In the Valley of the Devil

Written by Hank Early

Narrated by Craig Jessen

Private investigator Earl Marcus thought he’d conquered his demons after vanquishing the malevolent spirit of his fundamentalist preacher father—but now, he must face something much more terrifying than the devil he knew.

Earl Marcus found new hope after confronting the unspeakable evil unleashed by his father’s fundamentalist Church of the Holy Flame. Now plying his trade as a private investigator in the North Georgia mountains, he’s drawn once again into a dark abyss of depravity, and murder.

Tasked with what seems like a routine job, Earl stumbles into a mysterious cornfield where an old mountain legend appears to have awakened. Just as he begins to hear rumors of a place in the woods behind a dark cornfield where a killer collects human skulls, his partner Mary Hawkins vanishes.

As the litany of terror grows, the poisoned spirits of Earl’s past return to claim their final victims. And on an old train trestle over a swift-running river at the edge of a cornfield Earl will confront his worst fears. Time is running out for Mary—and unless Earl can wrest her from the control of a secretive cabal comprised of some of the area’s most elite—and wealthiest—citizens, she could be lost to him forever in In the Valley of the Devil, the second harrowing installment of the Earl Marcus mysteries by Hank Early.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Everand Productions
• Release date: Feb 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781094438870

Hank Early

Hank Early is a middle school teacher and writer located in Central Alabama. He enjoys good beer, strong coffee, and wild storms. He’s married and has two kids who are constantly giving him ideas for his next novel. This is his first Earl Marcus mystery.

Reviews for In the Valley of the Devil

[todd paulsmeyer · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story was fun to listen to. Great plot. Kept me guessing. I enjoyed the pace. I appreciate the outlook the author has on good and evil. The narration was fabulous. While what the main character lived through was pretty amazing, it was fun

[cindycannon30 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 is as good as book 1. Keep up the fabulous stories. And your publisher(?)Is right and you have listened “keep it moving”! Your books keep moving and I love it!

[jhuehner · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is the second installment of Hank Early’s series. The first one was so good and this one even better! The story is masterful and the narrator makes the pages come to life. First rate all around.

[shmuel · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Please heed this warning. Nothing makes sense, nothing is explained. Don't read- you will be disappointed.
Inane rubbish. A conspiracy so impossible as to be funny. A hero who makes the most moronic choices. Love that is clichéd to the point of caricature. This is nothing like the first book in the series. Same tone and world but no inspiration. A poor imitation. A shame, really.

[Malina Gulbransen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It was masterfully written and exciting throughout! Everything I wanted! It's been many months since I found such an engaging storyteller. I average a book a day and am so grateful to have found a new author to add to the greats list! Would read again as well as anything else by Hank Early! Well done!

[Colleen Marchand · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved it, gives you a perspective that everyone should hear about

[Joyce Harout · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Amazing book. I thought the first one was good but this one was equally as good. The narrator makes the story even better.

[brendasteele47 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Suspenseful. Perk and Ronnie’s relationship reminds me of my childhood friend. I must admit I was looking for more involvement from the Atlanta office to help find Mary much more involvement and also I wanted to hear Mary story about what happened to her during those eight days in that hole. I wanted to see what she felt how she thought but it was a great book. I love the Arthur. I love everything about it. I am looking forward to number three book 3 in this series.

[Karen Chandler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the many events and twists this book presented. I was glad It ended the way it did.

[Amber Johnson · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like the first book in the series, the subject matter is difficult but the author handles it deftly and gracefully, with literary prose and human empathy. I enjoy this narrator and could listen to him read me an appliance manual. A good, thoughtful listen.

[CDA · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Good, entertaining story not cluttered with excessive twist ps and turns
Great writing

[Jimmie Cocherell · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed both books of the Earl Marcus series. I definitely hope there is a 3rd book in the making.

[Robert Mann · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent in my opinion, I love listening to books! The book was captivating to the end. The reader has an important role to play, the reason I listened to it's entirety. Hope you enjoy it as I did..

[Madeline Spalding · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book. I think I could love anything read by this narrator with his deep, soothing voice but the story was also very good. I never got bored listening to this well written tale. sometimes I was afraid to hear what was going to happen next, but in a good way. It is a mystery filled with suspense, plenty of action and some horror.

[Cindy Naughton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really well written. I thought it was going to be a little drawn out for me after I saw that it was 10 hours but boy did it. Keep my attention. Love the narrator the characters were fantastic the storyline will a little dark, was really good with some good twists and turns.if you like thrillers, you’ll like this one.

[Nina Quartuccio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The best ever. You can not put it down. I listened to the first book also excellent. The narrator is INCREDIBLE. Loved this series can not wait for 3rd book. Not horror but a strong thriller and what a thriller.

[Lisa Moriah Chenthitta · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great Followup. I love Southern Gothic and this series!!! Highly recommend.

[B.A. Sandy Sanford · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Love the book, the storyline, the character depth. The “whisper” style narration is not my cup of tea but the story interesting enough, I got past it.

[James Hill · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I grew up with a guy like Ronnie and when Earl and him were together it brought back all the anxiety I used to feel when he was getting read to do some hillbilly shitstuff! Great story

[Dan Cislo · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Pretty good. Too much of a giveaway in the very beginning though, didn’t really spoil anything though.

[Mollie B Wright · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved both books native alabamaian hope there are more Earl's books can't wait

[RichardKevinWilson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a complete and TOTAL surprise this book was!! When I had seen 'A Mystery' on the cover....I thought; 'Well i don't usually read a mystery, I am more Horror' but it sounded so creepy that I started to listen to it. Once the narrator started to tell the story of private investigator Earl Marcus being raised around the evil and wrong doings of his fathers fundamentalist church in the Georgia Mtns. I was HOOKED!! Years later Earl Marcus is back in this creepy assed town and comes upon a very scary corn field where rumors of a Dark Soul who murders and collects skulls for a pasttime, makes him stop. And this is when and where Earl's partner/girlfriend (who just happens to be black...) suddenly disappears in the cornfield!!

With this being the second part and book to "Heavens Crooked Finger" you KNOW i will be looking up this one next to listen to!
Highly recommended, I LOVED this book and the writing.

5 ?????

[tricia · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really loved his first book. It was so poetic and haunting.
This one must have been done on a deadline. :-(
Narration was done well.

[Dee Dee Shaw · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

One of the best audiobooks I’ve listened to in awhile. Definitely kept me on the edge of my seat so to speak. I highly recommend this one.

[Brandon Stoddard · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

It would sure be nice to hear the end of this book point this fucking streaming service is garbage so I can’t go back and hear the last half hour

[Janean · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Stunning !!! I have never read a book like this and I have read a lot of books and the narrator is fantastic. I got everything I like to get out of a book. I couldn’t wait to get back to it and I wonder what’s gonna happen next.

[Sherri Chandler · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

You never had to wait for something to happen. Whether alliances were being built or the next piece of the puzzle was revealed, I couldn’t wait to see how it all fit together. I will look for other books by the author AND the narrator.

[Corliss Price · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The narration was the best and fit the tone of book. I was able to visualize everything as if I were there! Excellent!!!

[Bill Hair · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

3.5 Stars for me!

This is a really tough book for me to review as I liked the story but the author illustrates how miserable it is to be ultra liberal (about as bad as being ultra conservative).

RANT
If you live in a mostly white area, you are probably racist. If you use the term girl for a female over 18,you are a misogynistic person. If you are Christian, you are probably evil. There was a lot of stereotyping of people who are wealthy, Southern and religious. A good exercise for an author or anyone is to change the race of a person or group that you are disparaging and ask yourself if it would come across as racist or bigoted.
END OF RANT

The story itself was good and not everything works out the way it should which gives it more depth. I liked the h and the H's allies much better than the H himself. He comes from a horrific background with a snake preacher dad that was evil. Unfortunately there are horrible people and many hide in disguise as 'religious leaders'. There are also areas of our country that are still incredibly racist and they need to be flushed out in the light of day.

Is it worth the listen/read... Yes.
I will check out another of his stories and hope that it is not as politically driven as many readers are looking for a few hours away from reality. Just my two cents.

[Michelle Long · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellent on every level and as a whole. I devoured book 1 and this book which is book 2. Waiting patiently for what will come next!