I must say the FDR tie-in really was inconsequential to the main storyline and seemed like the author bolted that on to tell the world that this paragon of the Democratic party did indeed spend much time in west Georgia, Warm Springs specifically. But the connection with FDR never really bore fruit in terms of the story. I thought the connection would be parlayed at some point in the story, but it never came.

Yes, bad things happened to good people in the South of the 1920s to 1960s, but there was a lot of gray. There were many people, who like the protagonist, had to make decisions on what was best for them or sacrifice themselves for the greater good. More often than not, self-preservation won out.

The bottom line: this book is worth your time on sale or at full price.