Wes Browne lives within the Kentucky River Basin in Madison County, Kentucky. He has practiced law as a criminal defense attorney, prosecutor, and public defender in Appalachia for over 24 years. He also helps run his family's pizza shops.
His novel They All Fall the Same was a Goodreads Biggest Thriller or Mystery of 2025 and one of Book Riot Read or Dead's Most Anticipated Books of 2025.
At CrimeReads Browne tagged five "books featuring not-so-good folks in prominent roles that may tickle your fancy." One title on the list:
Frank Guidry in November RoadRead about the other entries on the list.
Lou Berney lets you know right out of the chute that Guidry is a ruthless man. Guidry is a foot soldier for a New Orleans organized crime boss so powerful, he upends the United States government and the history books all over a personal grudge.
This is a spoiler for sure, but it happens in the first chapter, so I’m going to spill it. When we look in on Guidry, he is immediatelyforced to choose between getting sideways with his boss or giving up the life of his mentor. He barely hesitates to sell his mentor out, rationalizing that if he doesn’t do it, someone else will. If he feels any guilt about it, he shakes it off quickly enough to bed a redhead he just met.
Trouble is, his mentor was a loose end, and it’s not long before Guidry realizes he is one too. And he faces the same fate. He goes on the run with a particularly lethal killer close on his tail and soon concludes his single-man-on-the-road profile is a giveaway. Dual storylines come together when Guidry encounters a wayward housewife from Oklahoma and her young daughters. He hatches a plan to join them as a cover and proceeds to derail their trip long enough to charm his way into their party, knowing all the while that linking up risks the family’s lives. Before long Berney deftly pits Guidry’s survival instincts against his late-developing affection for his traveling companions and his urge to preserve his soul.
November Road is among Frank Sennett's five crime novels that deepen our appreciation of collective trauma and Dwyer Murphy's eleven top modern classics of conspiracy noir.
--Marshal Zeringue
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