South, America published by New South Books.
Learn More at http://www.newsouthbooks.com/pages/2013/09/25/author-rod-davis-reviews-making-war-at-fort-hood-in-texas-observer/
Review of South, America by The Texas Observer
August 28, 2014
“Lawd aw’mighty, it’s a relief to read a recently written novel set in New Orleans before Katrina. Author Rod Davis’ protagonist Jack Prine … is not quite as hard-boiled as, say, Mike Hammer, but he’s definitely been on the griddle a few minutes past over-medium. There is much here that brings to mind the Dave Robicheaux novels of James Lee Burke, and Burke’s norteamericano version of magical realism….For readers’ sakes, if not for Prine’s, I sincerely hope those sequels are on the way.”
–Jim Sherman, The Texas Observer
Review of South, America by The Dallas Morning News
June 8, 2014
“Author Rod Davis had me right from the start of his new novel, South, America. By the way, don’t miss the comma in the title. That pause is important. Davis sets a lively pace…Throw in some voodoo, the mob, race relations in the pre-Katrina South (the book is set in 2000), as well as some classic and modern art, and you have a recipe for a good page-turner.”
–Gary Jacobson, The Dallas Morning News
Review of South, America by San Antonio Express-News
July 11, 2014
“…suspense and drama in this gritty volume of Southern noir….The backdrop of pre-Katrina New Orleans is perfect for this novel. Davis paints it in tones that show an abiding admiration for the place and its people, and a respect for its enigmatic beauty.”
—Yvette Benavides, San Antonio Express-News
Review of South, America by The Austin Chronicle
July 4, 2014
“Rod Davis’ new thriller is labeled ‘A Jack Prine Novel,’ and introduces its world-weary hero, savvy and muscular enough to carry on his back what promises to be an engaging Southern noir series… Like the coy comma in the book’s title that redetermines its meaning, the novel proceeds by indirection and sly tangent, through sudden explosions of violence into meditations on Southern history and its persistent burdens on the present.”
—Mike King, The Austin Chronicle
Review of South, America by Southern Literary Review
October 30, 2013
“What Rod Davis tackles masterfully in this faux hard-boiled mystery is the capturing in a simple plot of murder, investigation, solution, and deserved punishment of the essential truths of what it is to be born, nurtured, schooled, and acclimated to existence in the American South. The issues he presents in riveting prose edged with darkness and dread are what Faulkner, Welty, O’Connor, Tennessee Williams, and a host of other writers of fiction, major and minor, have addressed. What does it mean to say South? What does it mean to say America.”
—Gerald Duff, The Southern Literary Review
Review of South, America by the Montgomery Advertiser
June 12, 2014
“A fine Southern crime noir novel…. evokes the uniquely beautiful but sometimes deadly topographies of New Orleans, the Delta and the Deep South.”
—Annette Clifford, Montgomery Advertiser
Review of South, America by the San Antonio Current
July 16, 2014
“Every twist and turn of the road reveals another unexpected, troubling speed bump….The more the web of secrets untangles, the more engrossing the read. And even those who think they’ve figured it all out long before the last pages will likely get a jolt from a couple of late plot twists…. a born storyteller.”
—Laura Carter, San Antonio Current
Review of South, America by Si Dunn
May 5, 2014
“South, America is an engrossing tale alive with Southern landscape, thugs, family secrets, voudou, art treasures, racial tensions, sex…and love. And the book’s ending offers an excellent setup for the next Jack Prine novel, hopefully coming soon from Rod Davis.”
–Si Dunn, Books, Books and More (New) Books
Review of South, America by the Moulton Advertiser
June 19, 2014
“I love books about the South, and this one is no exception. I also love books that keep you hanging by a thread from beginning to end, and again, this one is no exception. What it is, though, is well written, with just the right amount of Southern charm and cantankerousness to keep you laughing and wondering what happens next….Personally, I can’t wait for his next book! I hope this is the first in a whole succession of Jack Prine adventures!”
—Loretta Gillespie, The Moulton Advertiser (“Alabama’s oldest weekly newspaper”)
Praise for South, America by Tony Dunbar (December 7, 2013)
“Jack Prine is about as tough and gritty as Mike Hammer; corner him on a deserted back road at night and find out. Especially when he has a lady to protect, the only family of a murder victim, a lady who gradually, then passionately becomes this lonely man’s lover. A story that plays on black and white relationships over the generations, gay sexuality, the mean streets of New Orleans and the remote remnants of towns in the Mississippi Delta, South, America, is an honest, tough book and a riveting read. Rod Davis has given us a rugged and real character. I hope he keeps roaming the South in more episodes to come.”
–Tony Dunbar, award-winning author of the Tubby Dubonnet series
Praise for South, America by Julie Smith (December 7, 2013)
“This down-and-dirty yarn is a powerful evocation of pre-Katrina New Orleans and as absorbing a tale of love and evil to come out of this old town since Ace Atkins and Tony Dunbar hit the scene. South, America is a triumph of Southern noir, populated with characters who’ll stay with you long after the last page, including sometime PI Jack Prine, Elle, his brainy and brave new love, and an all too-real supporting cast of thugs, low-lifes, and Southern degenerates. You heard it first here: In South, America, Rod Davis is the new mayor of the mean streets!”
–Julie Smith, Edgar award-winning author of New Orleans Mourning
Praise for South, America by Christopher Cook (December 7, 2013)
“South, America may be set in the Deep South—New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta—but writer Rod Davis takes us into that classic hardboiled territory once claimed by James Cain: a man with a wandering eye drawn to a femme fatale who promises nothing but trouble, then delivers it.”
—Christopher Cook, author of Robbers and Screen Door Jesus & Other Stories