BADLANDS: C. J. BOX

I had never heard of Box, even though he seems popular, but when I read the book was set during recent oil/fracking boom in North Dakota, I decided to try it.  The novel takes place in Grimstead, the fracking capital of North Carolina.  And the new deputy sheriff, Cassie Dewell from a previous novel, THE HIGHWAY, is thrown into this macho mix of males.  She has, however, earned her spurs, catching a serial killer the year before.  He is incarcerated in North Carolina, where the novel begins.  She has been asked to interrogates him, plays to his weaknesses, and he attacks her.  The law, however, is the law and he is set free for lack of evidence.  And so it goes.  This does not seem to have much to do with the rest of the novel, however, just setting the scene and character.

The novel begins when 12 year old Kyle Westergaard, a paper boy witnesses a car accident and picks up a bundle that is thrown from the car.  Suddenly, he has lots of money and many packets of white powder.  His Mom's live-in boyfriend, however, discovers the stash, takes it away from Kyle, and tries to fence it himself, a big mistake as local drug dealers, Hispanic gangs from LA, get in the mix. They look first for Kyle, then his Mom's boyfriend, hoping to find the money and drugs.  And Cassie, now in the middle of a violent drug war, eventually wins the day, as we would expect and for awhile, at least, the drugs stop pouring into Grimstead.  I really liked her character, the book, and hope there will soon be more, like the Joe Pickett series that Box is famous for.  Box deftly balances the two stories, Kyle's emotional story with Cassie's detective work, leading to saving Kyle's life and getting the drug dealers.  As one critic mentions: "The unrelenting cold makes it a perfect beach read."
Enjoy.