Title: In the Valley of the Devil by Hank Early
Earl Marcus Mystery Series Book Two
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: 365 pages
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley
Summary:
Private investigator Earl Marcus thought he’d conquered his demons after vanquishing the malevolent spirit of his fundamentalist preacher father—but now, he must face something much more terrifying than the devil he knew.
Earl Marcus found new hope after confronting the unspeakable evil unleashed by his father’s fundamentalist Church of the Holy Flame. Now plying his trade as a private investigator in the North Georgia mountains, he’s drawn once again into a dark abyss of depravity, and murder.
Tasked with what seems like a routine job, Earl stumbles into a mysterious cornfield where an old mountain legend appears to have awakened. Just as he begins to hear rumors of a place in the woods behind a dark cornfield where a killer collects human skulls, his partner Mary Hawkins vanishes.
As the litany of terror grows, the poisoned spirits of Earl’s past return to claim their final victims. And on an old train trestle over a swift-running river at the edge of a cornfield Earl will confront his worst fears. Time is running out for Mary—and unless Earl can wrest her from the control of a secretive cabal comprised of some of the area’s most elite—and wealthiest—citizens, she could be lost to him forever in In the Valley of the Devil, the second harrowing installment of the Earl Marcus mysteries by Hank Early.
Review:
In the Valley of the Devil by Hank Early is a tension-filled mystery in which racism and corruption figure heavily in the storyline. This second installment in the Earl Marcus Mystery series can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading the previous novel for important backstory.
Private Investigator Earl Marcus is content with his decision to return to his small hometown in Riley, Georgia. He is involved in a long distance relationship with Atlanta cop Mary Hawkins and in between their visits, he has plenty of business to keep him occupied. While exploring a nearby cave with Mary, they discover a skull along with the puzzling message “Old Nathaniel” and “AOC”. Newly hired Sheriff, Doug Patterson, dismisses the findings but Earl’s curiosity is piqued. Turns out “Old Nathaniel” is a legend about a ghostly Confederate soldier who kidnaps and murders African-Americans in the area. When his friend, Ronnie Thrash, enlists his help with some strange goings on at a nearby cornfield, Mary disappears. Turning to his blind friend Rufus and Ronnie for help, Earl battles white supremacists and unearths a shocking plan as he races against time to rescue Mary before it is too late.
Earl’s friendship with Ronnie is somewhat uneasy and when Ronnie comes to him for help, he very reluctantly says yes. With an ominous sense of foreboding, he and Mary follow Ronnie’s directions for their rendezvous at the mysterious cornfields. After Ronnie fails to meet them, Earl and Mary decide to investigate the cornfield, but the field is a confusing maze that is impossible to navigate. Just as they are about to leave, Mary literally vanishes into thin air, and Earl begins his desperate quest to find her.
During his investigation, Earl runs up against newcomer Jeb Walsh who plans to use the small community to spread his racist rhetoric as he enters the political arena. Earl is convinced Jeb is connected to Mary’s kidnapping. Earl also continues to stumble across other people who recount their sightings of Old Nathaniel to him. As he attempts to make sense of these very confusing bits of information, Earl arrives at a shocking conclusion that adds to his urgency to locate Mary.
In the Valley of the Devil features a good versus evil storyline that mirrors true to life issues. Racism is an ugly but very real problem in America today and Hank Early incorporates this difficult subject matter into the novel with sensitivity. Earl solves the mystery surrounding Mary’s disappearance but trouble still looms in Riley which leaves him in a quandary about his future. It will be very interesting to see what lies ahead for him and his friends in upcoming installments of the Earl Marcus Mystery series.
