How many heartaches does it take to touch a rainbow? Shameless takes the long route in answering that question. Brady and Kat are everything. Martin sends emotions soaring to the stars with tumultuous romance, courageous love and heartrending, heartbreak. Buried within the ashes of smoldering pain is a journey of hope. A message of healing that rings louder than the teardrops struggling to break free. Love strums a haunting melody and Shameless plays it to the hilt.

This just feels like too much of a novel to do an adequate job with. It's been a week and a half (at the time of writing), and I'm still thinking about this book and everything Atkins did in it. I'm honestly not up to the task of doing it right. But I'll give it a shot, with the up-front caveat that I'm missing a lot. You just need to read this.

Twenty years ago, when Quinn was in High School, a student a couple of years older than him went missing in the woods while hunting—and everyone came out in droves to look for him. For weeks the town, the media, and the Sheriff's Department (under Quinn's uncle) devoted every waking hour to finding him. They eventually found his body near his rifle and ruled it a suicide. But no one was satisfied with that finding. Now, two New York journalists have arrived to re-open the case, look at things from a new perspective, and hopefully come up with enough material (and, better, a satisfying conclusion) for the next season of their podcast about missing people.

Quinn's new wife, Maggie, had been the boy's girlfriend and initially helps the podcasters out a lot. The boy's family isn't united about this new search for answers, but most people are willing to help (while being suspicious of the two). A lot of old secrets, old prejudices, and unanswered questions and qualms are brought forth from the recesses of the collective memory of the community. A tragedy that had shaken the county decades previously is doing the same thing again.

These two are in town for months, stirring up trouble, stirring up gossip, stirring up emotions (sometimes intentionally, sometimes not), and generally being a distraction for Quinn. He'd frankly love to devote energy, time and attention to solving a cold case, but there's a bigger, more dangerous, and frankly, very contemporary threat—Senator Jimmy Vardaman. Vardaman's been on the fringes (and frequently closer) to the problems around Tibbehah County for quite some time, but now he's running in the gubernatorial primary and is doing much better than expected. If he wins this, he's a shoo-in for the actual election. Tapping into a false sense of nostalgia for the Mississippi that never was, a healthy dose of racism, and empty platitudes—and a healthy dose of Syndicate cash—Vardaman's doing better than anyone expected.

There are a number of crimes that Quinn strongly believes are tied to Vardaman, but he can't find enough proof. Every time he comes close, something prevents it from happening—he has a few opportunities here to bring Vardaman down before primary and devotes all his energy toward them. One of the strongest themes running through this novel is the intersection of crime and politics, and how that affects both enterprises. Too often (in fiction and reality), politics boils down to the influence of and lust for money and power—which is pretty much what crime (particularly the more organized forms of it) is. Vardaman's not the only example this series or this novel has of it, but he's the current exemplar in Atkins' world.

Meanwhile, Fannie Hathcock is still running the show when it comes to illicit materials and licit (but not fully-clothed) women in Tibbehah County. Recent events have left things shaky for her, and Vardaman's ascent (and those he owes favors to) will make things shakier. We don't see much of what that means in this book, but I think we will soon. I don't think Fannie is a woman to be taken lightly—the power structures on both sides of the law may be less-than-welcoming to a woman—and I don't expect her to go quietly (if she goes at all).

My biggest complaint is about Boom Kimbrough. Yes, Quinn's best friend and staunchest ally (no offense to Maggie or Lillie), is a presence throughout—but is absent from the major story, and his subplot doesn't get that much space. Boom's primarily recovering from—to some extent—the events of The Sinners, and that's about all we see from him. He and Caddy spend a lot of time together, but if he has more than one conversation with Quinn, I'd be surprised. I should've taken notes on that front (but who'd have thought I'd have to?). I assume we'll see more of him in future books—I just don't want to wait.

Using the podcast—and the stir it creates—to revisit many of the characters' storylines, see how they got to where they are now (possibly to look at them in a different light)—is a brilliant move and Atkins uses it very effectively. There are moments recalled because of this podcast that I'd forgotten about or hadn't seen in relation to the greater story arcs. Also, it's a great way to help the reader see that other parts of the county may not see Quinn's actions the same way the reader has. By using the podcast, Atkins is able to create drama with this as well as avoiding several dull information dumps.

Something that I don't particularly enjoy—but respect and appreciate—is the way things ended. I've seen several people call it a cliff-hanger of an ending. I don't really see it that way, but I can see where they're coming from. Now, I'm not going to get into the details for obvious reasons (for one, I'm not a monster), but I can say that it was a very noir ending. Which fits, this is a dark series—fun, sometimes funny—but a real Southern noir. This is Colson at the noirest, particularly the last chapter. It was a perfect ending to a great book—so don't take my not particularly enjoying as a complaint. I'd prefer an ending where justice triumphs, evil is vanquished, and Quinn rides off into the sunset. That ain't the world we live in, that's not the world of Tibbehah County, and this novel is better at showing us than the others have been (not that things like a tornado wiping out huge parts of the county are exactly rainbows and unicorns, either).

Can this be read as a jumping-on point? I actually think it can—it easily serves as a "Where We Are Now/Where We Have Been" novel. But just know that you're going to want to go back and read the others to understand everything talked about (much of which is alluded to, rather than explained—the way you'd talk to an old friend about something that happened four years ago). Obviously, the best thing to do is get The Ranger and work your way up to this point, but this would be the best jumping-on point since The Ranger.

The Shameless is the longest novel in the series, easily the most ambitious, and very possibly the best (I can't think of a better one, but I'd have to re-read them. Which isn't a bad idea, actually.). It feels like a change in the series—which is hard to describe without spoiling, but if Chapter One was Quinn's struggles against Stragg, Chapter Two would be everything up to this book until Stragg went to prison, and then Chapter Three is whatever comes after The Shameless. Something tells me this small-town sheriff is missing the days when his biggest problem was Stragg.

I really can't recommend this enough—Quinn Colson and Ace Atkins are some of the best in the genre today and The Shameless is the best proof of that.

People say I'm shameless. They're right.
 
I like my sex dirty. It takes a hell of a lot to tilt my moral compass, and I always follow when it's pointing at something I want. That goes double when it points straight at the one girl in all of Chicago who's not dying for a piece of me.
 
She's all I can think about, and that's a problem, because she wants nothing to do with me. But I've seen her deepest secrets, her darkest fantasies, and they match mine to a fucking T.
 
I want her. Bad.
 
Now I need to show her how good it can feel...to be shameless.

I am the thing that goes bump in the night. I am a liar, a protector...a killer... I am Noah Blake.

There is only one light in my darkness, one bright ray in the storm of my life. Lucia DeMarco. And I’ll do anything for her. Anything except show her who I really am...an assassin. Well, former assassin. I don’t really do that anymore...usually. 

It would be easier if she didn’t call me names. Asshole, control freak … shameless. It would also be easier if she didn’t look at me with those trusting gray eyes. If I didn’t dream about the perfect curve of her — never mind all that. The point is she’s digging into my world, my secrets, and it’s going to get her killed.

But first, we have another more immediate concern. Lucia is going on a date—With someone else...

And I’m not allowed to kill this one. 

Noah’s Cliffhanger Warning: 
Ladies, I know you want to see the full package. But I have to tease you first. So I’m just going to open a few buttons so you can take a peek. And while you’re at it, hold onto your panties because I like it dirty. (The Shameless series unfolds over the course of three books)

Meredith/Meri   was on her third beer when the moaning started. Someone on the balcony above her was getting it or about to. Ordinarily Meri would think of herself as a moral person and would have excused herself and left the couple to their pleasure. But her inner moral person was muted thanks to the alcohol. Sexual frustration had turned Meri into a perv. Cameron Moore/Cam was an ever present fantasy. But he was her brother Dane’s lifelong best friend her been the permanent fixture further back then Neri could remember. But she didn't; want to think about Cameron This was supposed to be a fun filled friend-packed vacation on the beach. But Meri felt melancholy. Insomnia was a familiar if unwelcome companion of hers. Despite not wanting to think about Cam, he invaded Mari's thoughts. He was always there , in just about every conversation, at every get together , he was on this vacation also. Cam was a personal trainer he all but lived in the gym. Tattoos were on his arms and torso. Then she realized the guy having sex above her was Cam. Meredith wished she wasn’t the kind of person whose emotions were on her face. Alyssa was Meri’s best friend. Beside friendship there had never been anything between them. But that didn’t matter she had always wanted Cam, but she was afraid later when she seen him,he’d see the heartache. Cam couldn’t keep going on like this hurting himself and hurting others. Meredith was the reason he drunkenly  sought relief as it was her he really wanted. Dane;s little sister ad he would lose Dane who he loved as a brother.

I loved this book. I loved Cam and Meri together. I loved how much of a friend Alyssa was to Meri and always had her back and gave her the strength to go after what she wanted . I loved the ending . I happily found nothing to criticize in this book. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book. I highly recommend it.