In his new historical crime novel, Through Many Dangers, Texas author Thomas Goodman has taken the skeleton of a true story and, from it, created a cast of fully fleshed-out fictional characters. His protagonist is Richard Burleson, a Methodist preacher who, in 1905, makes his way with his young family by horse-drawn wagon to a new posting in rural Groveton, Texas, where the events he participates in took place in real life.
Here at Crime Fiction Lover, we like that peek-at-the-past that reminds us all was not perfect in days of yore; it’s a good perspective when reading about tomorrow’s looming cascade of cybercrime. This indie rural noir novel provides that and more.
When you think of Texas, you may think of flat, dust-blown acres with vastly more cattle and tumbleweeds than trees. If so, you’re thinking of West Texas. East Texas, where Groveton is situated, much more resembles Louisiana – swampy and humid. The real-life town is near the western end of a pine forest that once occupied a large area of several states. Sawmills would set up in a likely spot, raze all the surrounding trees, and move on. A remnant of the Piney Woods, preserved in the Davy Crockett National Forest, remains near Groveton today.
The pine forests were a natural resource that drew sawmills and millhands, whose semi-itinerant lifestyle sometimes drew trouble. That’s certainly the case in this novel. Before Rev Burleson arrives, the residents of Trinity County have voted to be dry – no liquor – but that makes no difference to the criminal elements who have their grip on the town. What Burleson finds are numerous rowdy saloons, unfettered gambling and prostitution, along with bootlegging and moonshining. And their corollary, murder.
The owner of the Groveton sawmill is deep in debt to gamblers in the ‘big city’ of Beaumont, Texas, and a violent gangster collects the mill owner’s regular repayments. Because of this debt, the owner desperately needs the money the moonshine brings in. Yes, the town has a sheriff, but he and his deputies are in cahoots with the men openly flouting the law.
From his perspective in the pulpit, Burleson sees the ruined families, the early deaths, the hungry wives and children, whose misery is brought about by the presence of illegal liquor in the county. At one point, he himself is badly beaten, as he tries to reclaim a father lost to drink and cards. He appears in church the following Sunday, his injuries visible testament to the town’s disorder, and lays his pistol on the pulpit.
Burleson and his wife are determined to relieve their community of liquor’s ‘toils and snares.’ Their first challenge: get a new sheriff. The election campaign is tough in a town full of scared people. About the time it’s decided, Burleson’s church and parsonage are burned to the ground. Rick Burleson receives a lesson in community priorities when he realises the town’s fire company hadn’t rushed to the scene in order to save his church and home, but to prevent the fire from spreading to the nearby pine forest.
Though many community forces are arrayed against him, other pastors and many congregants, including people who have been victims of the lawlessness, rally to his side. In a classic tale of good versus evil, it is often not a sure thing that good will win out. And it isn’t a sure thing in Groveton, either.
In addition to conjuring the spectre of fear that haunts the town, author Goodman also effectively describes a 120-year-old way of life, so that you can see the story’s characters acting and reacting in this particular set of social circumstances and constraints. Good or bad, their actions are never wholly predictable, which increases the tension and made me keep turning pages.
I especially admired the character of Burleson’s wife Sarah, raising two small children, serving as an ambassador to families in need, and focused on doing the right thing, regardless of the risk involved. The man they persuade to run for sheriff against the incumbent is another upright soul.
At the close of the novel, Goodman includes a fact-and-fiction note that describes his original real-life inspiration for this book. What it gives you also is an appreciation for Goodman’s storytelling skill, as his starting point was quite slender. It’s a good read and a vivid reminder of what life was like in days that are so different from ours yet not so very long ago.
Probably you recognise ‘through many dangers’ as a line from Amazing Grace, written by John Newton and first published in England in 1779. Over decades, it has inspired hope in people in the midst of tragedy. With its themes of redemption and forgiveness, it is a fitting source for the title of this book.
For a whole lot more Texas, good and bad, check out the Crime Fiction Lover tag or the state.
Mainsail Media
Print/Kindle
£13.35
CFL Rating: 4 Stars
