cover image The Blackstone Commentaries

The Blackstone Commentaries

Rob Riggan. John F. Blair Publisher, $16.95 (340pp) ISBN 978-0-89587-345-3

A former crime reporter and policeman, Riggan makes the New South circa 1972 seem positively noirish. Charlie Dugan, the larger-than-life sheriff of Blackstone County, North Carolina is running for re-election, with a powerful benefactor in local surgeon and county commissioner Dr. Martin ""Doc"" Pemberton. After local man Danny Carver identifies Doc as the driver of a car that forced him off a rain-slicked road, Charlie is in a quandary. He has worked to ""create a more equitable justice"" for the working poor like Danny Carver, but Doc's recklessness, sense of entitlement and belief in his immunity from justice force Charlie to question his values. As Dugan struggles with his conscience and the case, he interacts with a compelling Faulknerian cast that includes his stalwart, former wild child wife Drusilla; Elmore Willis, a neophyte lawyer at war with the memory of his sainted father; and Winthrop Reedy, a mobile-home salesman trying desperately to carve out a middle-class dream. Intriguing characters, timeless themes, and powerful prose make Riggan's second novel-following Free Fire Zone after more than 20 years-memorable.