Tibbehah County Sheriff Quinn Colson is set to return on July 9, 2019, in the latest novel from New York Times bestselling author Ace Atkins.
Back in July, just ahead of the release of The Sinners, his eighth Colson book, I interviewed Atkins and asked him what readers should expect next from Quinn, to which he answered, “The shit is just about to hit the fan. Everything that’s been building in the previous books is about to come to a head in a big way. I can’t wait to see how things will shake out down in Tibbehah County.”
At the time, the book Atkins was teasing was still untitled. Now, we know the ninth book in his series is called The Shameless, and that it features an especially personal case for Quinn. See the official plot details below!
New revelations on a notorious local cold case raise the ghosts of the past in the newest thriller from New York Times-bestselling author Ace Atkins.
Twenty years ago, teenager Brandon Taylor walked into the Big Woods north of Tibbehah County, Mississippi, and never returned. For former Army Ranger-turned-sheriff Quinn Colson, the Taylor case has particular meaning. As a 10-year-old, Colson had been lost in those same woods, and came back from them alive and a local legend.
Years later, the bones of a child have been found in the woods, confirming for many the grim ending to the Taylor story. As the case reopens, some point fingers to Quinn’s late uncle, the former sheriff, who took his own life in a cloud of corruption and shame. Still, Quinn’s wife Maggie doesn’t believe it. As a close childhood friend of the Taylor boy, she thinks there’s an even darker conspiracy at work. Letters she begins to receive from a mysterious inmate at a Tennessee state pen may hold the answers.
With a heated election for governor on the horizon and the strengthening of a criminal syndicate’s death grip on the state, Quinn’s search into the Big Woods for answers will upset the corruption that’s plagued his home since before he came back from Afghanistan. Greed, false piety, power, bigotry, and dirty deals make for a dangerous mix he knows all too well.
Ace Atkins is the author of twenty-three books, including eight Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story “Last Fair Deal Gone Down”). He is the author of seven New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times, a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and in college played defensive end for the undefeated Auburn University football team.
We’ll have much more coverage of this title closer to its release, so check back soon for additional details. In the meantime, fans of Ace Atkins’ series can pre-order The Shameless here or anywhere else books are sold.
Praised as “one of today’s finest book reviewers” by New York Times bestselling author Gayle Lynds, Ryan Steck (“The Godfather of the thriller genre” — Ben Coes) has “quickly established himself as the authority on mysteries and thrillers” (Author A.J. Tata). He currently lives in Southwest Michigan with his wife and their six children.