Blog Post #6 Chiefs by Stuart Woods

Because I've been writing about Wicked for so long, I'm going to start writing about another book I've been reading lately.  I plan on finishing Wicked because I'm actually very interested in it now, but for the sake of keeping my posts fresh, I'm going to move on to writing about a book called Chiefs by Stuart Woods.

Woods is one of my favorite authors to read purely for enjoyment.  He writes mystery novels starring characters who live fabulously charmed lives.  The mystery keeps me interested in the plot while imagining myself living the jet set lifestyle of his main characters keeps me comfortable.  Because I've read dozens of books by this guy, I do consider myself something of an expert on his writing.  But that's the thing.  Dozens of books.  This guy came out with about 3 new books last year.  Any author pumping out three books a year might not be producing top-quality literature.  He's trying to make money not win any awards.  However, I recently discovered his first published novel, which is what I've been reading recently.  First books, like first albums, often enjoy the "first phenomenon", which is when the "first" thing produced by an artist is fantastic because the artist might have had YEARS to perfect it while he or she was waiting to be discovered.  Once discovered, however, the artist is pressured to produce more and on a deadline, so the work that follows is often less awesome than the work that came first.

Anyway, my point is, I recently discovered Woods's first book, so I was stoked and had to read it immediately even though I was really supposed to focus all of my free reading time on Wicked.

Blog Post #6--Due Friday, February 27th

Part 1:  Post three pictures and one word that capture the setting of your new book 

My word is: Delano.

This is the name of the small town, and Woods mentions Delano, Georgia in many, many, many of his other books.  It's barely a blip on the map, but in the world of Woods, all roads lead to Delano.

 The book starts when a cotton farmer in rural Georgia in 1916 decides to sell his farm before the boll weevil can render his farm useless.

 Then he convinces the city council of the newly-formed small town to make him chief of police.  Considering the town is so small, and the year is 1916, this wasn't such an outlandish move.

 

  The book is divided into three sections and follows the lives of three different police chiefs over three generations as they all attempt to track down the same serial killer, who, the reader finds out very early on, is the only other applicant for the police chief job when the story opens in 1916.