If you want to better understand the intersection of politics, religion, and crime in the rural South, Ace Atkins is your roadmap. The author of 24 books, including nine Quinn Colson novels, Atkins just dropped The Shameless, which features Quinn, an ex-Army Ranger in Afghanistan turned sheriff in fictional Tebbehah County, Miss. Ace talks about what he learned as a crime journalist, how he writes such realistic characters and dialogue,  his concern over emboldened racists, and why there's still hope.