WES BROWNE chats to Scott Blackburn & Paul Burke about his noir THEY ALL FALL THE SAME, (US Amazon link) why it wasn't called Spoon, the Appalachians, North Carolina, pizza and community.

They All Fall the Same: Cannabis kingpin Burl Spoon has reigned over the Jackson County area for three decades, building a powerful backwoods empire. But behind a well-run organization, his personal life is crumbling - his daughter can't stay clean; his son has hated him since coming out; and after enduring years of infidelity, his wife is straying too. The only person not on his payroll who still adores him is his six-year-old granddaughter, Chelsea. When his daughter overdoses on heroin laced with fentanyl and one of his employees is murdered, Burl's retaliation against Clovis Begley, the patriarch of the heroin-dealing family involved in both deaths, is inevitable. As Burl's plan spirals into a firestorm of vengeance that threatens the safety of his granddaughter, his drive for revenge conflicts with his longing for redemption. On the brink of losing everything, Burl must find a path between retribution and protecting what's left of his family.

Wes Browne has lived and practiced law as a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor, and public defender in Appalachian Kentucky for over twenty-four years. He also helps run his family's pizza shops.

Mentions and recommends: Mark Westmoreland, Henry Wise, SA Cosby, Silas House, Wiley Cash, David Joy, Tom Franklin, Ron Rash, Robert Gipe, Barbara Kingsolver, Chris Offutt, Leah Hampton, Annette Clapsaddle, Eryk Pruitt, Kelly J Ford, Steve Weddell, Benjamin Percy, James DF Hannah, Ted Flanagan, Dom Nolan, Donald Ray Pollock, Elmore Leonard.
Breonna Taylor RIP

Scott Blackburn's Scott Blackburn is an English instructor and a 2017 graduate of the Mountainview MFA program. His debut novel, It Dies with You, released in 2022 and in Germany in 2024. Scott has contributed to Crime Reads, Criminal Element, Mystery Tribune, and Shotgun Honey. He has been a featured speaker at conferences, universities writer camps.

Paul Burke writes for Crime Time, Crime Fiction Lover and the European Literature Network, Punk Noir Magazine (fiction contribution). He is also a CWA Historical Dagger Judge 2024. His first book An Encyclopedia of  Spy Fiction will be out in late 2025.

Produced by Junkyard Dog

Crime Time

Crime Time FM is the official podcast of
Gwyl Crime Cymru Festival 2023 & 2025
CrimeFest 2023
CWA Daggers 2023 & 2024 & National Crime Reading Month
& Newcastle Noir 2023 and 2024
2024 Slaughterfest,