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Like Lions: A Novel (Bull Mountain, 2) Paperback – March 31, 2020
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"A book filled with unforgettable characters and a tension that heightens with every chapter." ―The Wall Street Journal
A powerful follow up to multiple award-winning debut Bull Mountain.
Brian Panowich burst onto the crime fiction scene in 2015, winning awards and accolades from readers and critics alike for his smoldering debut, Bull Mountain. Now with Like Lions, he cements his place as one of the outstanding new voices in crime fiction.
Clayton Burroughs is a small-town Georgia sheriff, a new father, and, improbably, the heir apparent of Bull Mountain’s most notorious criminal family.
As he tries to juggle fatherhood, his job and his recovery from being shot in the confrontation that killed his two criminally-inclined brothers last year, he’s doing all he can just to survive. Yet after years of carefully toeing the line between his life in law enforcement and his family, he finally has to make a choice.
When a rival organization makes a first foray into Burroughs territory, leaving a trail of bodies and a whiff of fear in its wake, Clayton is pulled back into the life he so desperately wants to leave behind. Revenge is a powerful force, and the vacuum left by his brothers’ deaths has left them all vulnerable. With his wife and child in danger, and the way of life in Bull Mountain under siege for everyone, Clayton will need to find a way to bury the bloody legacy of his past once and for all.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherMinotaur Books
- Publication dateMarch 31, 2020
- Dimensions5.49 x 0.89 x 8.25 inches
- ISBN-101250248256
- ISBN-13978-1250248251
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Editorial Reviews
Review
“The thrills keep coming . . . In the vein of Grisham and Burke, Panowich zips readers along with action backed by delightfully rhythmic storytelling.” ― Garden and Gun
“Excellent . . . It's the emotional complexity of Burroughs . . . as well as the brass knuckle punch of an ending that will have readers applauding. This is hillbilly noir at its finest.” ―Publishers Weekly, starred review
“Brian Panowich makes a triumphant return to Bull Mountain, Georgia, in his second novel, “Like Lions,” as he continues to mix crime fiction with a violent family drama, perfectly melding characters with a sense of place . . . moves at a brisk clip, leading to a stunning, yet believable, finale.” ― Associated Press
“Action and reflection are skillfully balanced in a vigorously written, trenchant tale.” ― Kirkus Reviews
“Like Lions is excellent fiction, period. Buy, read, and enjoy.” ― The New York Journal of Books
“Panowich is a terrific storyteller with a way with words . . . Fine country noir.” ― Don Crinklaw, Booklist
“Brian Panowich’s glorious return to Bull Mountain is another sprawling, brutal, no-holds-barred novel that held me in a death grip from page one until it kicked me out of the door with an ending I never saw coming.”―C.J. Box
"Brian Panowich's new novel, LIKE LIONS, is 272 pages of pure-dee rompin', stompin', ass-kickin' reader's delight." ―Daniel Woodrell
“If Elmore Leonard and Flannery O’Connor had a love child who grew up reading William Faulkner, pulp fiction, and a Shakespearean tragedy or two, he’d write like Brian Panowich. His characters are knotty, tangled people who try and fail and frustrate yet keep going, fueled by something as bone deep as family or fear, or both…You’re in for a hell of a ride.” ―Christopher Swann, author of Shadow of the Lions
Praise for Bull Mountain
"A satisfying and smartly constructed book whose time-shifting sequences build suspense even as they parcel out telling revelations. Once events are in full play, there’s no turning back.”― The Wall Street Journal
“[Brian Panowich] pulls off [a] daunting undertaking with astounding success . . . The storytelling is mesmerizing." ― The New York Times Book Review
"One of the best multi-generational family sagas in years.” ― The Huffington Post
“Prose as punchy as rapid-aged whiskey.” ― Esquire
“A brilliant debut novel . . . extraordinary.” ― Atlanta Magazine
“Bull Mountain is a stone gas and a stone winner! It’s brother-versus-brother in the dope-damned South. This first novel has it all: moonshine, maryjane and mayhem! Read this book now – and succumb to a startling new talent.” – James Ellroy, author of Perfidia
About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Minotaur Books (March 31, 2020)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250248256
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250248251
- Item Weight : 9.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 5.49 x 0.89 x 8.25 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #193,829 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,757 in Small Town & Rural Fiction (Books)
- #4,030 in Murder Thrillers
- #4,746 in Police Procedurals (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Brian lives in Georgia but he dreams of Parma.
Customer reviews
Customer Reviews, including Product Star Ratings help customers to learn more about the product and decide whether it is the right product for them.
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzed reviews to verify trustworthiness.
Learn more how customers reviews work on AmazonCustomers say
Customers find the storyline compelling and entertaining. They appreciate the well-developed characters with distinct personalities. The book features gritty violence and a fast-paced narrative. However, opinions differ on whether it's a worthy sequel to Bull Mountain or not as good as the original. Readers describe the book as an easy and fast read.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Customers enjoyed the exciting plot and engaging story. They found the book entertaining with a surprising revelation that tied the story together nicely. The author was described as a natural storyteller who is skilled at weaving suspenseful plots and twists.
"...This was a book that was hard for me to put down. All of the thrills, drama, crime, and violence from BM is back and is turned up to an 11...." Read more
"...This is a good, gritty story with characters that are not all bad and not all good. The Audible narration is excellent." Read more
"...No editing errors or drag-you-down drama. Compelling storyline with extremely descriptive writing that draws one in...." Read more
"...The characters, the dialogue and the plot are all so good and the writing is just great...." Read more
Customers enjoy the well-developed characters in the book. They also mention the gritty violence and satisfying conclusion.
"...Again, the character development is phenomenal. You feel every conflict and every struggle like it's your own...." Read more
"...This is a good, gritty story with characters that are not all bad and not all good. The Audible narration is excellent." Read more
"The story was flat, lacked substance, and relied on sensational characters.. The characters and the setting set the background but are not a..." Read more
"...Realistic procedures, actions and reactions. Believable characters with distinct personalities and thought-provoking dialogue. ‘..." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's violence level. They find it a gripping backwoods cops and crooks tale with gritty scenes and thrilling moments. The characters are well-developed and some readers find them scary.
"...All of the thrills, drama, crime, and violence from BM is back and is turned up to an 11. Again, the character development is phenomenal...." Read more
"...There is graphic but not gratuitous violence. No editing errors or drag-you-down drama...." Read more
"...Like Lions is a powerful crime story played out in rural north Georgia...." Read more
"...I wanted to know these women; I wanted to be them. Truly an up-all-night thriller." Read more
Customers enjoy the book's pacing. They find it well-written and fast-paced, with richly developed characters.
"...It's a worthy sequel to Bull Mountain, just as well-written and fast-paced, with richly-developed characters, gritty violence, and even more family..." Read more
"Really enjoyed this second book in the series. It was quick like the first. Similar tone and flavor as the first...." Read more
"Action packed, fast moving and ends with a bang, literally. Centered around the narcotics/meth trade in the hills of southern Georgia...." Read more
"...It was a fast and easy read, but it kept me interested and I liked the ending. Would definitely recommend it." Read more
Customers have mixed opinions about the sequel. Some find it a worthy and amazing follow-up to Bull Mountain, with well-written and fast-paced storytelling. Others say it's not as good as the original but still a great read.
"...It's the sequel to the amazing novel Bull Mountain, which I would recommend you read first...." Read more
"...I followed up with this sequel. Sequels are difficult. Sometimes the story just needs to end. But he pulled it off beautifully...." Read more
"A superb follow-up to Bull Mountain...." Read more
"...It's a worthy sequel to Bull Mountain, just as well-written and fast-paced, with richly-developed characters, gritty violence, and even more family..." Read more
Customers have different opinions about the book's readability. Some found it an easy, engaging read with good narration. Others felt the writing style was not spectacular and the author was not likable.
"...The Audible narration is excellent." Read more
"...As a writer and a child of the South, he speaks straight to my heart. He writes so vividly about a place that you know he calls “home.”..." Read more
"...This stand-alone is easy to follow but at times difficult to read due to emotions evoked. There is graphic but not gratuitous violence...." Read more
"Comfortable read. Not the most spectacular writer, but the flow and storyline work...." Read more
Top reviews from the United States
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- Reviewed in the United States on March 31, 2023Bull Mountain was one of my favorite reads of 2022 and was a book I did not think could be outdone, but Brian did it with Like Lions. All of my commendations of Bull Mountain carry over into Like Lions and the quality and the intensity does not let up one bit.
Like Lions focuses more on the present than the past with most of the events taking place after Bull Mountain. Instead of revisiting various generations, we're more often watching events unfold through different characters. This was a book that was hard for me to put down. All of the thrills, drama, crime, and violence from BM is back and is turned up to an 11. Again, the character development is phenomenal. You feel every conflict and every struggle like it's your own. Clayton's actions will have you torn throughout the entirety of the story and Kate's character arch is amazing.
Without any spoilers or excess detail, this is the first book that has ever given me chill bumps upon finishing it. That final twist/reveal in the last chapter still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up at how good it is. "Like Lions" is the absolute perfect title for this novel.
While Bull Mountain isn't a requirement to read prior to Like Lions, there are enough references and callbacks to the first novel that I'd say you'd be doing yourself a major disservice going into this one haven't not read BM. Like Lions is a must read.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2025If you read Bull Mountain first, the story is more understandable. This is a good, gritty story with characters that are not all bad and not all good. The Audible narration is excellent.
- Reviewed in the United States on January 1, 2025Graphic violence
This stand-alone is easy to follow but at times difficult to read due to emotions evoked. There is graphic but not gratuitous violence. No editing errors or drag-you-down drama.
Compelling storyline with extremely descriptive writing that draws one in. Plenty of twists and a surprise ending. Realistic procedures, actions and reactions. Believable characters with distinct personalities and thought-provoking dialogue.
‘Sometimes this world can summon up just enough meanness to beat you to the brink of death, but you don’t die. You move on, and all you do is recover. That recovery isn’t the result of some newly imagined inner strength, it’s just the stubborn refusal to feel any more pain. What doesn’t kill you, makes you numb, was truer to the point.‘
‘Neither of them ready to admit the real damage being done to them wasn’t in the war, but in the waiting. Those hours of silence that follow the shouting is when the real madness sets in, and the devil got to get his licks in.‘
No desire to re-read this book. I am definitely interested in other works by this author.
- Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2020Like Lions is a title that will make sense somewhere in this book. It's the sequel to the amazing novel Bull Mountain, which I would recommend you read first. Bull Mountain was a taste of Southern noir that pitted two brothers against each other in a complicated relationship that spanned generations. They were the Sheriff and the Outlaw King of the Mountain, the yin and the yang, sort of.
Like Lions takes place after the end of Bull Mountain and Clayton is broken in body and spirit and his wife Kate doesn't know how to heal him or which is the greater crutch for him, the busted leg or the morning whiskey. The Feds have cleared out the mountain, as much as they could. But, power abhors a vacuum and forces are conspiring to move into this wide open territory without a Burroughs sitting on the throne.
The question gif Clayton has always been whether he can keep his hands clean and be the law on the mountain or whether, like Michael Corleone, he has to take up the throne on top of the mountain to protect his friends and kin whether he wants to or not. How far does he have to compromise and bend and still be who he thinks he is. What does he have to do to protect what's his.
Like Lions is a powerful crime story played out in rural north Georgia. But, like with Bull Mountain, don't make the mistake of thinking this is just another bang-bang shoot me up. It's not.
- Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2019The story was flat, lacked substance, and relied on sensational characters.. The characters and the setting set the background but are not a substitute for a good plot. I know a good plot when I am unable to put it down halfway through.. that did not happen in this book.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2019A superb follow-up to Bull Mountain. I enjoyed every word of it, though the decline Clayton in psychological and alcoholic decline was in some measure over presented. And the end of one of the great villains of the mountain was strikingly anti-climatic and disappointing. And yet that villain meets his end in a way that’s likely a very real portrayal of how such characters meet their end in real life.
Those criticisms aside, I once again felt deeply inserted into the culture, cruelty, and violence that characterizes the world of Bull Mountain. The characters are well-developed and you feel like part of the crew that brawls within and rules a corner of the world that is both close and foreign.
There’s a hint of a plot device leading to a surprising ending that could easily fail in the hands of a lesser storyteller. The surprising ending doesn’t work IF this is the last novel involving these fascinating characters with their cruel and bloody code that no longer really works, if it ever did. I’m confident we’re going to hear more from the Burroughs clan and Bull Mountain. I look forward to it.
- Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2024This the first novel that I've read by Panowich, but now I will read them all. The characters, the dialogue and the plot are all so good and the writing is just great. These books are a continuing saga that I wish I had read in order, but this is a fantastic stand-alone novel.
Top reviews from other countries
- Amazon CustomerReviewed in Canada on January 14, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Like Lions
'Bit rough but loved the continuous action.
- Stephen mccrackenReviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2019
5.0 out of 5 stars 👍
Excellent, great follow on to bull mountain
- william smithReviewed in the United Kingdom on January 13, 2022
4.0 out of 5 stars good read
entertainment
- colleen e stuckeyReviewed in Canada on August 11, 2020
5.0 out of 5 stars Surpassing the excellence of Bull Mountain
What a fantastic writer! After devouring Bull Mountain I immediately bought this book. There’s always a fear that the sequel cannot live up to the first book but Like Lions was even better - I did not think that was possible! Complex, multifaceted characters whose choices are not predictable. The plot builds and builds, hurtling to a startling conclusion. Only at the very conclusion does the title make sense. A deep bow to Brian Panowich.
- Adam RicholdReviewed in the United Kingdom on October 22, 2018
4.0 out of 5 stars A great follow up to Bull Mountain
If you loved Bull Mountain then you will love this one too. A great follow up from a writer of sharp raw prose that keeps you hooked.