3.5 stars!

I read this novel with my horror group at Shelfari. We previously read The Red Church together and enjoyed it, so we decided to read this story as well.

Sheriff Littlefield is the main character in this book, but I think the other characters stole the show from him. These characters include civil war re-enactors, a group of boys coming of age, some terrible alcoholic parents, farmers and many more. Most of them fascinating and multi-layered.

There is a hole in a field called the Jangling Hole. Why is that? All sorts of noises emanate from it and no one quite knows why. They do know that a band of misfits from the civil war died down there. But are they really dead? You will have to read this to find out.

I thought the setting, the details about the civil war and the characters in this book were fantastic. On the other hand, I also thought that the story got off to a bit of a slow start and it took a little while to get into. Despite that, it was still a good story, though perhaps just short of the great story The Red Church. ( )

Nicholson just gets better and better. I've been enjoying previous works of Scott's recently, but this is the best yet. His characters are well drawn and completely believable, and he pulls you into their stories and back stories with consumate ease. Nicholson is a masterful writer, at the top of his form. Miss him at your peril. ( )

ABR's full Drummer Boy audiobook review can be found at Audiobook Reviewer.

Dummer Boy is the second in a series following The Red Church. The setting is in Titusville – somewhere on the Appalachian Mountain Ridge. This area is deeply committed to its historic past of battles during the Civil War. Residents of this town are poor and stereo-typical back hills redneck types. The story centers around the civil war and it’s victims of long ago who still can be found near the Jangling Hole.

Several people have fallen victim to the Jangling Hole and it’s spirit inhabitants. The Hole is stirred up when the mountain is slated to be a huge housing development. The spirits manifest and visit several residents who have ties to the long dead men. Within these residents is a young boy – Vernon Ray Davis who does not belong in the world of his father (although he longs for it) and does not belong in the world of the Jangling Hole residents.

Vernon Ray Davis and his friends have multiple encounters with these spirits but ultimately, no one can save Vernon. He is faced with joining a world whose inhabitants have accepted him and given him what he has longed for – respect, and a coveted role of drummer boy or continue in the world where his father mocks and openly hates him. the jangling hole and it’s residents resonant with the rat-a-tat of the snare drum from the dead drummer boy who needs to be replaced.

Officer Littlefield who was predominant in the first book – The Red Church – is not as involved as he is always a day late and a dollar short.

The book had some harsh language but given the demographic it is written about, it only makes it more realistic. The plot and characters were well developed and believable.

The narrator, Milton Bagby did an excellent job of reading the book. He spoke clearly and concisely.

Audiobook provided for review by Scott Nicholson. ( )

I read about 10 books and forgot to post my comments so here's the review I copied from Amazon:

On a Blue Ridge Mountain peak, three boys hear the rattling of a snare drum deep inside a cave known as "The Jangling Hole," and the wind carries a whispered name. An old man at the foot of the mountain believes something inside the Hole has been disturbed by a developer's bulldozers. A local reporter is determined to solve the supernatural mysteries that have been shared for generations. Sheriff Frank Littlefield, haunted by past failures, must stand against a public enemy that has no fear of bullets, bars, or justice. On the eve of a Civil War re-enactment, the town of Titusville prepares for a staged battle, but the weekend warriors aren't aware they will soon be fighting an elusive army. A troop of Civil War deserters, trapped in the Hole by a long-ago avalanche, is rising from a dark slumber, and the war is far from over. And one misfit kid is all that stands between a town and the cold mouth of hell ( )

A Rich, Funny Story with Believable Southerners, Dealing with Civil War Ghosts
______

DRUMMER BOY is set in the North Carolina mountains. Its cast includes contemporary teenage boys, their dysfunctional families (mainly fathers obsessed with reenacting the civil war), and an old couple with deep roots in the mountains. All of them try to live their lives around the civil war ghosts haunting their town.

Scott Nicholson does many things brilliantly well, IMO. He engages the senses religiously, immersing you in his tale. His characters, mostly male, are believable with all of their neuroses and sexual oddities, enough so that I laughed out loud dozens of times. His writing is often poetic and remarkable, even while describing simple things. His setting is believable, whether it's about the trailer park where the boys live, or the Appalachian mountains. And there is a theme and message here, which I greatly prefer in a novel; the author is telling a story first and foremost, but he's also saying something in the end.

When I give a book four stars, it means I loved it, but I thought there were some areas where it could've been even better. I thought the beginning of the book was excellent; it built a great deal of mystery around believable characters in situations that made me laugh. I thought the middle dragged a bit, but Nicholson's excellent writing still carried it; once the basic mystery of the story was known, it felt like I was waiting too much for the climax through the middle section.

I thought the end was mixed in that it was great in some respects, but flawed in others; it was exciting and really made me turn the pages, but I found the grand finale less believable than all the rest of his tale, and the final wrap-up felt too short. The mixed ending keeps it from being a five-star book for me. For example, I would've liked to have seen the tension between the fathers brought to more of a conclusion, and perhaps something more impacting regarding the female photographer. However, the major characters, the boys Vernon Ray and Bobby, were dealt a powerful resolution.

I have no significant interest in the Civil War per se, but I really enjoyed the Civil War ghost angle in the story, and I thought the historical info centering around Kirk's Raiders was handled particularly well, since it was based on historical events without ever feeling pedantic.

I've heard from multiple sources that Scott's book, The Red Church, is also very good. I'm looking forward to reading that one next. I know that it's set in the same area, and has one of the same characters, Sheriff Littlefield.

I think DRUMMER BOY gives us a southern ghost story to savor and laugh with, and an author whose rich and creative prose is its own reward. ( )