Bᴀᴇʀ Cʀᴇɪɢʜᴛᴏɴ ɪs ᴀ ɢɪꜰᴛᴇᴅ ᴅɪsᴛɪʟʟᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ꜰʀᴜɪᴛᴇᴅ ᴍᴏᴏɴsʜɪɴᴇ, ᴄᴀᴘᴀʙʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴅᴇᴛᴇᴄᴛɪɴɢ ᴇᴠᴇɴ ᴛʜᴇ sᴜʙᴛʟᴇsᴛ ʟɪᴇs. Hᴇ ʟɪᴠᴇs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴏᴅs ɴᴇxᴛ ᴛᴏ ʜɪs ʜᴏᴜsᴇ, ᴘʜɪʟᴏsᴏᴘʜɪᴢᴇs ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪs ᴅᴏɢ Fʀᴇᴅ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇs ʟᴇᴛᴛᴇʀs ᴛᴏ ʜɪs ʜɪɢʜ sᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ʟᴏᴠᴇ Rᴜᴛʜ–ᴡʜᴏ ʟᴏɴɢ ᴀɢᴏ ᴄʜᴏsᴇ Bᴀᴇʀ’s ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ. Bᴀᴇʀ ᴋᴇᴇᴘs ᴀ ʟᴏᴡ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇ. Eᴠᴇʀʏᴏɴᴇ ɪs ʜᴀᴘᴘʏ ᴅʀɪɴᴋɪɴɢ ʜɪs sᴜʙʟɪᴍᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴsʜɪɴᴇs–ᴜɴᴛɪʟ Fʀᴇᴅ ɢᴏᴇs ᴍɪssɪɴɢ. A ᴡᴇᴇᴋ ʟᴀᴛᴇʀ, ᴡʜɪʟᴇ Bᴀᴇʀ ʜᴀʀᴠᴇsᴛs … ᴡʜɪʟᴇ Bᴀᴇʀ ʜᴀʀᴠᴇsᴛs ᴀᴘᴘʟᴇs ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍᴏᴏɴʟɪɢʜᴛ, ᴀ ᴄʜᴀɪɴ ᴏꜰ ʜᴇᴀᴅʟɪɢʜᴛs ᴇᴍᴇʀɢᴇs ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴏᴏᴅs. A sɪɴɢʟᴇ ᴛʀᴜᴄᴋ ᴛᴏssᴇs ᴀ ʙᴜɴᴅʟᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅɪᴛᴄʜ.
Wʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ ᴅɪsᴄᴏᴠᴇʀ ᴡʜᴏ sᴛᴏʟᴇ Fʀᴇᴅ, ʏᴏᴜ’ʟʟ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ʏᴏᴜ’ᴠᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴀ ɴᴇᴡ ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴅᴀʀᴋ sᴜʀʀᴇᴀʟ.
Aɴᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ʏᴏᴜ yᴏᴜ sᴇᴇ ᴡʜᴀᴛ Bᴀᴇʀ ᴅᴏᴇs ᴛᴏ ʜɪᴍ…
Tʜᴇᴍ…
Yᴏᴜ ʜᴀᴠᴇɴ’ᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅ ᴀ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴛʜɪs.
I ᴘʀᴏᴍɪsᴇ.
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The main character is a murderer. An unashamed alcoholic. A person who makes his living selling an illegal product. And yet you like the guy and root for him to be successful in his fight against “the bad guys”. Original. Dark. Sometimes funny. Sometimes gruesome. Always interesting. If you’re looking for something a little different, this is the book. Five stars.
I loved everything about this book. I loved the main character, and he constantly had me rooting for him, worried about him, concerned for and fretting after him, teary-eyed with him, and it’s been a long time since I’ve gotten that engaged with a character. I loved the bad guys, the dogs, every single character in this wonderful book, each of whom added to the brilliant tapestry that is this book. I highly recommend it to everyone wanting something different and unputdownable to read.
This is an excellent story! So well told! It took me a little while to get into it! But was it worth it! Great story ideas & characters! Super interesting & a good read! I will look for more by this writer & do recommend this book!
Clayton Lindemuth is a breath of fresh air. My Brother’s Destroyer comes out of nowhere and hits you like a baseball bat to the gut from an angry parent whose kid didn’t make the team. In this current world of political correctness, hand-wringing and participation trophies, Lindemuth’s stories take us back to a simpler time. A time when we could all agree on good and evil. When good men saw evil and took action. When the evil could be dealt with swiftly and permanently, without the wishy-washy handwringing we see in society today.
This is a brutal tale, I won’t sugarcoat it. What happens to the bad guys isn’t pretty. But real justice seldom is. In Baer Creighton, the author has created a flawed antihero we simply can not look away from. From his down-home, backwoods, and often hilarious thoughts and dialogue, to his antisocial habits, to his survival instincts and brutally efficient solutions, we become enamored with Baer and can’t wait to see how he handles his next predicament.
The story covers some uncomfortable ground. Dog fighting, domestic abuse, illegal moonshining, questionable inter-family relationships and vigilante justice are just a few. Some readers will squirm. Others will revel in the guilty pleasure of it all.
A note about the narrator, Kain Foster. Seldom has an audiobook narrator become the character as skillfully, effortlessly and convincingly as this one has. Baer Creighton would be a tall order for any narrator, with his backwoods drawl, peculiar dialect and herky-jerky pacing. I wonder if I would have connected with the character, as much or on the same level, had I read the book rather than listened to Foster’s narration of it? That’s hard to say. Its a great story with very well written characters, but you get a sense that Kain Foster brings that additional dimension to the story experience.
5 stars each for the the story and the performance. Bravo to Clayton Lindemuth and Kain Foster.
Though the vernacular threw me off at first, after a while, I heard it in my head, and it rang true. Baer Creighton’s world is beautifully simple and at the same time brutally complex. He takes the reader places they never thought they’d go and makes them glad they took the journey.
He’s a singular man who loves hard and fights dirty, then learns to live with the things he’s done or is about to do. Though the learning don’t come easy, and the guilt would break a lesser man, Baer does what needs doing and let’s God or the Devil sort it out.
I’ll be reading more of this series, and though it’s not for the squeamish at heart, it’ll stick with you long after the last page is read.
@d0104201
“Them days I didn’t have a past, just a future. Now I’m old, I got no future so I brood on what’s past.”
First of all, at the beginning of the book there is a link that will take you to a sanitized version of the book, noting misspelled words and cussing. DON’T follow the link. Read the book as originally written. The “misspelled” words are actually the regional dialect used by the characters in their part of North Carolina. And if you’re worried about the cussing you probably shouldn’t be reading this book and series anyway – it’s down and dirty.
Baer Creighton is fifty years old and it’s been a hard life. He lives in the woods with his dog making fruited moonshine.
His brother claimed the only girl Baer ever loved and tried to kill him when he was younger.. He failed in his attempt but actually have Baer the rare talent to detect lies.
One day someone steals his dog, puts him in an organized dog fight, and then drops off an almost dead dog where Baer will find him.
And retribution comes calling from Baer to all concerned.
This is a great book. I loved the character of Baer, flawed as he is, and yes, he has his flaws but he also has a big heart.
I highly recommend this book. I’m now off to read book two in the series THE MUNDANE WORK OF VENGEANCE.
Baer Creighton is a 10th grade dropout who at 50 would best be described as a hillbilly moonshiner doing the best he can. The characters are real to life and their dialog is written just as they would sound if you were right there with them. I fell asleep in my chair reading this and as soon as I had my morning coffee dove right back in to finish.
I enjoyed it as it was a little different.
I loved the very earthy characters! I kept changing my mind who the villains were! Great read!
This is definitely a man’s book, my husband enjoyed it more than I did. I did finish it and think it’s worth reading. 3 to 3.5 stars.
Brutal! Gut wrenching! Harsh! Life has been tough for crusty Baer Creighton… and now its getting down and ugly. This recluse has isolated himself, his companion Fred (his loyal dog), and his moonshine still in the woods so the world would leave him alone to sulk away his wasted, worthless life. He bothers no one…until someone borrows and bothers Fred. You don’t mess with Fred…or his master Baer…unless you want a world of hurt being dumped on you in return. Baer can take and somehow handle a world of hurt because he’s lived it ever since his older brother Larry electrocuted Baer when they were younger living at home. Bear is a burnt marshmallow- burnt and crusty on the outside but with a heart that is soft, sweet and loyal at the center. I loved this gruesome, bloody saga of vengeful bloodthirsty lowlifes engaged in warfare with one loyal, hard crusty man who will protect those who have been loyal to him. Don’t mess with Fred, Stinky Joe, Baer’s niece, her children, or Baer’s former girlfriend. Ingenious writing by author Clayton Lindemuth! NOT for the faint of heart or those who get squimish with blood, torture, cruelty and the right to bear and use guns. I loved it!,
Once you get used to the original writing style, this is a really great read!
The writing style may take a bit of time to get used to, but please believe- it’s SO worth it! WHAT A TERRIFIC READ!! This won’t appeal to everyone, but this INCREDIBLY talented author, Clayton Lindemuth, isn’t mainstream…and therein lies the whole point!
This was a crazy story, it was like Moonshiners meets the Sixth Sense or something. I enjoyed the tale. Graphic violence if you are a sensitive type.
I’m no stranger to dark books, but do think readers need to approach this one with caution.
WARNING: This book contains some moderately graphic descriptions of dog fighting. If you dislike reading that type of material, I recommend that you pass this book by.
The author writes in a grit-noir style, which can be jarring if you are not prepared for it. It took me a couple chapters to fully immerse into the story, but once I adjusted to the style I was fine. The story builds well and riffs off the classic loner turned angel of vengeance. You find yourself initially disliking the main character and then rooting hard for him to win. I don’t want to give too much of the story away, so I will just say that this was my first introduction to this author and, as a result of this book, I have purchased 2 more of his novels.
I found the language to be difficult to always understand and sometimes I felt uncomfortable reading some of the sad/gruesome parts
Different..
Did not like the protagonist, the environment the book set in or any other characters. Did not how the book proceeded or ended.