Cripple Creek: A Novel (John Turner Series)

James Sallis has a way with words, an ability to turn a phrase into something you want to remember. It is very intelligent writing. It is more than just a "mystery", it is a look at people. Turner, the lead in the novel, is a man you would like to know. Very interesting. I highly recommend this book.

This is American writing about as good as it gets - a bittersweet little novel served raw. James Sallis may be Faulkner reborn, his homespun wisdom and beautifully warped passages may play of Cormac McCarthy; his "Turner" may recall James Lee Burke's moody Dave Robicheaux and rotting Gulf coast Bayous. He may be some of all of these, but James Sallis' style is all his own, mastering that rare ability to look as easily into the soul as he can into a cypress swamp or down a small southern town Main Street. Yet at the same time, he can spin a crime drama as gritty and violent and gripping as Lehane, Crais, or Child. The story of "Cripple Creek" may back a back seat to the power of Sallis' prose, but not by much. Turner, ex-cop, ex-con, ex-therapist, is serving as deputy sheriff in backwoods Cripple Creek, Tennessee. A young punk is pulled over in a traffic stop, but with two hundred thousand dollars of likely mob money in the trunk, Sheriff Don Lee locks him up over night. The rightful thieves pull a brazen break-in to spring the kid, brutally beating Lee and the office secretary in the process, leading Turner to Memphis to bust the mob and return order to Cripple Creek. Simple enough, and were Sallis just an ordinary writer, done, done again, and boring. But there is nothing ordinary about Sallis and the characters he plumbs, nothing ordinary about the nonlinear story line he spins or the tangents in time and place and psyche over which Sallis rambles with a practiced ease making it all feel natural. And there is definitely nothing ordinary about the stunning climax that sneaks behind you like a Tennessee mountain mist and then sucker punches with the subtlety of pry bar. This is writing you'll want to savor, but anyway, it just can't be rushed - too allegorical, too subtle, too clever. I read James Sallis, and I realize that I've never really understood the English language at all. But don't take my word for it - no review can do it justice - it must be read to be appreciated.

This sequel to the 2004 novel CYPRESS GROVE opens on John Turner's life after his fall from grace as a Memphis policeman. He has also moved on from playing counselor and has a spell in prison behind him. With all that in his past, he has found Cripple Creek, Tennessee, a small town far enough from Memphis to be comfortable, yet close enough to make it an easy road trip in the event it should become necessary. It does. Turner has contented himself by fixing up an old cabin, with the capable help of his lady friend Val. The two have a cozy relationship going on, crowded a little bit by the appearance of a pregnant Miss Emily. The interloping possum seemed to be looking for a good birthing place, and the cabin apparently fit the bill. When the little ones pop out, Turner's house feels delightfully full. Just as Turner is settling happily into the country life, an injury takes the local sheriff temporarily out of commission and Turner is asked to stand in as deputy in his absence. In this sleepy burg, it should have been a snap. "...one of our two holding cells was occupied. This happened seldom enough to merit surprise." But things don't always happen the way they should. The suspect sitting in the holding cell was a speeding motorist who let a misdemeanor traffic stop escalate into an arresting offense. But the man doesn't languish in the cooler for long. Two of his mob buddies from over Memphis way stage a dramatic jailbreak, leaving a couple of casualties in the process. Well, Turner is not the type of guy who benignly turns the other cheek. He heads out for the city in pursuit, finds some persons of interest, and leaves a few bloodied noses --- and other body parts --- in his wake. Naturally, the thugs aren't too crazy about his methods and launch a counterattack. Turner takes all of this in stride, sliding through life with his matter-of-fact attitude, showing few outward spikes of heavy emotion. Meanwhile, as he's busy looking over his shoulder, he runs full-face into his daughter. It seems that J.T. followed in her dad's footsteps and grew up to become a cop too. Now, she falls into step with him so that they can spend some time getting to know each other all over again. Besides, an extra set of trained eyes can't hurt. Occasionally jumping back from the present, James Sallis fleshes Turner out with thoughtful peeks into his damaged past, getting the reader inside his head. "I was thinking...that all my life, with my time in the jungle, my years on the street as a cop, prison days, psychiatric work, even the place I grew up --- all my life I'd lived out of step and sync with the larger world." Then, when we aren't looking at Turner's previous life, we're getting to know Cripple Creek and the intriguing characters who live there. Enjoy this powerhouse of a mystery, and once you've read the last word, go back and read the last 15 pages again. Savor and pay attention --- and wait for the goose bumps to start. What a wallop. CRIPPLE CREEK i

In spare, minimalist prose, James Sallis continues the story of John Turner, whom he introduced in his previous novel, _Cypress Grove_. Turner, a former policeman, convict, and psychotherapist, has left his job in Memphis after several traumatic experiences and moved to Cripple Creek, deep in the Tennessee countryside. There he seeks solitude and an escape from big-city crime. Because Turner is as enigmatic in this novel as he was in Cypress Grove, a man not willing to share his innermost thoughts with the reader or anyone else, the reader must piece together a character sketch from the clues Turner drops during the course of the novel. A Memphis man arrested for speeding in Cripple Creek has been found with two hundred thousand dollars in a sports bag in his car. Jailed while he is being investigated, he has been sprung from the local jail by "goombahs" from Memphis, who, in a daring assault, have attacked and seriously injured the acting sheriff and the daughter of Turner's best friend. Turner, deputized, returns to Memphis for the first time in two years, asking for help from Memphis police and discovering that the "Aleche network" has been behind the jailbreak. By the time Turner returns to Cripple Creek a few days later, blood has been shed and Turner has made some very serious enemies. Though the plot is filled with violence and dark twists, the plot is not the primary focus of this unusual noir crime novel. Sallis keeps the reader firmly focused on Turner and his point of view as Turner tries to escape the demons of his past. Matching his own lean style to Turner's uncommunicative personality, Sallis is spare with details, sometimes dropping passing hints about Turner's time in jail and his past police work, though he does not explain them. Through flashbacks and flashforwards, most of these episodes unconnected to the rest of the narrative, he shows Turner in action--a genuinely kind and empathetic person, at the same time that he is violent and filled with bloodlust. One of the most unusual and intelligent mysteries I've read in years, Cripple Creek is unique, a novel in which every word counts, even when those words are not adding to the plot. Sallis's lean, mean style reflects both his main character, who is not interested in sharing personal information, and that style of noir writing in which events are presented and the reader is left to draw conclusions. Beautifully crafted, carefully written, and stylistically unforgettable, Cripple Creek will surely be on the list of best written and most intriguing mysteries of the year. n Mary Whipple

James Sallis is without a doubt one of the finest writers at work today. Every word he writes seem to mesh perfectly with the one before and the one after. What Sallis does with words is magic and nothing less. This is a sequel to his "Cypress Groved" (2004) which was also lyrical and a better story. Once again we have Turner, VietNam combat vet, a cop with a past, a convicted felon, a psychotherapist who gave up his practice to live alone in Cripple Creek, Tennessee, somewhere far off the beaten path. Turner is intensely introspective, given to flashbacks, flashforwards and something of a magnet for violence. Sallis spins Turner's story in the context of the very rural locale and the people who populate it, most of them rough-hewn, very down to earth characters. Sallis in very few words sketches strong portraits of every character he introduces. Turner, of course, is the strongest character, followed by Val, his lawyer girlfriend; Don Lee, the kindly sheriff who convinces Turner to become a deputy; Nathan, the old man in the woods; and a host of other townspeople, all of whom are just a bit eccentric. Sallis's writing is strong enough to overcome the poverty of his plot. It begins with Don Lee pulling over a speeder who just happens to have $200,000 in cash in the trunk of his car. Twos thugs break the driver out of jail, beating up Don Lee and his daughter. The trail leads Turner to Memphis, where he had once been a cop before heading off to prison. In Memphis, things start getting weird. Turner - far removed from his character in "Cypress Grove" - engages in some gratuitous violence and winds up in a jam, only to be rescued by his long lost daughter who simply shows up. It's way too much a stretch. I don't like to get into the details of a novel because I don't want to ruin it for someone else, so I'll just say the appearance of the surprise daughter is only the beginning of a series of hard to swallow events. For any other author, this plot would probably be fatal: but not with Sallis; his writing is powerful to keep you riveted. Ultimately "Cripple Creek" is pure noir, perhaps perfect noir. Yes, the plot does get bizarre, but Sallis' taughtly drawn characters and the pure beauty of his writing overcome the plot. It's classically good reading, though his "Cypress Grove" and "Drive" had better plots. Jerry