Beluga
*Starred Review* Nick Reid and his massive African American friend Desmond are sitting on $200,000 liberated from a Louisiana meth dealer, and they want to put their money to work for them. Against their better judgment, they finance Desmond’s ex-brother-in-law Larry Carothers’ plan to hijack a truckload of Michelin tires and sell them in small lots across the Mississippi Delta. Their better judgment reminds them that Larry is an idiot who legally changed his name to Beluga LaMonte while in Mississippi’s infamous Parchman prison, but Desmond remains in thrall of Beluga’s ultravolatile ex, Shawnica. Beluga, of course, bungles his own heist. Soon, family clans of Delta ne’er-do-wells—possessed of “raging shiftlessness”—are hunting Beluga, Nick, and Desmond. So is a “ninja schoolgirl assassin” who is determined to see that their deaths are slow and very painful. Ranchero (2011), Gavin’s debut novel, was lauded by many reviewers, and Beluga is a worthy successor. It’s exciting, violent, gritty, and often very funny, and the knowing portrait of a region largely unknown to most readers is almost revelatory. Gavin also has a distinctive narrative voice that could be described as Delta baroque. It might take a page or two for some readers to adapt to his rhythm, but once they do, they’ll be under its spell. --Thomas Gaughan