The Killing Hills

By: Chris Offutt

Narrated by: George Newbern

Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

Mick Hardin, a combat veteran now working as an Army CID agent, is home on a leave that is almost done. His wife is about to give birth, but they aren’t getting along. His sister, newly risen to sheriff, has just landed her first murder case, and local politicians are pushing for city police or the FBI to take it over. Are they convinced she can’t handle it, or is there something else at work?

She calls on Mick, who, with his homicide investigation experience and familiarity with the terrain, is well-suited to staying under the radar. As he delves into the investigation, he dodges his commanding officer’s increasingly urgent calls while attempting to head off further murders and still needing to talk to his wife.

The Killing Hills is a novel of betrayal - sexual, personal, within and between the clans that populate the hollers - and the way it so often shades into violence. Chris Offutt has delivered a dark, witty, and absolutely compelling novel of murder and honor with an investigator-hero unlike any in fiction.

©2021 Chris Offutt (P)2021 Dreamscape Media, LLC

Typical Offutt

Right up to snuff with his usual perfect tone. Offutt makes me even more proud of my Kentucky heritage.

Good, quite good

I wanted to purchase the next book in this series, and the reviews for that book often suggested this book be read first, so that’s what I did. Now that I’ve read it, my initial thoughts are that it didn’t live up to the excitement present in it’s reviews. It was good, yes, but I didn’t have a hard time putting it down and I wasn’t overly eager to get back to it.

I didn’t take any stars off though. My ex husband and his family were raised in Appalachia, and from my not-completely -limited knowledge, the author is quite accurate in creating the setting for this novel, and depicting the beliefs and attitudes of the people in small towns and remote areas of Appalachia. I’ve read one other book by Chris Offutt, and he was keen and spot on in describing human nature in that book as well.

The main reason for my 5 star review is that I have a strong feeling this story will stay with me for quite some time. The thought process and sorting of emotions that Mick (main character) had regarding his wife’s pregnancy are already echoing in my mind. I’m sure there will be other parts of this story that will also give me pause in the days to come. Offutt really is a very talented author! The 2 novels I’ve read by him are full of action with some violence and killing, and balanced with sharp and accurate observations about love, human nature, and family relationships. I see he has written a lot of books, and I will probably read all of them eventually.

I listened to this book in its entirety on Audible. The narrator did a fantastic job of reading in the voice of the main character, Mick. He did not attempt to speak the voices of other characters by changing his pitch and tone—it wasn’t necessary. He read the story as though the main character was telling it in 3rd person. It worked very well.

And now, I’m off to read the next book in the series…for me, that’s back to point A.

Superb

"The Killing Hills" by Chris Offutt is unique, thrilling, entertaining, and witty. Finding this author was excellent, and I am already engaged in another work of his "Country Dark," which is terrific. I look forward to more in the future. The narrator, George Newbern, is excellent as always.

Painful Read

Lots of opportunity to be a great book. Unfortunately there was so much minutiae that I had to face forwards through a number of pages to find the action again. Of which there was little.