Thrillers & Suspense
![C. J. Box - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B001IGSO0I.jpg)
Badlands: A Cassie Dewell Novel (Cody Hoyt / Cassie Dewell Novels, 3)
In C.J. Box's Badlands, the town of Grimstad used to be a place people came from but were never headed to. Now it's the oil capital of North Dakota. With oil comes money, with money comes drugs, and with drugs come the dirtiest criminals Grimstad's new deputy sheriff Cassie Dewell has ever encountered. . .
Twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard dreams of getting out of Grimstad and leading a better life. Even though Kyle has been written off as a "slow" kid, he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine. One day, while delivering newspapers, he witnesses a car accident and takes a mysterious bundle from the scene. Suddenly he's in possession of a lot of money―and packets of white powder―and Kyle can't help but wonder whether his luck has changed…for better or for worse.
"Suspenseful―you can't put it down.''―Library Journal
When the temperature drops to 30 below and a gang war heats up, it's up to Cassie to help restore law and order. But is she in over her head? As she is propelled on a collision course with a murderous enemy, she finds that the key to it all might come in the most unlikely form: a boy on a bike named Kyle. He keeps showing up where he doesn't belong. And he seems to know something that Cassie does not about what lies beneath the surface of this small and troubled town…
"The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read."―Kirkus Reviews
This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.
Twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard dreams of getting out of Grimstad and leading a better life. Even though Kyle has been written off as a "slow" kid, he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine. One day, while delivering newspapers, he witnesses a car accident and takes a mysterious bundle from the scene. Suddenly he's in possession of a lot of money―and packets of white powder―and Kyle can't help but wonder whether his luck has changed…for better or for worse.
"Suspenseful―you can't put it down.''―Library Journal
When the temperature drops to 30 below and a gang war heats up, it's up to Cassie to help restore law and order. But is she in over her head? As she is propelled on a collision course with a murderous enemy, she finds that the key to it all might come in the most unlikely form: a boy on a bike named Kyle. He keeps showing up where he doesn't belong. And he seems to know something that Cassie does not about what lies beneath the surface of this small and troubled town…
"The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read."―Kirkus Reviews
This edition of the book is the deluxe, tall rack mass market paperback.
Readers Top Reviews
JKKevin gardnerJaksD
I love the Joe Pickett Series so decided to try this book. I loved it. Great characters and a clever story. Wish I had realised that The Highway was the previous novel to this, but never mind, reading The Highway now anyway. Also looking forward to the next Joe Pickett in March 2016. I love the way C J Box can completely pull you into his stories and keep you reading well into the night. Even though I knew each time that Joe had another novel, I still wondered if he would make it through some of the books, they are so intense. Badlands is just as good. You can almost feel the cold and smell the fresh mountain air :) C J Box is my favourite author from the last few years.
Kathy Jensen
I can't give this the full 5 stars. It's a decent storyline with plenty of pace to keep you interested. However, Cassie Dewell's character has not been developed as well between this and the previous novel in the same way that Joe Pickett became compulsive for me immediately. Yes, she's a non-assuming, good person, but she has gone from rookie investigator to senior investigator in just two years - really? The North Dakota setting is nowhere near as fascinating as the Wyoming of Joe Pickett and the fracking industry that forms the background to the sudden growth of an otherwise dying small town does not receive the same level of environmental scrutiny as I have come to enjoy from many of the Joe Pickett books. There is another in the series that I have already bought and will read, but I am not just as enamoured of this series as I am of Joe Pickett - he's a hard act to follow. The other annoying thing is the number of typos in a book published at this level - most especially when a new paragraph begins with a person's name and only the first name has a capital first letter. Sorry, that's sloppy writing/proof reading and it's so pervasive throughout the book that it is indefensible.
Wayne A. Smith
C J Box continues his streak of delivering fast paced tales of the modern west grinding up against traditional values and life styles. What's new and interesting in this book is the picture of life on the new frontier - the fast growing and exploding Bakken Oil fields of North Dakota. A massive influx of wage-hungry men and women (though largely plying different trades), overwhelmed local infrastructure and lawlessness gives a good picture of what any of the silver mining boom towns of the late 1800's must have been like. It also provides the stew in which this book's mystery evolves. This is a good story weaving what appears to be the long thread of the Cassie Dewell series - the game of wits with The Lizard King introduced two books ago - and a crime scenario that will be wrapped up between the covers of this book. Also, you can feel the North Dakotan ruthless winters in the writing. It made me think of the premium I'd need to relocate to North Dakota! Cassie Dewell is developing into an interesting character. I'll keep reading.
Kindle
I'm reading the Cassie Dewell series, which started with The Highway, the second book of C.J. Box's Highway Quartet. This outing, Cassie leaves Wyoming and takes a job as chief investigator in the Bakken County, North Dakota sheriff's department. It was slow going at first, as I had to learn a new set of characters and situations. The weather here is also a character, and C.J. Box describes 30 below zero in stark prose. Before long the pace quickened and I was turning the pages faster and faster. The thing about these novels is that the main bad guy, known as the Lizard King, is still out there from the first Cassie Dewall book. That book and also this one, I should make clear, did NOT end on cliffhangers, as the main plots of both were tied up nicely at each book's end. But the Lizard King stays out there, in his long-haul truck, abducting "working girls" at truck stops, torturing and killing them. This time Cassie helps her new boss, the Sheriff of Bakken County, uncover bad guys in the department and risks her life to rescue a family in serious trouble. The ending was satisfactory, as well. I've already purchased the next book, Paradise Valley, and it's on my Kindle.
Chris Carver
With her partner, Cody Hoyt killed by the Lizard road killer, Cassie takes on a new job as Chief Investigator for the county Sheriff in a new oil boom town in Arizona. Her first task, find out who is behind the recent killing and drug spree and only report back to the Sheriff. During her investigation, she's called back to testify against the Lizard who's been arrested in another state. Meanwhile Cassie's limited investigation leads her to the drug dealers and a contingent of MS-13 members who are taking out the local drug dealers and are after a shipment that's missing. Tied in to this is a 12 year old Newspaper delivery boy whose family are in danger, because he knows where the missing shipment is. But not all is victorious because the Lot Lizard killer is going to be let go because of legalities in the search and seizure of his rig. Great read, but this story isn't over yet. For all the details, read for yourself.
