The Ranger

Hmm a fast paced book based in a small town full of corruption? Of course I'd give it a read.

Description:  Northeast Mississippi, hill country, rugged and notorious for outlaws since the Civil War, where killings are as commonplace as in the Old West. To Quinn Colson, it's home -- but not the home he left when he went to Afghanistan.

Now an Army Ranger, he returns to a place overrun by corruption, and finds his uncle, the county sheriff, dead -- a suicide, he's told, but others whisper murder. In the days that follow, it will be up to Colson to discover the truth, not only about his uncle, but about his family, his friends, his town, and not least about himself. And once the truth is discovered, there is no turning back.

You can tell this is written by a man.  The language and writing style totally give it away.  Not that it's a bad thing, but there are just some things that can only come from a man's brain. 

Quinn Colson's welcome back party to his hometown begins when he picks up a pregnant teenager miles away from anywhere.  He's definitely got the qualities of a good man but he's a man of little words and really does not show any softness.  He obviously cares about his family and cared enough to help out the girl but his Ranger training shows and he does not show weakness.  Even a possible attraction to a woman from his past doesn't show a clink in his armor.  He may like her, he may not.  You might not find out until the end if at all. ;)

What Quinn finds in his old hometown is a bunch of boarded up buildings and a nasty meth habit and a scummy old meddler trying to steal his family's land.  (What is it about someone always trying to steal someones land??)  The pregnant teenager keeps popping up and acting dumber than a box of rocks and keeps getting into worse situations! He totally goes all Army Ranger on the town along with his friend Boom who of course can handle recon and shooting at a bunch of meth heads with a missing arm that he lost in action.

Basically, if you like a quick fast paced thriller, pick this one up.  It's the first in a series so if you get hooked, there will be more!  I read it in a day. 

Can you normally tell if a book is written by a man or a woman? Are some ambiguous or can you usually always tell? Does it bother you?