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When Sioux City Sentinel-Leader reporter Tom Kingman decided to drop by a domestic disturbance police call in the middle of a June swelter he had no idea it would change his life forever.
A metro area of 100,000 located at the junction of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, Sioux City is fly-over country for most Americans. But Tom Kingman knows Sioux City at ground level doesn't always fit the bucolic Midwestern mold. That's especially clear after witnessing an officer-involved shooting in a run-down residential neighborhood puts Tom in the crosshairs of a surly police lieutenant, a hot-headed patrol officer, and the mastermind of a multistate drug ring.
As the pressure increases, Tom discovers an unlikely ally: the intriguing Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Hillary Reed. Within hours of witnessing the shooting, the skeptical, wisecracking Kingman finds himself thrown into an unlikely partnership with the deliberative, calm, religious Reed for a three-day frenzied pursuit of the truth about meth, murder ... and each other.
Plot/Idea: 7 out of 10
Originality: 5 out of 10
Prose: 5 out of 10
Character/Execution: 6 out of 10
Overall: 5.75 out of 10
Assessment:
Plot: This novel has a promising plot and is decently structured. But readers may feel that obstacles are overcome to easily en route to the book's conclusion.
Prose: There are flashes of lively and engaging prose, though much of the writing is either flat and declarative or overheated and implausible. Additionally, the dialogue is often stilted.
Originality: The setup will be familiar to fans of the genre, while some of the characters are definite types. The book will remind readers of Breaking Bad.
Character Development: Tom and Hillary are likeable and multifaceted characters—and readers will be engaged by their story. However, many of the secondary characters are stock types.
Date Submitted: August 29, 2017
