This is apparently part of a series but this reads as a great standalone. Back in the day they would have called this a hard boiled detective story or noir and it is in a way. Well-plotted with an interesting but seriously unhappy lead character. It held my interest all the way through and has me looking forward to more from this author. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy for review.

This reads like an old time hard core detective novel. If it were to be turned into a movie, I could see Hank being played by Clint Eastwood, or Jeff Bridges. It would be filmed mostly at night, or with a filtered lens.

Why am I talking about it as a movie? I'm trying to give a sense of the atmosphere, which to me was the main character.

I thought it started a little slow, but after a while I got really involved. i wanted to know what happened next. And I could visualize the story as I read it. However, it was a little too dark for me personally.

Thank you to net galley for the advance copy.

The loss of an election would disappoint any elected official, but Earl Marcus has lost his bid for the shriff’s office to a scuzzy, lying career politician. Earl has no intention of getting involved in matters of law and order, but he finds himself up to the neck in it when a dead body turns up on his front lawn. Earl tracks the victim back to the sinister Harden School, a place where students and campus are kept behind fences and barbed wire. It turns out that some pretty damning accusations of misconduct (and worse) have been made against the school by none other than the ex wife of his political rival Jeb. This is a straight up. no holds barred hard core mystery with a take no prisoners protagonist. Readers will find it all too easy to make the connection between Jeb and some of current political leaders