TLDR: Hammon returns to the intoxicating mix of fact and fiction, kickstarting a thrilling trilogy on the Cornbread Mafia that may well stand as a true American epic.
FULL REVIEW:
Wasn’t expecting the release of another Ninie Hammon book, so this one caught me by surprise. Turns out to be a delightful surprise indeed. I have loved Hammon’s most recent works, which have grown more supernatural at every turn. With her Through The Canvas trilogy, her NOWHERE anthology, and her recent foray into science-fiction with the Taken Saga, the imaginative world of Ninie Hammon has grown more wild and wonderful with each turning page.
That being said, I’ve always been partial to one of her earliest novels, Homegrown. Without any strange phenomenon or magical happenings, I was captivated by the sobering tale of greed, drama, and innocence lost. Especially compelling was the knowledge that this captivating read was entirely based upon true events, drawing on Hammon’s real-life experience as a small town reporter during the heyday of Kentucky marijuana production in the 80s. Hammon’s characters are always captivatingly real, her plot lines always magnetically engaging, but the fact that Homegrown was based on tragically true real life events made everything that much more compelling.
So it was with great excitement that I realized that this new novel is a return to those real-life roots. Fire In The Hole is based in central Kentucky in the 1970s, set against the backdrop of the Vietnam war and a family feud comparable to the Hatfields and McCoy‘s. But as I was drawn into the hauntingly real lives of these characters that feel like next-door neighbors, I gradually came to a realization. In this novel, Hammon seems to be penning her version of the origin story of Kentucky marijuana production. Here we see the birth of a tightknit community of families united with no small degree of honor against what they perceived to be governmental oppression during the era of prohibition. And as these sons of Prohibition return from Vietnam with the discovery that people are paying good money for the wild weeds already growing in Kentucky fields, the stage is set for the creation of a uniquely southern version of a mafia story. As this is the first novel in what is being called the Cornbread Mafia trilogy, I assume the next movements in this epic drama will see the meteoric rise and tragic fall of a Kentucky homegrown drug empire.
That’s the subject matter… but of course anyone who reads Hammon’s novels knows that her characters are what keep us coming back book after book. Unsurprisingly, she does not disappoint. The book is full of tragically beautiful characters - good guys you love but can’t entirely like, bad guys you hate but can’t entirely blame, and a vividly-painted community of real people that feel like the folks you grew up with. As always, watching these folks suffer as things fall apart is painful, but Hammon never fails to balance tragedy with redemption in a poetic and meaningful way.
A great gift from one of my favorite authors, and the start of what I believe could be a genuine American epic. Read this book!
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