Vengeance Is Mine

A Red River Mystery, Book 4

By: Reavis Z. Wortham

Narrated by: Traber Burns

Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

In October of 1967, the Summer of Love is history, rock and roll is dark and revolutionary, and people in the small east Texas community of Center Springs simply want to live their lives as quietly as possible. But a handsome darkness in the form of Las Vegas gangster Anthony Agrioli has left the business to hide out in their tiny backwater settlement with his blond bombshell girlfriend.

Two years earlier, Agrioli met newlyweds Cody and Norma Faye Parker in a Vegas casino and heard their enthusiastic descriptions of the perfect place to settle down and raise a family. At least it was perfect, before their peaceful world found itself in the crosshairs of a coming confrontation.

Back in Center Springs, thirteen-year-old Top Parker has what his grandmother, Miss Becky, calls a poisoned gift: His dreams, though random and disconnected, always seem to come true. This time Top dreams he's a wagon hub with spokes converging from all directions. To him, the spokes symbolize that something is coming. He doesn't know their quiet community will soon be a combat zone when the gangsters arrive. But they're after something else, not Agrioli…yet.

A sheriff crooked as a dog's hind leg, an unsolved murder in the river bottoms, counterfeit money, and a bank robbery all wrapped in a country Shakespearean comedy once again bring together Constables Ned and Cody Parker, Deputy John Washington, Judge O. C. Rains, and the rest of Wortham's real and sometimes wacky cast of characters.

©2014 Reavis Z. Wortham (P)2014 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Super go book

Really a good book. so far I have liked all the books by this author.

Peace, Love and Murder 1967 Texas

With the backdrop of the Summer of Love of 1967 and a teenaged Pepper thinking she wants to move to California, where she will escape the blood and guts of little Center Springs, Texas 🤣, this fourth in the series is a winner. With cousins, Pepper and Top still a duo to contend with, older but not much wiser, a hit man and his girlfriend, Anthony Agrioli and Samantha Best have moved to the small town, adding a lot more danger to all their lives. Wanting to leave the gangster life and Vegas behind forever, the two try to settle down into Center Springs. But instead of a calmer life, they bring the heat to themselves and the small circle of friends that they are beginning to meet. Constables Cody and Ned, and Deputy John are in for a fight, and once again a crooked sheriff seems to thwart them at every turn. I love that we get a little glimpse of a new piece to the puzzle as each book comes to a close. Excellent installment in the series!

Back in the day

I love the setting of these stories. Being a resident in Lamar county, I easily visualize the story. Takes me back to my childhood of party lines, lighting cigarettes with the car’s cigarette lighter, a very different way of life. Good to see real characters, the Christian Grandma, good and corrupt police, telling it like it is.

Red River Mysteries can't be beat. Pure enjoyment.

I am hooked on this series. The characters are so well developed, and feel like family. I have never been so invested in a storyline before, and hate to see each story end. I've laughed and cried, and traveled back to simpler times through this series. The narration couldn't be more perfect. Thanks to Reavis Z. Wortham and Traber Burns for bringing these stories to life!

EXCELLENT BOOK, AS USUAL

Yet another thrilling book in the Red River Mysteries! Reavis keeps cranking out winner after winner. His books draw you into the story and you really feel like you are living the situations.

i love this whole series!

i can't wait to hear the next story_book...i love the nostalgia and adventure combined !

Reavis does it again

Reavis is a great story teller and Traber Burns really brings them to life. A top shelf combination.

Mystery and adventure in 1960's Texas

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, sayeth The Lord." (Romans 12:19). In 1967, in the small town of Center Springs, Texas, events are going to take place that will put this promise to the ultimate test. Tony Agrioli and his girlfriend, have just moved into town after having met Center Springs' Constable Cody Parker and his new wife while they were on their honeymoon in Las Vegas. Tony wants to live a simple peaceful life, but we don't always get what we wish for when our past follows us.

Usually a rather peaceful town, where everybody knows everybody else's business, Constables Cody and Ned Parker find themselves up against a crooked and racist Sheriff who is steeped in evil. There's been a murder and a robbery, but the Sheriff seems to have his own agenda. The Parker teens, Top and his cousin, Pepper's curiosity gets them into the center of trouble yet again, as a number of strangers come into town bringing intrigue and tragedy with them.

Once again, Wortham has created a tale of old fashion humor and violence, steeped with references to past times that thrills the senses. There's murder, bank robberies, mobsters, counterfeit money, and deadly secrets that move this story like a huge roller coaster ride. This book can be enjoyed by itself, but I definitely recommend first being introduced to the tall tales from the first three books in this series. Cops and robbers with quirky characters, a bit of foreboding dreams, and real heroes raise the story above the average mystery.

Back on track

This story opens in Vegas with a mob hit man and his boss. I wasn't sure I was going to like this book. I hadn't been too crazy about the last book in the series and I thought this might be it for me. I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did.

A hitman decides to leave the business and heads out toward a little town a couple of newlyweds he ran into at the casino one night had been talking about. Along the way he picks up a gorgeous blonde, who just happens to be his new ex-bosses' daughter, and a safe full of cash that should stake him anywhere.

Wouldn't you know, Constable Cody Parker isn't the only man in Center Springs that he knows.

What I love about these books is the nostalgia. Set in the 60's in rural Oklahoma I'm reminded of a lot of the little things that happened when I was growing up. How things used to be, at least in my memory. It's a different world, one we've passed by. These books are kind of a "thanks for the memories" and this one hit right on the head again.

You have to suspend belief a bit for the plot set up. The chances of these people all landing together the way they do is right there with playing the lottery, but it makes for a good story that's all about the characters anyway. The story ended the way it should, although I would have liked to see it end just a tad different for a bit more of a HEA. These books aren't about happy endings though.

As always, the narrator is spot on.

Loving the 60's!

Great stories from small town Texas just like where I grew up! Very entertaining and fun!