Holding Smoke

Starred review from February 3, 2020
The terrific conclusion to Post’s Florida crime trilogy (after 2017’s Walk in the Fire) finds Judah Cannon released from jail five months after a dramatic gunfight that left an ATF agent and a competing drug runner among the dead. As Cannon emerges ready to assume the lead of his family’s underworld enterprises, his longtime love, Ramey Barrow, must decide whether she’s ready to follow him down an increasingly violent, criminal path. Meanwhile, Judah’s brother, Levi, has made a rash move that has put the Cannon clan in debt to crime boss Sukey Lewis. Desperate to repay the debt and avoid an unnecessary war, Judah agrees to participate in an ill-advised scheme to steal and ransom a thoroughbred horse. In the background is Sister Tulah Atwell, the psychotic Pentecostal preacher responsible for Judah’s father’s death. Atwell has a new lucrative online scam selling worthless Florida swampland and has plans to crush the Cannon clan for good. At the heart of this memorable cast is Brother Felton, Sister Tulah’s snake-obsessed nephew, who returns after disappearing into the swamps a changed man with a new vision. A born storyteller, Post expertly weaves these disparate plot strands into a wholly satisfying if inevitable ending. Agent: Josh Getzler, HSG Agency.

December 15, 2019
A final payment is made, and Judah Cannon is out of prison with all charges dropped against members of his extended crime family. His true love since childhood, Ramey Barrow, who kept things together while Judah was away, hopes this time Judah will change his life. But first he has to make amends by returning the money his older brother, Levi, stole from a crime boss and ultimately repaying the formidable Sister Tulah Atwell, who cites the Bible while executing her murderous plans. Then a means to get the money Judah needs for payoffs falls into his lap: a bizarre scheme to kidnap a stallion valuable for stud, the pride and joy of its rich owner. Judah also must deal with a power struggle within his family between Levi and and their younger brother Benji, as the stallion scheme goes awry. Post draws the Judah Cannon trilogy (after Lightwood, 2017, and Walk in the Fire, 2018) to an appropriate conclusion here, with her trademark crisp dialogue and action-packed, dark-edged storytelling again providing the appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)