The Boys Who Woke Up Early by A.D. Hopkins
Published by IMBRIFEX BOOKS on March 3, 2019
Genres: Action & Adventure, Small Town & Rural
Pages: 256
Format: ARC, Paperback
Goodreads
Playing cops was just a game until the bullets were real.
The gravy train hasn’t stopped in the hollers of western Virginia for more than thirty years when Stony Shelor starts his junior year at Jubal Early High. Class divides and racism are still the hardened norms as the Eisenhower years draw to a close. Violence lies coiled under the calm surface, ready to strike at any time.
On the high school front, the cool boys are taking their wardrobe and music cues from hip TV private dick Peter Gunn, and Dobie Gillis is teaching them how to hit on pretty girls. There’s no help for Stony on the horizon, though. Mary Lou Martin is the girl of his dreams, and she hardly knows Stony exists. In addition, Stony can’t seem to stay out of juvenile court and just may end up in reform school. A long, difficult year stretches out in front of him when a new boy arrives in town.Likeable bullshit artist Jack Newcomb dresses like Peter Gunn, uses moves like Dobie Gillis, and plays pretty good jazz clarinet.
Jack draws Stony into his fantasy of being a private detective, and the two boys start hanging around the county sheriff’s office. Accepted as sources of amusement and free labor, the aspiring gumshoes land their first case after the district attorney’s house is burglarized. Later, the boys hatch an ingenious scheme to help the deputies raid an illegal speakeasy and brothel. All the intrigue feels like fun and games to Jack and Stony until a gunfight with a hillbilly boy almost gets them killed. The stakes rise even higher when the boys find themselves facing off against the Ku Klux Klan.
Today’s book, The Boys Who Woke Up Early by A.D. Hopkins, is definitely one of those books outside the norm of what I usually read. My mother’s side of the family grew up in the South so the email I received providing the synopsis drew me to accept the offer to review the book.
The Boys Who Woke Up Early was a great coming of age story of growing up in the hills of western Virginia during a very hard time to grow up in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. I felt that while the book definitely had some rougher language such as racial slurs and cursing, it was true of the period. While the story is about teenagers in 1959 and the early 1960s the author strives to present a sense of realism and provides readers with some view that in today’s world are definitely “cringe-worthy” but again, consistent with the times.
Thomas Jackson “Stony” Shelor is nearly 17 and just started his junior year of high school at Jubal Early High. There’s a new kid – Jack Newcomb – who is kind of a “beatnik” type of character. While the boys are both slightly non-conformist, they become great friends. Jack has decided that they should become private detectives so they begin to spend a lot of time hanging out around the local police station learning the trade.
They help the local police with a case when the local district attorney, Rich Conway’s house is burglarized. The deputies figure that they can have the boys work the case so they can save the manpower and deputy time that they cannot afford to spend. Without writing a spoiler or giving the story away, The Boys Who Woke Up Early shares a story of times when racial tensions were rising and the Ku Klux Klan were hidden right in the family. These two boys, while playing grown up men with the police, must learn the difference between right and wrong.
The characters are well developed and learn from both their mistakes and where they want to go as this story moves forward. The pacing is a little slow for my liking, but was appropriate for times and not dragging. There are a lot more characters than just Stony and Jack, and all are neatly tied into the story in an understandable way. I felt that the book actually read a bit like a memoir personally, which added to the factual content of the story.
A.D. Hopkins worked 46 years full-time for newspapers in Virginia, North Carolina, and Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was named to the Nevada Press Association’s Newspaper Hall of Fame. He was best known as an investigative reporter and editor but spent several years as a roving writer, criss-crossing Nevada to write about its colorful small towns and back country and their outstandingly individualistic residents.
He edited three magazines: one on the casino business, one largely about Nevada history, personalities, and social trends, and the most recent emphasizing the spectacular outdoor attractions of the region. He has edited about 20 books, most on history or outdoor subjects. In 1999 he and the late K.J. Evans co-edited “The First 100: Portraits of the Men and Women Who Shaped Las Vegas,” which tells the history of the town by profiling 100 people who somehow changed its direction. His novel, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early” is scheduled for publication in early 2019 by Imbrifex Books.
Hopkins formerly taught fencing and served as Scoutmaster for an inner-city Boy Scout Troop. He restored and frequently drives a 1972 Ford Bronco, which was easier than the other two hobbies. You can connect with Mr. Hopkins on Facebook or LinkedIn.
I was provided with a complimentary paperback copy of this book from Smith Publicity in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Smith Publicity!
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