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Voodoo and the Bayou
Once Upon a Time in the Big Easy follows a former hitman down to New Orleans as he tracks a kidnapped girl trapped in the underworld of human trafficking. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?
I wanted him to have a challenge of being a hero and not only saving a young woman but taking down a disgusting scoundrel.
Was there a reason why you chose this location as the backdrop for your story?
New Orleans is such a mysterious city, historically with voodoo and the bayou in its landscape. Made me think of intrigue for the readers.
Can you tell us more about what’s in store for Chubby Pone and the direction of the next book?
Consequences is the next adventure for Pone as he races against time to save his handler, who was poisoned by a bullet and is in a deep coma. He tries to find the culprit and a cure.
Author Links: GoodReads | Amazon
For a young girl kidnapped by her father. The task gives him more than he bargain for as Theiler Lebeau throws him into a world of gambling, contraband, prostitution, and incest. The Troubleshooter puts his life on the line again to help those who can’t help themselves.
Ending Theiler’s bayou fabulous life of disgust is top priority, along with rescuing a young girl and others, while crumbling an evil empire.
Autobiography: Winner of the International Writers Inspiring Change: Most Inspiring Author Award in 2017 for the horror/thriller “Things That Go Bump in the Night: Here There Be Monsters,” “Crabbe H. Appleton: At your service” with Mercury Slim short stories and song lyrics.
Once Upon A Time In The Big Easy: Down On The Bayou
Wilson Jackson’s Once Upon a Time in the Big Easy is a gritty and relentless tale that drags you straight into the underbelly of New Orleans. It’s a story of corruption, redemption, and raw survival, soaked in the sweat and danger of backroom deals and human cruelty. The novel opens with a shocking abduction and never takes its foot off the gas. Between the dark world of human trafficking and the desperate quest for justice led by the world-weary Pone, Jackson weaves a sprawling drama that blends crime noir with southern gothic flavor. The writing is unapologetically direct. The dialogue feels lived in, sometimes crude, often brutal, always real.
Reading it pulled me in two directions at once. On one hand, I admired the grit, the pulse of the city that beats through every scene, the way Jackson makes New Orleans feel like a living, breathing monster of beauty and rot. On the other hand, it’s not a comfortable read. The violence against women, the twisted family secrets, the corruption, it all feels too real at times, like you’re eavesdropping on sin. I found myself grimacing and nodding at the same time. The language is rough, but it works. The story feels like it’s been told by someone who’s been there, who knows these streets, who’s smelled the whiskey and gunpowder. It’s got that old-school crime energy, but with a heart that still believes people can be saved, even in a swamp of evil.
I didn’t expect to feel as much as I did. There were moments when I had to stop and breathe. Jackson has this way of slipping a sliver of hope into the filth, of giving you a reason to care when all you want to do is look away. The characters, even the minor ones, stick with you. Pone especially, hard, cynical, but still clinging to some moral code, is the kind of flawed hero I like.
I’d recommend this book to readers who like their stories dark and unfiltered. It’s perfect for fans of hardboiled crime fiction and southern thrillers that dig deep into human messiness. Once Upon a Time in the Big Easy feels like James Lee Burke’s The Neon Rain collided with Quentin Tarantino’s Pulp Fiction, gritty crime, southern heat, and characters who bleed, curse, and pray in the same breath.
Pages: 316 | ASIN : B0DZQ7TDD1
LITERARY TITAN 