#WIRW: The Boys of the Dixie Pig

No, you’re not stuck in a time warp – it’s not Wednesday. This post did not go live as it was supposed to, yay, me. So lucky you, you’ll likely see TWO posts from me today. Go, me.

Happy Wednesday Thursday! This week’s pick for What I’m Reading Wednesday is The Boys of the Dixie Pig by Stacy Childs.  What a fun, wild ride it was!!  I’m seeing it touted as a medical thriller, but while one of the two main storylines has a medical bent not far off of what you might see with Robin Cook, I’d likely classify it as a thriller, plain and simple.

Ok, so I mentioned there are two storylines: the first centers around Mack Barton, a sixty-something weapons dealer who lives under the radar in his motor home and has a love for Don Julio Añejo tequila and gambling. There is a Vegas mob boss after him for an unpaid gambling debt, and the CIA is after him because of a recent weapons deal that apparently supplied the wrong side. Oh, and there enough mentions of Don Julio Añejo that you may mistake it for a minor character.

Meanwhile, one of his close friends from childhood (part of the titled group of boys that hung out at a restaurant called the Dixie Pig) has gone from a weak, awkward child to a successful physician/psychiatrist and head of a high-tech cryonics company. The interestingly named “Ace Strain” invites Mack and the rest of the gang to (Willie, Donnie and Goody) to his visit him and show off his business – and offer them, when it is time, the opportunity to be cryogenically frozen as well.  Ace also introduces them to an employee of his who has been frozen and reanimated, and through whom they discovered a remarkable side benefit…but you’ll have to read to find out what it was.

Mack Barton’s character is my favorite; Childs has created a character that, by definition, is a “bad guy” – a tequila swilling, gun shooting, un-remorseful weapons dealer – who comes across like a good old guy with a soft spot for a mean-as-hell failed guard dog.  The cryonics storyline – as incredulous as you may be – is the one that will have your jaw dropping, as there is more to it than what the boys are told. Childs keeps the two storylines running at full speed and works in a whopper of a twist that will have you hanging in there until the end.

There is a good deal of violence, because hello, weapons dealers and Mob bosses, but it wasn’t overwhelming or gratuitous. If you like a thriller with a good dose of humor, this is for you. I think fans Robert Ludlum “The Road to Omaha” will love this book as much as fans of Robin Cook (because the cryogenics aspect will really stretch you and make you think.)

The Boys of the Dixie Pig is written by Stacy Childs and published by Crossroad Press, and is available now on Amazon.com and other booksellers. Stacy Childs can be found online at Twitter as @stacyjchilds and at www.stacychilds.com.

An advanced reader copy was generously provided by NetGalley and Crossroads Press in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts are my own. This post also contains affiliate links, which will cost you nothing but will help feed my reading habit and keep my little ole’ blog running. Thanks!