Jellybeaners by Gene Scott is a searing Appalachian noir that rips the lid off the opioid epidemic devastating rural Tennessee. In the shadow of pill mills and crooked clinics, whole families unravel—children orphaned, parents lost to addiction, and communities hollowed out by greed.

Told through multiple voices—grieving EMTs, high school valedictorians, motocross riders, veterans, and the small-town families left behind—the novel paints a raw, unflinching portrait of lives caught in the crossfire between corporate drug pushers and desperate users. At its heart, Jellybeaners is about resilience: the stubborn hope that even in the wreckage of loss, there are people willing to fight back, protect what matters, and claw their way toward redemption.

Gritty, lyrical, and deeply human, Jellybeaners blends the emotional weight of contemporary realism with the stark urgency of noir. It is not just a story about Appalachia—it is a story about America.