Book Review
They All Fall the Same
reviewed by Eric Ellis
It only took reading a few lines from Wes Browne’s They All Fall the Same to know I was in store for a pleasurable Southern Noir experience. Upon finishing the novel, my assumption was proven to be quite correct.
Browne has woven together a crime tale describing a battle between competing forces with wonderfully crafted sentences capturing a sense of time, place, and circumstance, while easily moving to my list of top novels of 2024.
In Jackson County, Kentucky, for over three decades, things have mostly gone well for cannabis mogul Burl Spoon. However, lately, troubles originating along the domestic side of his empire seem to be more problematic than issues on the crime side.
Clovis Begley is similar to Burl in some ways, but at the same time, he is vastly different. He, too, is in the illegal drug business but deals mostly in harsher types of drugs and possesses a greater taste for outright brutality.
Soon, due to unusual circumstances, the worlds of Burl Spoon and Clovis Begley not only encroach upon each other but collide in seemingly never-ending carnage, leaving many dead in the remaining ash and rubble.
To me, other than the wonderfully worded novel, what drew me to They All Fall the Same was how Browne has written a novel full of nasty characters whose introduction does not automatically cause the reader to viscerally dislike them. While it does not cause any of them to be admired or seen favorably, it allows the reader to complete the novel without wondering why hours were wasted on a story full of rotten characters. Browne is even able to somewhat humanize Burl Spoon and one other villain purposely weaponized for carnage.
One way Browne does this is by producing one-dimensional characters beyond merely villainous people, adding at least some aspect of humanity to their character that tends to sprinkle a dusting of sympathy.
Another way is how, when introducing villains, Browne creates and fleshes them out in a progressive manner, with each more disturbing than the previously introduced one.
They All Fall the Same is set to be published in January 2025 and is highly recommended to readers of Southern Noir/Rural Noir, with wonderfully developed characters. NetGalley provided an ARC for the promise of a fair and unbiased review.
