Congenial, unassuming, Adam Thompson's job is to scour the countryside to identify weeds that must be destroyed. Around his hometown, he is well-received. When he ventures into a remote corner of the county, he meets the Hudson brothers and learns routine friendliness is not always the way of things. He becomes an unwitting focal point in the county's crime of the decade.
The story winds its way through a small town in Nebraska to Mount Rushmore to Rodeo Week in Stampede, Montana, and back again. It's a raucous, unpredictable journey, which underscores the importance of change, the influence of family, and the risk of squandered human potential.
A scarred eyebrow becomes an ever-present reminder of Adam's run-in with Rufus Hudson and his brothers. His granddaughter runs her fingers over his dented eyebrow and asks if the scar will that ever go away. "No," he answers. "It's just a part of who I am. A very important part, I think."
Tim Brown learned the value of words as an advertising copywriter and creative director. He holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism and a master’s degree in mass communications. Between degrees he served as an Army journalist. This is his third published work of fiction, and the second featuring the Adam Thompson family of Spring Valley, Nebraska, a family whose intrinsic goodness provides a contrasting backdrop for the nastiness of the Hudson brothers.
“If ever there was a human weed, its non-Latin name was Rufus Hudson. And whacking noxious weeds was what Adam Thompson was all about. The two should never have met, but they did, and the ensuing crime and spattered blood keep you reading. Tim Brown’s story-telling skill keeps you smiling, while it reminds us of the sluggish necessity of change.”
—Marshall Overstedt, advertising copywriter, Overland Park, Kansas
“Innocence meets maliciousness as the tale begins. Adam Thompson, just doing his job, stumbles headlong into the mean-spirited nastiness of the Hudson brothers—nastiness which balloons into a more serious crime. Two very different men and two very different families must respond to the criminal foolishness. It’s a story impossible to second guess and is very well-told.”
—Heather Henstock, writer and digital content editor, Windsor, Colorado