The Bayou Trilogy

Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do

By: Daniel Woodrell

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

In the parish of St. Bruno, sex is easy, corruption festers, and double-dealing is a way of life—and Rene Shade is an uncompromising detective swimming in a sea of filth in this hard-hitting, critically acclaimed trilogy of crime novels.

As Shade takes on hit men, porn kings, a gang of ex-cons, and the ghosts of his own checkered past, Woodrell's three seminal novels pit long-entrenched criminals against the hard line of the law, brother against brother, and two vastly different sons against a long-absent father.

The Bayou Trilogy highlights the origins of a one-of-a-kind author, a writer who for over two decades created an indelible representation of the shadows of the rural American experience and steadily built a devoted following among crime fiction aficionados and esteemed literary critics alike.

“What people say about Cormac McCarthy ... goes double for [Woodrell]. Possibly more.” —New York magazine

Critic reviews

"Woodrell writes drolly and pungently of rednecks and swamp rats with the affection and exasperation of a man who has spent his life among them ... The Bayou Trilogy stands with the best crime fiction of its period."—St. Louis Post-Dispatch

"Old fans and new readers alike out to be grateful....The novels showcase Woodrell's evolution as a writer....Woodrell's The Bayou Trilogy supplies all the pleasure of hard-boiled noir: laconic cynicism, casually colorful characters (a diner owner, for instance, is described as having 'slightly more than a basic issue of a nose') and a hero whose feet of clay make his dedication to law and order all the more admirable."—Chicago Tribune

"There's poetry in Woodrell's mayhem, each novel-and scene-full of gritty and memorable Cajun details."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Really cool . . . Jump on these three top-shelf books."—Library Journal

"The Bayou Trilogy is more than a landmark of crime fiction; it is an impressive and important addition to American letters. Bravo, Daniel Woodrell, and long live Rene Shade."—PulpSerenade.com

"What people say about Cormac McCarthy . . . goes double for [Woodrell]. Possibly more."—New York Magazine

A backcountry Shakespeare . . . The inhabitants of Daniel Woodrell's fiction often have a streak that's not just mean but savage; yet physical violence does not dominate his books. What does dominate is a seasoned fatalism . . . Woodrell has tapped into a novelist's honesty, and lucky for us, he's remorseless that way."—Los Angeles Times

"Daniel Woodrell writes in sentences that could be ancient carvings on a tree."—Chicago Tribune

"Woodrell is the least-known major writer in the country right now."—Dennis Lehane, USA Today

"Daniel Woodrell has quietly built a career that whould be the envy of most American novelists today."—Washington Times

"Poetic prose and raw dialogue . . . dark-hued suspense."—Washington Post Book World, on Under the Bright Lights

"A gritty, atmospheric slice of crime fiction . . . a superior piece of narrative noir."—Kirkus, on Under the Bright Lights

"Vitality pulses from this perfectly paced book . . . a flawless novel."—San Francisco Examiner, on Under the Bright Lights

"Sly and powerful."—John D. MacDonald, on Under the Bright Lights

"As steamy as the bayou country that is its setting."—The Washington Post Book World, on Under the Bright Lights

"Daniel Woodrell is stone brilliant--a Bayou Dutch Leonard, steeped in rich Louisiana language. Muscle for the Wing is vicious, colloquial, dark and--most surprisingly--brutally funny. To read it is to enter a superbly realized universe of surprises."—James Ellroy, author of LA Confidential and Blood's A Rover

loved it!!

great plot and character development. unbelievable sentences!! it is a bit gruesome because it's all about terrible people doing bad things. highly recommended

Never a dull moment

Bronson Pinchot read this so well. The "Foghorn Leghorn" accents were so good! The writing, the stories....amazing. It was absolutely fascinating for this law-abiding citizen to listen to stories about how the other, criminal, half lives. Relentless revenge. No honor among thieves.

The Worst Vipers in These Swamps Aren’t The Snakes

Let me try my hand at clairvoyance. If you read this book, and even better if you listen to Pinchot’s perfectly pitched performance, I predict you will be sorry, perhaps even depressed, when it ends. Daniel Woodrell is a master, and these three related novellas are his priceless pieces. The stories are violent, graphic, touching, full of flawed but compelling characters. Visit corrupt, racist, deadly, gritty St Bruno tucked along a South Louisiana bayou and swamp. You will sink deep into the mud and muck, poisonous snakes below and beautiful moss hanging over the exposed, twisted cypress knees. The most dangerous denizens are not the alligators and water moccasins, but the humans who love, hate, gamble, murder, defend and prey upon one another. You will savor the gumbo Woodrell has cooked up, and be left wishing for just one more helping.

Over acted

Prose is overly descriptive and lots of unnecessary background details. Stories are flat with no twist. Reader over does the accents .