Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne

Audiobook
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
0 of 1 copy available
Wait time: About 2 weeks
“Literary thrillers just don’t come any better than Ron Currie’s The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne. It’s profoundly serious and terrifying in equal measure.” –Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winning author of Somebody's Fool
A mythic, propulsive novel about the tangled fates of a matriarchal crime family in Maine.

Your ancestors breathe through you. Sometimes, they call for vengeance.
Babs Dionne, proud Franco-American, doting grandmother, and vicious crime matriarch, rules her small town of Waterville, Maine, with an iron fist. She controls the flow of drugs into Little Canada with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a Marine vet struggling with addiction.
When a drug kingpin discovers that his numbers are down in the upper northeast, he sends a malevolent force, known only as The Man, to investigate. At the same time, Babs's youngest daughter, Sis, has gone missing, which doesn't seem at all like a coincidence. In twenty-four hours, Sis will be found dead, and the whole town will seek shelter from Babs’s wrath.
The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is a crime saga like no other, with a ferocious matriarch at its bruised, beating heart. With sharp wit and profound empathy, award-winning author Ron Currie, delivers an unforgettable novel exploring love, retribution, and the ancestral roots that both nurture and trap us.
  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Lisa Flanagan uses the entire box of crayons to depict this mystery's colorful characters, who are led by a doozy of a Franco-American crime boss, Babs Dionne. The drug-running queenpin featured in Currie's bloody revenge tale runs the town of Waterville, Maine, with impunity until someone murders her youngest daughter, Sis. You can almost hear Flanagan's lips curl in blind fury as Sis goes missing and is eventually found dead. Currie knows the scenery and delights in exploring every crooked nook and cranny. Flanagan allows a modicum of empathy to creep into her voice as she portrays Babs's love for her cohorts. Flanagan's musical tempo adds to the gruesome yet darkly funny story. R.O. © AudioFile 2025, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from January 20, 2025
      The cruelty and absurdity of family bonds drive this riveting crime saga from Currie (The One-Eyed Man). Babs Dionne, the domineering French American matriarch of her Waterville, Maine, community, maintains a sprawling criminal empire through sheer force of will. After surviving a near-fatal overdose, Babs’s oldest daughter, Lori—a military veteran grappling with PTSD—is tasked with finding her missing sister, Sis. Meanwhile, tensions escalate after Babs discovers that her grandson Jason has a black eye inflicted by his alcoholic father, and some of her formerly loyal lieutenants begin to challenge her authority. Complicating matters, a drug kingpin uncovers an aberration in his supply chain and sends a malevolent enforcer known as “The Man” to New England to investigate. When Sis turns up dead, grief and guilt ignite Bab’s fury, setting in motion a bloody revenge campaign that spares no one in town. Filled with idiosyncratic characters, Currie’s stirring, cinematic tale blends mystery, suspense, and domestic drama to incisively interrogate the limits of filial responsibility. It’s a major achievement. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House.

    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2025

      For decades, the only work to be found in Waterville, ME, was at the mill, though it came with the risk of death by chemicals or accident. Now, in 2016, the mill is derelict, and the few remaining French Americans in Waterville's Little Canada district either work for Babs Dionne or accept that she runs their slice of the world. With the police chief on the take and family loyalty at the core of operations, Babs becomes increasingly involved in controlling the flow of black-market opioids. The danger of this business hits home when Babs's youngest daughter goes missing and is later found dead; Babs casts out her own sister, who is soon tracked down by an agent of the better-organized, better-funded Canadian competition, with an offer she can't refuse. Lisa Flanagan narrates flawlessly, slipping into French as needed and embodying each damaged character with meticulous attention to detail: oldest daughter Lori's war trauma and visions of distinctly voiced ghosts, the enigmatic agent's emotionless philosophizing and ease with violence, and Babs's own cantankerous confidence and pride. VERDICT Recommend Currie's (The One-Eyed Man) latest widely, particularly to listeners seeking an older woman protagonist who could terrify even the most hardened career criminals.--Lauren Kage

      Copyright 2025 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading