The Far Empty

Written by J. Todd Scott

Narrated by T. Ryder Smith

In this gritty crime debut set in the stark Texas borderlands, an unearthed skeleton will throw a small town into violent turmoil. Seventeen-year-old Caleb Ross is adrift in the wake of the sudden disappearance of his mother more than a year ago, and is struggling to find his way out of the small Texas border town of Murfee. Chris Cherry is a newly minted sheriff's deputy, a high school football hero who has reluctantly returned to his hometown. When skeletal remains are discovered in the surrounding badlands, the two are inexorably drawn together as their efforts to uncover Murfee's darkest secrets lead them to the same terrifying suspect: Caleb's father and Chris's boss, the charismatic and feared Sheriff Standford "Judge" Ross. Dark, elegiac, and violent, The Far Empty is a modern Western, a story of loss and escape set along the sharp edge of the Texas border. Told by a longtime federal agent who knows the region, it's a debut novel you won't soon forget.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Jun 7, 2016
• ISBN: 9781501930362

J. Todd Scott

J. Todd Scott was born in rural Kentucky and attended college and law school in Virginia, where he set aside an early ambition to write to pursue a career as a federal agent. His assignments have taken him all over the United States and the world, but a gun and a badge never replaced his passion for stories and writing. His previous books include The Far Empty, High White Sun, and This Side of Night in the Chris Cherry / Big Bend Series, as well as the Appalachian crime novel Lost River. For more information, find Todd at www.jtoddscott.com.

Reviews for The Far Empty

[hcnewton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.--- At dawn, when the sun's up ove rthe mountains and it hits the far edges of twon at the right angle, the pink caliche on the bluffs burns crimson and everytign runs red. Murfee alwasy wakes up bloody. The dead are her secrets...The missing are her ghosts. I know who Deputy Cherry found out at Indian Bluffs, and so does my father. My mother...his missing wife.WHAT'S THE FAR EMPTY ABOUT?This is so hard to sum up in a few paragraphs. Murfee is a small town in Texas near the southern border—the area around Murfee is even less populated. There are farms, ranches, and a lot of uninhabited land—very close to the border—a great place for smugglers (of people and substances) to ply their trade.We open on one of the ranches that's used as a crossing point. The owner has discovered a body on the land and newish Deputy Chris Cherry goes to look at the scene. Any other deputy would do what the rancher wants and write this off as another dead Mexican*—but Chris wants to do it right. And as he's careful about his business, he notices something that compels him to dig in and really investigate the circumstances around the death—and the identity of the victim.* Actually, it'd be a slur, but let's keep this civil. I'm not sure I read many terms for minorities in this book that weren't racist slurs. Thankfully, the characters that are on the admirable side of things (not necessarily "good guys") don't use that kind of language.Actually, that's incorrect—we start with the Sheriff's seventeen-year-old son, Caleb, talking about the men that his father has killed (that Sheriff Ross—aka "Judge"—is willing to talk about in public, anyway), the women he married and the reasons they're no longer around. Up to a year ago when Caleb's mother left town—or so the official story is—Caleb says he knows his father killed her."The Judge" is the most powerful man in this part of Texas—he doesn't enforce the law, he is the law, in just about every sense of the word. He's what Walt Longmire and Quinn Colson could be with a lot more ambition—and an utter lack of morality. He sleeps with who he wants to, takes what he wants to—and, presumably, kills who he wants to. And the people who keep electing him love him, he's their hero. He's really one of the more despicable characters I've read this year.So we have Caleb trying to find out what happened to his mom, Chris trying to figure out how this corpse ended up buried on the ranch, Sherrif Ross up to all sorts of things—and a few other residents of Murfee up to things full of secrets and lies. Too many threads are interwoven to do a decent job of talking about them here—but it's safe to say that because of what Caleb and Chris are up to, there's a chance that this intricate web could start to fall apart.A chance.THE EXCEPTIONWe learn so much about every major character—their backstory, the secret lives they live, the lies they tell the world (and, in some cases, themselves)...with one exception—Melissa, Deputy Cherry's girlfriend.We get a hint about her past—just the barest of hints—and we know a lot about her life with Chris—before and after Murfee. But that's all. Just a hint? It drives me crazy that I could write a page or more on the backstory of every other major character, and I can't about her. She's largely a mystery.And the part that isn't being driven crazy about that loves it. She's shrouded in shadows, and someone in this town needs to stay that way.SERIES PREMIER VS. STAND-ALONEI knew this was the first novel in a series, but it never felt like it. I kept thinking that this was a stand-alone. It was only in the last twenty pages that I could see how it could continue.I have to wonder—did Scott's publisher say, "We like this and would like to buy it from you—but we're going to need this to be a series, add something to the end, okay?" Because those twenty pages don't need to be there—I'm glad they were, it was easier to move past the darkness that characterized the 426 pages before because of those last twenty.But I'm not sure it's a better novel because of them.SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE FAR EMPTY?This book deserves kudos for the atmospheric writing—you feel the emptiness of the geography. It also draws on the legends (and history) about Texas Lawmen and Criminals—placing these events squarely in that vein. It's hard to walk away from this book thinking that any part of Texas could possibly be different from Murfee.I spent a lot of the novel thinking "This is almost too noir, I need someone I can believe in, someone who seems to care about the law, morality, simple decency." I knew from the first chapter on that it was brilliantly written—Scott's voice, style, and ability shone throughout the novel.But, man...it was so bleak.Caleb and Chris, sure, did care about justice, what's right, and so on—but their efforts seemed so Quixotic that it was almost painful to watch these two and their futile quests.I don't know if the novel eased up on that eventually, if Scott's writing won me over, or if I eventually grew numb to it all. But at some point, I bought into it—I needed to know what was happening and started to care about many of these characters.When I get to the sequels, I might change my opinion of the book as a whole—but on the whole, it didn't work for me as much as I wanted it to. It wouldn't surprise me if by the end of book two, I'm a rabid fan of this series, but for the time being I'm unable to think of it as more than "pretty good."I do recommend The Far Empty, Scott's a guy to keep your eye on. Just don't go into this thinking it's a fun adventure.

[jldarden · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a noir western mystery thriller in modern times. West Texas is the setting, small town. I found all characters but maybe one fully fleshed out and the history and its current entanglement with present time well plotted. The narrator was excellent and well suited to the material. Recommended.

[alanteder · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Modern Texas NoirReview of the G.P. Putnam's Sons paperback edition (2018) of the original hardcover (2016)J. Todd Scott was one of the authors in the recent anthology Both Sides: Stories From the Border (2020) whose short story impressed me enough to start seeking out his other books. A short story isn't the same as a novel of course and the constant movement of the cartel spotter chasers in Waw Kiwuluk contrasts with the much slower paced character focussed noir-lit of The Far Empty.The villains are pretty much known from the get-go in the novel and the multiple POVs seem to drag this along more to establish background (it is the 1st book of a trilogy) and create atmosphere. The writing itself is excellent though, you just may start getting impatient while waiting for the inevitable resolution.Trivia and LinkI had never heard of Valentine, Texas (which is a nearby location to The Far Empty's fictional town of Murfee) before this book and my recently read Valentine (2020) by Elizabeth Wetmore. Now I've read about it in two books almost back to back. Wetmore's was also dark in parts and used a multiple POV (not my favourite style generally) but was more uplifting in the end.

[zmagic69 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I had. This book in the ever present ever growing to be read shelf, and finally go around to it. I am kind of sorry I did. This was one of those books you don’t want to end. Some reviewers have complained that it is too drawn out, but I wish it had lasted longer. What an amazing storyteller, and what a fantastic story this was. To think this is the author’s first book is beyond belief.The story takes place in a fictional town in West Texas, and involves crooked cops drug dealers, and lost, lonely displaced people trying to get by and do right.I know some books will be losing their place in the “what to read next” since I already bought the author’s new book.

[gaylebones · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I saw, smelled and felt the landscape of a state I have never visited. I heard the stories of multiple characters from multiple perspectives and believed every one of them. Some mysteries go unsolved, some good guys die, at least one bad guy doesn't. My heart aches for him as much as the others and I can't wait to meet each of them again...the living, the ghosts, and the mirages.

[texasbooklover · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MYSTERY / TEXASJ. Todd ScottThe Far EmptyG.P. Putnam’s SonsHardcover, 978-0-399-17634-0 (also available as an ebook, and on Audible), 448 pgs., $26.00June 7, 2016 “The Far Empty is a work of fiction, more or less.” Fictional Murfee, Texas, is the seat of fictional Big Bend County (“where there’s more blood in the ground than water”), situated on the very real border with Mexico, where desperation and ambition meet avarice, hubris, and drug-fueled insanity. Seventeen-year-old Caleb Ross desperately wants to escape no-account little Murfee, not least because he believes his father is responsible for his mother’s disappearance. Quiet and perceptive, Caleb feels guilty and cowardly because he hasn’t confronted his father, and he’s wound tight from living with a human rattlesnake. Caleb’s father is Sheriff Stanford “Judge” Ross, a hard, arrogant, murderous man who rules Big Bend County like a feudal estate. People in his orbit have a habit of disappearing and/or dying. Rookie deputy Chris Cherry is a former high school football star, reluctantly returned to Murfee after a devastating knee injury. When Chris discovers a body on a remote ranch, he and Caleb eventually join forces, and as the Sheriff’s secrets emerge, the whole Walking Tall scenario in Big Bend County begins to disintegrate. The Far Empty is the debut novel of J. Todd Scott, a veteran DEA agent who logged time on the southwest border and knows whereof he writes. The combination of virulent racism, the threat of violence a permanent condition simmering just under the surface (when it’s not breaking out in plain view), illegal immigration, cartel money, and corrupt law enforcement is familiar to Texans. The physical book is a joy: the interior is handsomely designed, and the gorgeously funky jacket features Dia-de-los-Muertos-style Mexican folk art. There’s no better setting for this brutal story. “It was the sharp curve where the Rockies met the northern Chihuahuan Desert, tough and beautiful and unforgiving,” Scott writes. “It was so bad, so rugged, so broken that it had been used to train astronauts for lunar walks.” Escape from Murfee seems to more often result in getting lost, not saved. Alternating points of view, Scott’s complicated plot incorporates numerous subplots and a large cast of characters, most of whose souls are emptier than the land they call home. Detailed backstories afford depth and motivation to the characters but are unnecessarily extensive. The Far Empty is a mystery, but it’s not a thriller; Scott skillfully conjures a spooky, pervasively ominous atmosphere, but too little action and too many pages between clues allows this atmosphere to dissipate. The suspense picks up toward an unexpected conclusion, delivering a series of satisfying twists and opening a myriad of possibilities for future stories. The Far Empty, a border noir, is a promising first effort. I’m reminded of James Lee Burke, not Robicheaux of New Iberia, but Holland of West Texas. Like Holland, Sheriff Ross is a throwback, out of his element in the modern world, but lacking Holland’s efforts toward goodness and sense of justice. Also as in JLB’s work, the setting is necessary to the story, functioning as a character in itself. While The Far Empty doesn’t rise to its full potential, Scott has plenty of talent and material, and I await his sophomore effort with anticipation. Better editing to tighten the focus would make all the difference. Scott could be great. Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life.

[samsattler · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

J. Todd Scott has worked as a DEA agent for over twenty years and has put that experience to good use in The Far Empty, his debut novel set in far West Texas. Murfee, Texas, may be fictional but it is obvious to anyone familiar with that part of the state that it would fit right in near the actual cities found there (Scott, in fact, notes in his Acknowledgements that the town is “stitched together” from places found in the West Texas counties of Presidio and Brewster). Murfee is one of those towns so typical to Texas, where high school football is king and high school football players who do well are remembered as town heroes for a long, long time. It’s a town in which, at the least, everyone pretty much knows everyone else by sight – and that’s not always a good thing. What makes Murfee different is that the evil people there are so darkly and cleverly evil that they are able to exploit everyone else in town easily through guile or through outright intimidation. And it’s been that way for way too long.Deputy Sheriff Chris Cherry is one of those high school heroes. Chris, in fact, was able to turn his great success on the high school football field into the chance to play college football. That opportunity, however, did not work out so well, and Chris is back in Murfee with a blown-out knee and a sheriff department job handed to him largely because of his high school glory. And, even worse, the man who hired Chris, Sheriff Stanford “Judge” Ross, is evil personified. Caleb Ross, the sheriff’s teen-aged son is convinced that his father has murdered at least three men. Perhaps even worse, Caleb thinks the sheriff may very well have killed each of the women he’s been married to – including his third wife, Caleb’s mother. Since his mother’s disappearance, the house Caleb and the sheriff live in has become kind of a war zone, a place in which both of them tolerate the other’s presence and speak only the minimum amount required to make it through a day. For good reason, Caleb both hates and fears his father.Things come to a head very suddenly when Chris Cherry finds the remains of a murder victim whose hands are bound behind his back with the very type of plastic handcuff favored by the Murfee sheriff department. Caleb needs an ally if he is to ever find out what happened to his mother, and he sees Chris as just the man he needs. Throw in the Feds who come snooping, and you have a whole lot of people putting pressure on Sheriff Ross, a man capable of doing anything to keep the truth about how he runs Murfee hidden – perhaps even to killing his own son if that’s what it takes. The Far Empty is genuine West Texas Noir: dark, gloomy, and not a lot of fun for any of the characters caught up in this story. All the fun is reserved for those of us who read it.

[vicki_weisfeld · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

It’s hard to believe this well-crafted crime thriller is a debut novel. The author’s experience as a DEA agent lends authority to his prose, and his meticulous rendering of the Big Bend country south and east of El Paso, Texas, and its fictional town, Murfee, takes you to that dusty back-of-beyond. Outlaw country. The two key voices in this multiple point-of-view novel are those of 17-year-old Caleb Ross, son of Big Bend County’s despotic sheriff, who’s called “the Judge,” and new deputy Chris Cherry, once a local high school football star. Caleb’s mother disappeared 13 months before the novel begins, and he’s convinced his father killed her, which colors their every interaction. Cherry lost any hope of a football career when he blew out a knee and still isn’t sure where his new future lies. Caleb and Cherry are lost souls, floating under the brilliant West Texas stars, staying out of the deadly orbit of the sheriff, and trying to find out what kind of men they will be. Scott does not give them an easy path, and you’ll hold your breath as they are repeatedly tested.These two narrators are joined by another deputy, Duane Dupree—a living, violence-addicted, coked-up example of why it’s best to steer clear of the Judge’s snares. You also hear from the Judge himself. One way or another, he knows everyone’s secrets. Not only are these male characters convincingly portrayed, but Scott does a good job with his women too. You get part of the story from the perspectives of Caleb’s friend America, his teacher Anne, and Cherry’s live-in girlfriend Melissa. Their problems are believable and compelling enough for the characters to take the actions they do. You have to root for Deputy Cherry, who has a bad habit of actually trying to investigate stuff. Early on, he responds to a call from a rancher who’s found a dessicated corpse and, while the Judge’s other deputies would gladly assume the deceased was “just another beaner” who died in the desert, Cherry isn’t sure. Because of the extent of the sheriff’s corruption as well as his confidence in his absolute authority, he reacts to Cherry’s probes like a horse responds to flies. They warrant a twitch, maybe, but no more. The chili really starts bubbling when a gunshot couple is found in a burning SUV, far from anything. Scott keeps his plot threads alive and moving at a clip. I never lost interest for a moment and even forgive a little deus ex Máximo at the end. (Not a typo. Trust me.)

[ronrose1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If Craig Johnson’s Sheriff Longmire ever gets down to Texas, he will find a compadre in Deputy Sheriff Cherry. This book follows the tradition of many western novels. There is an evil villain, in this case Sheriff Ross of Murfree, Tx, who rules the town with an iron fist and his own code of justice. Duane Dupree, the long standing, loyal deputy who carries out any and all of the sheriff’s orders, between battling his drug, or is it guilt induced, phantoms. Newly trained Deputy Chris Cherry. So new he still believes in the goodness of people and the law. Chris’ girlfriend Melissa, who moved back to Murfree, Chris’ hometown, after falling for him at university. Bored and increasingly alone, she is wondering more and more each day why she agreed to come to this dusty sinkhole of a town on the edge of Texas. It is so much like the ones she had been trying to put behind her since she was a young girl cleaning up after her drunken Daddy, moving from one loser town after another. Caleb Ross, the sheriff’s teenage son, always a shy boy, who has become more of a recluse since the unexplained disappearance of his mother. Was she the third or fourth wife of the sheriff to die unexpectedly or go missing? America, or Ame, as she is called by Caleb, is a beautiful girl of Mexican descent, a fact that causes the sheriff grief whenever he thinks of her and Caleb together. Anne, the temporary substitute teacher who has come from out of town. She couldn’t find work elsewhere in Texas since the incident at her last school involving a student. Her good looks have attracted the attention of both Sheriff Ross and Deputy Cherry. All these people are just tinder in the fireplace of Murfee. The town is on the cusp of the border of Texas and Mexico, directly in the path of the drugs flooding across the border. Is it with or without the approval of the local sheriff? The only thong good coming out of this mix is a rip snorting, no holds barred tale of the modern West. Book provided for review by Amazon Vine.