They All Fall the Same, novel by Wes Browne, reviewed by Mary Thorson

 They All Fall the Same

Wes Browne

Crooked Lane Books

Publication Date: ‎January 7, 2025

Kindle: $14.99/Hardcover $29.99

Burl Spoon’s daughter is missing, and that’s just the start of his troubles.

Wes Browne’s new novel, They All Fall the Same, wastes no time immersing us in protagonist Burl Spoon’s life of intimidation, outlaw code, and having the world grasped firmly in his fist, just when that world starts to go to shit. Burl, a Kentucky weed dealer in a state where it’s still illegal, has built a life where he gets whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. We find him as a man now in his mid-50s with an ambitious younger mistress and a longtime wife (Colleen) who is fed-up with his fooling around. He has two adult children, both estranged from their father in their own ways, and a grandchild who is the apple of his eye. His son, Darron, a promising high school basketball prospect came out in college, causing the homophobic Burl to disengage and treat his only son as something less than a man. His daughter, Deedee, is a drug addict with a daughter she frequently leaves with Burl and Colleen.

But with the news of his missing daughter, everything starts to crash around Burl, and he’s not used to not being in complete control of everything and everyone.

With the help of both his own people, including his right-hand man, Greek, and those in the law he’s bought off, Burl tracks down his daughter. He finds her barely alive in a hospital, thanks, in part, to the Begleys, a family of rival drug dealers that pedal in the stuff Burl won’t touch, like heroin–DeeDee’s drug of choice. After DeeDee succumbs to her overdose, Burl is intent on seeking revenge. However, along with his control, the man himself is unraveling, leading to stumble after stumble until he’s finally on the ground.

With writing that cuts straight to the bone in a story that leaves no room for nonsense, Browne subverts the anti-hero trope by deftly eating away at your hope for Burl Spoon instead of letting it build. We watch as this man gets uglier and uglier, resigned to the simple fact that it must happen. With this setup, the payoff at the end is nearly perfect. The prose is sharp, clear, and strong, and thankfully never once gets in the way of the story itself.

Browne creates a dangerous world that the reader wants to explore (and honestly, I could easily see more stories popping out of Jackson County, please and thank you). Browne has written something you won’t be able to put down until you’re done, and it’s a thrill the whole time.

Mary Thorson lives and writes in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received her BA in Creative Writing from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and her MFA from Pacific University in Oregon. Her stories have appeared in the Los Angeles Review, Milwaukee Noir, Worcester Review, Rock and a Hard Place, Tough, among others. Her short story, "Book of Ruth," will be appearing in Best American Mystery & Suspense, '24, edited by Steph Cha and S.A. Cosby. Her work has been nominated for Best American Short Stories, A Derringer, and a Pushcart Prize. She hangs out with her two feisty daughters, the best husband, and a dog named Pam when she isn’t teaching high school English, reading, or writing ghost stories. She is represented by Lori Galvin at Aevitas Creative Management. She is currently working on a novel.