Badlands

*Starred Review* Box has been making a series of sorts out of his stand-alones. Following the death of Cody Hoyt in The Highway (2013), Hoyt's partner, Cassie Dewell, now takes center stage as the new chief investigator in Grimstad, North Dakota, in the heart of the Bakken shale oil fields. Though she's still trying to catch the Lizard King, the truck-driving serial killer, she's instantly plunged into a whole new set of troubles as rival gangs clash and body parts are strewn all over town in the dead of winter. Caught in the middle is Kyle Westergaard, a 12-year-old born with fetal alcohol syndrome, who sees and knows more than anyone would ever suspect. Box's brilliant choice of setting is both timely and the perfect frozen hellscape for his story; the modern-day boomtown's runaway inflation, man camps, and pent-up masculine energy hearken back to lawless days on the western frontier. And although he's placed kids in danger in other books, this could be the most effective of his thrillers since his Edgar-winning Blue Heaven (2008). The temperature on the northern plains may fall to 40 below, but the engine of this thriller races red hot, providing plenty of warmth to keep readers going all night. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The publisher is banking big on this one by printing a quarter of a million copies double that of The Highway. If Box isn't a household name yet, he will be.--Graff, Keir Copyright 2015 Booklist

Edgar-winner Box's superior thriller carries some characters and themes over from his two previous standalones, The Highway and Back of Beyond, as investigator Cassie Dewell relocates to North Dakota's boomtown oil fields. In the subzero prairie, the little town of Grimstad is bursting with thousands of roughnecks, its infrastructure and law enforcement system are almost overwhelmed, and ruthless drug dealers are flocking to a wide-open new frontier. Cassie arrives just as a series of brutal murders signals a war between drug gangs-although the missing duffle bag the criminals are searching for has accidentally wound up in the hands of a special-needs paperboy, 12-year-old Kyle Westergaard. Kyle just wants a stable home life, but his possession of the bag full of drugs and money sets off more violent deaths. The story's brisk action is broken into alternating sections as Cassie and Kyle try to figure out what's going on and what they must do. The vulnerable boy's plight gives emotional heft to the criminal investigation, balancing cynicism with warm empathy. 250,000 first printing; author tour. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

After the events of 2014's The Highway, Cassie Dewell leaves behind dark memories of Montana, the death of her partner, and the escape of the mass murderer known as the Lizard King, to take a new job as a special investigator in the Grimstad, ND, police department. Thanks to hydraulic fracture drilling, or fracking, Grimstad has been transformed into an oil boomtown with the social problems of any large city. Cassie is quickly embroiled in the investigation of a car crash, drugs, a gang war, and corrupt police officers. It is her job to determine how all these are tied together and what part a 12-year-old special-needs boy named Kyle plays in the tangled story. Cassie's keen observations, nerves of steel, and Kyle's bravery solve the mystery and bring a new beginning for both Cassie and Kyle. As for the Lizard King, the hunt continues. Keep an eye open out there. VERDICT Fracking brings new energy to the surface, and Box does the same with another intriguing character whom Joe Pickett fans will want to know better. Suspenseful-you can't put it down. [See Prepub Alert, 2/2/15; 250,000-copy printing; library marketing.]-Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Box takes another break from his highly successful Joe Pickett series (Stone Cold, 2014, etc.) for a stand-alone about a police detective, a developmentally delayed boy, and a package everyone in North Dakota wants to grab. Cassandra Dewell can't leave Montana's Lewis and Clark County fast enough for her new job as chief investigator for Jon Kirkbride, sheriff of Bakken County. She leaves behind no memories worth keeping: her husband is dead, her boss has made no bones about disliking her, and she's looking forward to new responsibilities and the higher salary underwritten by North Dakota's sudden oil boom. But Bakken County has its own issues. For one thing, it's colda whole lot colder than the coldest weather Cassie's ever imagined. For another, the job she turns out to have been hired forleading an investigation her new boss doesn't feel he can entrust to his own forcemakes her queasy. The biggest problem, though, is one she doesn't know about until it slaps her in the face. A fatal car accident that was anything but accidental has jarred loose a stash of methamphetamines and cash that's become the center of a battle between the Sons of Freedom, Bakken County's traditional drug sellers, and MS-13, the Salvadorian upstarts who are muscling in on their territory. It's a setup that leaves scant room for law enforcement officers or for Kyle Westergaard, the 12-year-old paperboy damaged since birth by fetal alcohol syndrome, who's walked away from the wreck with a prize all too many people would kill for. A suspenseful, professional-grade north country procedural whose heroine, a deft mix of compassion and attitude, would be welcome to return and tie up the gaping loose end Box leaves. The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* Box has been making a series of sorts out of his stand-alones. Following the death of Cody Hoyt in The Highway (2013), Hoyt's partner, Cassie Dewell, now takes center stage as the new chief investigator in Grimstad, North Dakota, in the heart of the Bakken shale oil fields. Though she's still trying to catch the Lizard King, the truck-driving serial killer, she's instantly plunged into a whole new set of troubles as rival gangs clash and body parts are strewn all over town in the dead of winter. Caught in the middle is Kyle Westergaard, a 12-year-old born with fetal alcohol syndrome, who sees and knows more than anyone would ever suspect. Box's brilliant choice of setting is both timely and the perfect frozen hellscape for his story; the modern-day boomtown's runaway inflation, "man camps," and pent-up masculine energy hearken back to lawless days on the western frontier. And although he's placed kids in danger in other books, this could be the most effective of his thrillers since his Edgar-winning Blue Heaven (2008). The temperature on the northern plains may fall to 40 below, but the engine of this thriller races red hot, providing plenty of warmth to keep readers going all night. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The publisher is banking big on this one by printing a quarter of a million copies—double that of The Highway. If Box isn't a household name yet, he will be. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

The small North Dakota town where 12-year-old Kyle lives with his mother is booming, thanks to the discovery of oil nearby. But oil money means drug money, which means gangs. No one's more aware of that than Cassie Dewell, the new deputy sheriff, who's been running into body parts clearly placed to shake her. Meanwhile, Kyle, who may be considered slow by the townsfolk but who really wants to help his mom, pins his hopes on a package, left behind after a car wreck, that his mom's boyfriend says will make their fortune. The author of the award-winning Joe Pickett series does something different; with a one-day laydown on July 28 and a 200,000-copy first printing.

After the events of 2014's The Highway, Cassie Dewell leaves behind dark memories of Montana, the death of her partner, and the escape of the mass murderer known as the Lizard King, to take a new job as a special investigator in the Grimstad, ND, police department. Thanks to hydraulic fracture drilling, or fracking, Grimstad has been transformed into an oil boomtown with the social problems of any large city. Cassie is quickly embroiled in the investigation of a car crash, drugs, a gang war, and corrupt police officers. It is her job to determine how all these are tied together and what part a 12-year-old special-needs boy named Kyle plays in the tangled story. Cassie's keen observations, nerves of steel, and Kyle's bravery solve the mystery and bring a new beginning for both Cassie and Kyle. As for the Lizard King, the hunt continues. Keep an eye open out there. VERDICT Fracking brings new energy to the surface, and Box does the same with another intriguing character whom Joe Pickett fans will want to know better. Suspenseful—you can't put it down. [See Prepub Alert, 2/2/15; 250,000-copy printing; library marketing.]—Patricia Ann Owens, formerly with Illinois Eastern Community Colls., Mt. Carmel

Edgar-winner Box's superior thriller carries some characters and themes over from his two previous standalones, The Highway and Back of Beyond, as investigator Cassie Dewell relocates to North Dakota's boomtown oil fields. In the subzero prairie, the little town of Grimstad is bursting with thousands of roughnecks, its infrastructure and law enforcement system are almost overwhelmed, and ruthless drug dealers are flocking to a wide-open new frontier. Cassie arrives just as a series of brutal murders signals a war between drug gangs—although the missing duffle bag the criminals are searching for has accidentally wound up in the hands of a special-needs paperboy, 12-year-old Kyle Westergaard. Kyle just wants a stable home life, but his possession of the bag full of drugs and money sets off more violent deaths. The story's brisk action is broken into alternating sections as Cassie and Kyle try to figure out what's going on and what they must do. The vulnerable boy's plight gives emotional heft to the criminal investigation, balancing cynicism with warm empathy. 250,000 first printing; author tour. Agent: Ann Rittenberg, Ann Rittenberg Literary Agency. (July)