Really good! I love the setting of the story: a hippie commune in Louisiana!

The best Ash book yet, which is saying a lot. Well-paced, great/unique setting and featuring some memorable characters. Hart builds on the strong NEW YORKED and CITY OF ROSE to craft a must-read third installment that goes to another level. Really enjoyed this one.

Oh mans. I get so little reading time anymore that even if a book is good, it takes me forever to get through it. But somehow, every time I get my hands on one of Hart’s books, I tear through it in am impressively short time.South Village was no exception. I finished it in record time, just as I had with its two predecessors, New Yorked and City of Rose.It’s incredible to me that every time we run into Ash McKenna, he is both the same guy we know and love, and an entirely different person. Now p...

With Rob Hart's third Ash McKenna novel, SOUTH VILLAGE continues to deal with the repercussions of Ash's questionable life decisions. Ash is dealing with the mental effects of the violence he has dealt to others, as well as the physical effects of his addictions. As dark as these topics are, SOUTH VILLAGE is leavened with themes of hope and healing. A must read for readers that can appreciate their protagonists who grow and change from book to book.

Rob Hart has done it again! With South Village, Hart has gone deep, really developing the character of Ash McKenna. From New Yorked to City of Rose to now South Village, Ash has shined as a complex, complicated and multi-faceted character and Hart has delivered as an author who embraces strange locales and even stranger stories. South Village has a new freshness, while still maintaining the edgy style we've come to expect and enjoy in the Ash McKenna series.

"How can the same shit happen to the same guy twice?"A brief (and somewhat paraphrased in the text) Die Hard reference made by Rob Hart's quasi-PI protagonist Ash McKenna in his third series installment South Village, this quip's same-story-different-setting implication in fact couldn't be any more antithetical to the actual reading experience of these books. Whereas the Die Hard franchise flattened sequel-by-sequel into one-dimensional self-parody, Hart manages even after three outings to keep

The correct term her would be "lukewarm." I was somewhat looking forward to SOUTH VILLAGE because the premise looked so intriguing and different from the previous novels in the series NEW YORKED and CITY OF ROSE. Aaaaand it just didn't do it for me. There is a lot to like about the latest Ash McKenna novel. The suspended reality setting of a hippie commune lost in Georgia is original and quite fitting with Ash's character arc. The mystery is also clever and while it takes its sweet time to deliv...

This third installment of the Ash McKenna series took me a bit longer to get into than the first two. NEW YORKED and CITY OF ROSE really opened with a bang and didn’t let up. In SOUTH VILLAGE, we find Ash living at a Georgia hippie commune working as a chef alongside Aesop. The hippie commune setting wasn’t as appealing to me as say, a vegan strip club in Portland. I was concerned there would be too many stereotypical peace-loving characters who rub cynical Ash the wrong way and it would get old...

A great entry in the Ash McKenna series. Hart is at the top of his game in this novel, weaving together vivid characters with unusual settings and a churning mystery. He handles Ash's development beautifully, showing how a broken person with no small amount of self-loathing can finally begin pulling himself out of the emotional holes he's dug. It's great to see, because over the last few books, Ash has become something like a real person, someone you actually know. And he's a smartass with littl...

3.5

I was about to confess to being new to Rob Hart until realizing this is the fourth one of his that I've read. haha. Well, there you go. The guy is good. This is my third trip into the lands of Ashley McKenna, and while I plan to continue my way yonder in the modern day Boy Named Sue's adventures, South Village for the first time posed me a question that I didn't expect. Do I want to continue? Let me just say that especially if you're new to Rob Hart, if you're under 50, if you're not a disgruntl...

This series keeps getting better. Admittedly, the book gets off to a slow start with some awkward prose, but it takes off soon enough. I'm impressed with Hart's ability to completely change the venue in each installment, but Ash McKenna is still a believable character.On the surface, this is another stereotypical private investigator series (except, of course, that Ash is not really one). So, yeah, he's a curmudgeon who drinks too much, has a chip on his shoulder and has a hair trigger. The diff...

Another great story!Ash is back again, this time in the middle of the woods as part of a commune run by his buddy Tibo. Hippies, eco-terrorists, and the FBI all contribute to making this intended getaway another exorcise in frustration for Ash as he tries to unravel another mess he inadvertently finds himself in. I was afraid that the change in locale from New York to the South would change the dynamic but it surprisingly works very well. Just goes to show you what a great character Ash is no ma...

The Ash McKenna series keeps getting better. This was my favorite so far, in part because Ash wasn't creeping on any women this time around. I liked the setting - always fascinated by people living on communes. Aesop especially was a good character, and I was glad he finally got through to Ash. I could have done with a lot less Chell/Dad/Wilson guilt. I get it, he feels bad. I didn't need it on every other page. But other than that, another good story! I'll keep going...

"Sometimes I wonder if people can see it, just by looking at me. Like those stereogram images—the psychedelic prints where if you stare at them long enough you see a bird or a peace sign floating in 3D. But when you look at me, instead of a bird or a peace sign, you see a dark gash across my soul. Something that oozes hatred and regret."Ash McKenna is on the move again, this time to an off-the-grid vacation destination in Georgia, where he attempts to drown his memories of the events of CITY OF

Good entertainment. This series benefits a lot from the varied settings in which Rob Hart places his central figure, Ash McKenna. The backdrop here -- a hippie commune in rural Georgia -- is very effective. The atmosphere and the residents are neatly etched. You really feel, physically, like you're there. I also enjoyed the basic plot and the puzzle elements that went along with it. Then, at the core you have Ash and all his foibles. He can be an incredible jerk, but he knows it, and fundamental...

Book 3 in the continuing adventures of Ash McKenna

South Village is the third book in Rob Hart's fun and entertaining Ash McKenna series, and in my mind, it's the most interesting one yet. Forgoing his past tendency toward ultra-violence but keeping his ear for sharp and focused dialog, Hart takes us on a (this is at the risk of sounding pretentious, so sorry!) far more cerebral journey than in New Yorked and City of Rose.For Ash McKenna has now killed a man...and that fact is threatening to kill him. Leaving two worlds behind now (the slashed/b...

Fast read. Lots of action.

The latest in the Ash McKenna series finds Ash in the last place you'd expect - a hippie commune. What I really love about the series is how Ash grows and develops, and actually sees consequences of the previous books in his new setting. Hart really nailed the hard realities of addiction and answering to oneself for violence left in one's path. Ash is more real than he's ever been on the page - and he was a wonderfully rendered character in New Yorked and City of Rose. It was great to explore a