Lay Your Armour Down by Michael Farris Smith

Argh – I would have posted this days ago, but I’ve had no internet – the idea of trying to do WP on my phone terrifies me. Sadly, there’s a major fault in the cabinet my wifi goes to – and the engineer couldn’t give me a time for when it would be fixed properly – he can fix it temporarily by running it on batteries but they only last a short while, and he won’t be there 24/7. So I’ve come into school to use the wifi there – I’m the only one in today apart from builders and maintenance guys! Very quiet indeed. Having no internet at home is driving me (and my daughter) crazy, as of course it was the weekend I had lots ending on ebay, lots of posts to write and schedule, lots of admin I wanted to do – very little doable on a small phone screen with apps (bane of my life). I think I’ll be investigating full-fibre to the house soon… however did we manage? Ha ha.

And before we get to the review, first, my big apologies to Anne at Random Tours and No Exit Press for a) missing my proper slot on the blog tour for this novel – the book arrived late and then I noted down the wrong date for my slot, so I didn’t quite finish it in time, and then b) had no internet to post it. Excuses I know, but my review is here now.

This was my first encounter with Smith, but I discover I do have another of his novels on my shelves already – Nick – his 2021 Great Gatsby prequel imagining Nick Calloway’s life during WWI, before moving to West Egg. Having read his latest, I’m looking forward to reading Nick and any others by him that I encounter.

Lay Your Armour Down is a rather different kind of novel to most I’ve read before. An atmospheric modern Southern Gothic thriller written in a literary style. With the main characters being two guns for hire, it had the feel of a western – I’m thinking The Sisters Brothers here, with less fun and more mystique and no period setting, we have cars and cellphones although it has a timeless feel. Are you intrigued yet?

We begin at night, and an old lady is packing a grocery bag with an eclectic mix of items, but not forgetting the rolls of cash in the tin in the bottom of her wardrobe.

She moved in the solemn lamplight of the cluttered house like the vague figure of a troubled dream.

She heads into the woods, not noticing where she’s going, getting twigs stuck in her hair, losing a slipper. Eventually she reaches a clearing where two men are sitting around a campfire. Cut to the two men arriving in town and going into the diner. The older one is Burdean, the younger one is Keal. They’d been on a search and retrieve mission to recover something from the abandoned church out there. Burdean’s instructions had been to go into the church cellar and,

‘Whatever it is, we’ll know it when we see it.’

They should have done it that night, but encountering the old lady put them off, Burdean says they’ll go back tomorrow. But Keal is guilty about abandoning the old woman and taking her cash, and drives back to look for her. Burdean gets mechanic Ed to take him back out there, when they hear shots. They arrived just late enough not to get caught in the crossfire for there are dead bodies outside the church now. And inside there are more dead, but in the cellar they find, firstly the old lady, and then a little girl.

There is no way that Keal will let Burdean hand over the girl… What are they going to do? Well, their bacon is initially saved by Cara, a neighbour of the old woman Wanetah, who has been caring and looking for her, and takes them all back to Wanetah’s house to take stock. It’s clear that others will soon be on their trail after the girl, who it is claimed has mysterious powers. How is it all going to end? Will they escape all the others after her, and the law?

In bounty hunters Keal and Burdean, Smith has drawn two classic character types. The older man, cynical, but strong and good with a gun, a man who knows his place in the hoodlum chain. Keal still has an idealistic streak in him, only having joined with Burdean because he couldn’t face holding down a regular job. He’s at the stage where he still cares about other people though, he’s a driver not a gunman type. Meanwhile, Cara is a strong woman of conviction, single but motherly and caring, she is a match for Burdean in stubbornness over what’s best for the girl.

The chase is on, but even though this novel is only 234 pages long, it’s a slowburn one, full of mystery over those doing the chasing. The action all takes place over a mere two days, written in night and day sections, but it feels longer – in a good way though. The air of mystery ensures that the text drips with atmosphere, in the spaces as well as the words. The menace is ever present in its modern Southern Gothic incarnation, making it a novel to savour and ponder on afterwards. I rather liked Smith’s style in this unconventional thriller and will be reading more by him.

Source: Review copy – thank you. No Exit Press paperback original, 234 pages. BUY at Blackwell’s via my affiliate link.