Natural yogurt.

Dove Season by Johnny Shaw .

Dove Season is written in the first person, of Jimmy Veeder, who like the author was born and raised in the Imperial Valley on the Calexico/Mexicali border. Jimmy comes back to Imperial Valley where his father is dying. Jimmy takes the reader on an adventure around the region. The story plods along and Jimmy is a rough but okay guy. As a thriller, Dove Season is slow, rather dull and lacks sharpness. The descriptions of the life and culture within the farming community are good. This novel portrays the soul of the people and the place. The observations can be quite witty, for example...

I grabbed a seat at the counter, not bothering to look at the menu. I kept to a strict policy with roadside diners: OOB. Only order breakfast. It was a safe bet and sometimes a pleasant surprise. Lunch and dinner could be a crapshoot. There’s always that one entrée that doesn’t belong.

...and

“Let’s walk around, make sure,” Bobby said. I nodded. “Did you nod?” Bobby asked. “Cause in the dark, nodding don’t communicate dick.” “I nodded,” I said. “I just nodded back,” Bobby said, and then he walked deeper into the building, waving the light into the corners.

...The humour is centred around realistic dialogue between close male friends, for example...

Bobby cut in. “You ain’t in LA no more, brother. Besides, you’re thinking of strippers. Mexican hookers tend to use their real names. Fun fact.”

...and

As Pop had told me, “Boredom brings out the bingo in every old fart.”

...The relationship between Jimmy and his father is touching as they both accept the reality of death.

The ending of this story is very far fetched. There is nothing special about this book. It is second rate. Dove Season was published in 2011 and is the first novel by Johnny Shaw. He was a finalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award competition in 2010. I purchased the Kindle edition which has a 1029 KB file size.

I think this book is poor and I am only voting it 2 stars on Good Reads . This is not a fun read, it is not a book to enjoy. Dove Season is more like a holiday brochure for a working farm. I will not bother to read another Johnny Shaw novel.