The Edgar Award-winning, New York Times bestselling author is back with a masterpiece of suspense set in a time and place that readers won’t soon forget.
“Brilliant…the most effective of his thrillers since his Edgar-winning Blue Heaven.” - Booklist *STARRED* Review
Twenty miles across the North Dakota border, where the scenery goes from rolling grass prairie to pipeline fields, detective Cassie Dewell has been assigned as the new deputy sheriff of Grimstad—a place people used to be from, but were never headed to. Grimstad is now the oil capital of North Dakota. With oil comes money, with money comes drugs, and with drugs come the dirtiest criminals hustling to corner the market.
“Suspenseful - you can’t put it down.” - Library Journal *STARRED* Review
In the small town resides twelve-year-old Kyle Westergaard. Even though Kyle has been written off as the “slow” kid, he has dreams deeper than anyone can imagine. He wants to get out of town, take care of his mother, and give them a better life. While delivering newspapers, he witnesses a car accident and takes a mysterious bundle from the scene. Now in possession of a lot of money and packets of white powder, Kyle wonders if his luck has changed.
“The perfect beach read.” - Kirkus Reviews
When the temperature drops to 30 below and a gang war heats up, Cassie realizes that she may be 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: an undersized boy on a bike who keeps showing up where he doesn’t belong. Because a boy like Kyle is invisible. But he sees everything.
Read Chapter One of Badlands
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The reviews are in...
"Box’s richly atmospheric settings mirror the frigid hearts of characters in an ice-encrusted setting where the human soul seems equally as desolate."
-Providence Journal
"Box’s latest thriller burnishes his reputation as the dean of contemporary Western suspense."
-BookPage
"{Box} writes thrilling and captivating stories that are fast-moving and riveting. Along with his descriptive settings and compelling characters the plots are always page-turners that keeps readers on the edge of their seats."
-Crimespree Magazine
"It’s as snappy as an Elmore Leonard and propulsive in the way that all crime novels try to be...intelligent and compelling..."
-Bookmunch
"Cassie Dewell is a complex and multi-faceted protagonist who is one of the more interesting characters to emerge from the thriller genre over the past couple of years."
-Book Reporter
"...lean...charging forward at a thrilling pace."
-The Oklahoman
"Intriguing...An enthralling thriller"
-Associated Press
"Badlands is a suspenseful, adrenaline-charged procedural. Its unrelenting pace means readers will get through it no time, breathless, and desperate for Box’s next."
-Written by Sime
"Rough and ready prose...C.J. Box is the crime fiction bard of American’s northern plain states"
-Toronto Star"Absorbing...strong and compelling."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune
"Fascinating...Box is a master”
-The Denver Post
"...balancing cynicism with warm empathy."
-Publisher's Weekly *STARRED* Review
"The unrelenting cold makes this the perfect beach read."
-Kirkus Reviews
"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."
-Booklist *STARRED* Review
"Suspenseful—you can’t put it down."
-Library Journal *STARRED* Review