Ace Atkins has many talents as an author. Possibly his strongest is putting you in the worlds he writes about. Whether it be the places and cultures his blues historian, Nick Travers, finds himself in or the time periods of his historical crime novels, you feel like you’re breathing the air, tasting the food, and meeting the locals.
This time he stays close to home in The Ranger, the first in a series starring Quinn Colson, an Afghan war vet who has to clean up his Mississippi town and save his family’s land. Inspired by the Southern action movies of the Seventies, Atkins also mixes in his love of blues and country music, crime novels, westerns, and Faulkner to take us on a ride through a very authentic Deep South.
Recently, I did a short interview with Ace about the book, his influences, and where he’s from.
Q: The Ranger is partly inspired by some of the Southern action films of the Seventies like White Lightning, Dixie Dynamite, and The Walking Tall series. What did you want to take from those films?
A: Those films were bold and gritty with an emphasis on realism. Much of it has to do with the time period those movies were made — in the early 1970s — and the trend of commitment to authenticity. A film like “White Lightning” doesn’t feel like a movie at all. It looks like you’re watching a documentary. And I like to watch Southern movies actually shot in the South. Warts and all.
I hope I’m bringing that same gritty authenticity to The Ranger series. The book absolutely had its genesis in that style of film making.
Q: Do you have a favorite movie in the genre?
A: Probably “White Lightning” or maybe Moonrunners — that film was the basis for the “Dukes of Hazzard” TV series and has largely been forgotten. Although it’s not Southern, Billy Jack played a huge role in the creation of Quinn Colson.
Q: One of the other influences was Ross MacDonald’s Blue City. Why did you use that book as a template?
A: The concept for my novel was simple and straight ahead — a soldier returning home from the front. It’s a story as old as the Odyssey and as new as “Walking Tall’ or “Billy Jack.” But the depths of political corruption in Blue City were absolutely timeless. I read the novel as a teenager and the story of Johnny Weather returning to town and finding his father dead just really stuck with me. The Ranger is absolutely an homage to Macdonald as well as those films.
Q: While I can always feel the influences in your work, it’s never overt. How do you use what inspires you without blatantly ripping it off.?
A: All writers have their influences in style and character. Mine may be a little more eclectic with pop culture references. I don’t want them to overwhelm story but more fun points of reference. Along with Billy Jack, Blue City, and Walking Tall, I throw some Faulkner in for fun. Faulkner’s crime novels are just outstanding.
Q: People are starting to discover Daniel Woodrell, the show Justified is popular, Frank Bill’s Southern Indiana Crime Stories is getting great buzz, and The Ranger as well. What do you think has seen the rise in rural crime fiction?
A: I think a rural setting offers something a little more mysterious and even darker than a well-covered urban city. The secrets tend to be a little bit uglier in the country. More hidden pockets of corruption and shadiness under the smiles. And less law enforcement to deal with it.
Q: While delivering a great pulp action yarn, you look at current small town America. As a southerner, what did you want to convey about where your from?
A: I do hope The Ranger is a universal look at small town American. But at the same time, it is a very Southern book. I hope I portray some of the beauty and ugliness as it exists in real life. The South is a quirky, wild place and you do have to live here to understand the truth. It’s a lot more wild and fun than anything you’ll see in the movies. I hope The Ranger series brings that to readers.
Q: Who are some current crime fiction writers that knock your socks off?
A: Elmore Leonard! Megan Abbott is just terrific. Woodrell, of course. I always read the latest Michael Connelly, George Pelecanos and John Sandford. Always enjoy Robert Crais.
Sunday, June 12TH at 5PM, I’ll be talking with Ace about The Ranger, his books, and crime fiction in general over a Shiner or two, with music by local hero Jessie Sublett. Come join us, we have enough free beer for everybody.
~Scott, MysteryPeople’s Crime Fiction Coordinator
For even more Ace: check out his conversation with Shelf-Awareness. And here’s an interview Scott Butki did with Ace in which he says some awfully nice things about Scott and Bookpeople.
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