South California Purples - Hardcover

BARON R. BIRTCHER spent a number of years as a professional musician,and founded an independent record label and management company. Criticshave hailed Baron's writing as "the real deal" (Publishers Weekly), andhis plots as "taut, gritty, and powerfully con-trolled" (KirkusReviews).

His first two novels (Roadhouse Blues and Ruby Tuesday) are Los Angeles Times and Independent Mystery Booksellers Associationbest sellers, and he has been nominated for a number of literary awards, including the Nero Award (Hard Latitudes), the Claymore Award (Rain Dogs), the Left Coast Crime Lefty Award (Angels Fall), and won the Silver Falchion Award in 2016 (Hard Latitudes). He is the 2018 WINNER of the Killer Nashville READER'S CHOICE AWARD (South California Purples).

Baron divides his time between Portland, Oregon and Kona, Hawaii. Follow him on FaceBook

"Set in 1973, this fast-moving series launch from Birtcher (Hard Latitudes and three other Mike Travis novels) perfectly captures its era. Vietnam vets are coming home to a mixed reception, the American Indian Movement is standing off the government at Wounded Knee, and in Meriwether County, Ore., something unexplainable is killing rancher Tyler Dawson's cattle. Neighboring rancher Teresa Pineu, incensed that the government is rounding up wild horses to be slaughtered, has put the word out, and a group of activists, hippies, and motorcycle gang members are camping out on her spread. Sheriff Lloyd Skadden deputizes Ty to keep things under control, but events rapidly get out of hand. One of Ty's ranch hands is murdered, the bikers shoot up a bar, and Lloyd seems otherwise occupied. More mayhem ensues, including a deadly standoff between the bikers and Ty's people. Birtcher takes readers on an exciting ride." --Publishers Weekly

"The land is reliable in Baron Birtcher's South California Purples. The animals are reliable. But people, politics, and planning twist and turn in the wind. The novel combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson's Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character. The result is a blend of lyrical prose, powerful social commentary, smooth scenery and wild, fast action, in a story that keeps the pages turning, and speaks to the present through a well-drawn lens of the past.

A spectacularly dead cow starts the tale. It might be a red herring. It might just be background. But the foreground soon fills with hippie activists, Vietnam vets, bike gangs, and a woman who just wants the best for wild horses. The Bureau of Land Management is losing control. So is the sheriff. And Ty Dawson has far too much on his mind, including that dead cow, to want to be deputized.

First and third person narration seamlessly combine in this novel, and the narrative voice is both lyrical and fiercely honest, flowing from gorgeous scenery to the fate of recaptured horses without even seeming to flinch. The world was changing in 1973, but the protagonist's thoughts, always convincingly his rather than the author's, are as valid and intriguing today as they would have been then. Native Americans struggle for their rights. Independent ranchers struggle for their land. Environmentalists struggle for the world we live in. And real people lose their way.

Great dialog, beautiful prose, convincing characters and relationships, well-researched detail, and well-thought-out social commentary, all come together in a novel of well-nuanced good and evil in changing times and landscapes. South California Purples is the beginning of a series not to be missed, and most especially not to be missed if you live in Oregon.

Disclosure: I was given a copy by the publisher and I offer my honest review." --Sheila Deeth

"A masterful work of a time gone by. Birtcher possesses a rare skill that is the envy of many a writer. He deftly employs literary prose to reveal the life of a hard driven man. Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other." -- Neal Griffin