Bad Axe County by John Galligan
Heidi Kick is the interim sheriff of Bad Axe County. She's a former Dairy Queen who has returned to the county where her parents were murdered 15 years ago. Heidi doesn't believe her parents died in a murder-suicide and she's driven to find out the truth about what happened. Now, a girl has gone missing and is maybe being trafficked or worse. Heidi is determined to find the missing girl. Her search takes her all across the coulee region in the middle of a snow and ice storm followed by heavy flooding. The clock is working against the young girl and Heidi knows that she must ask act quickly. Along the way, another murdered girl who has spent 10 years in the freezer of a local junkyard turns up. As she pursues leads across the sordid underbelly of Bad Axe County, Heidi discovers illegal stag parties, a cruel and degrading initiation involving the local semi-pro baseball team, all while fighting misogynism and police corruption.
John Galligan juggles a large cast of characters through intertwining plots whose connections aren't always apparent. Galligan keeps the plot spinning along in the early part of the story as we begin to meet and know the many characters of Bad Axe County including Sheriff Kick. As the story moves along the plot gains even more speed as events come together in an exciting conclusion.
Galligan doesn't treat the subject matter with kid gloves; this is a dark story. Human trafficking is portrayed in all of its ugliness. Innocent girls with few prospects and a bleak future are preyed upon by savage men. Kick herself is an interesting character made vulnerable by the tragedy in her own past and battling not only the crime in front of her but her own desire for vengeance and closure. The rest of the characters are sketched out in varying degrees of complexity. Some sympathetic, some vile.
Galligan does an excellent job of capturing the small-town nature of a community like Bad Axe where people close ranks, even protecting the least desirable among them. Those who want to pursue a better way and a better future face an uphill battle and open hostility.
Heidi Kick is a well-rounded character with a family of her own pulling her in different directions in an easily understandable battle for work-life balance. The writing is strong and vivid, drawing the reader into the story and taking you to dark places.
Bad Axe County is a well-written thriller with an exciting and dark plot. I hope we get to see a lot more of Heidi Kick and Bad Axe County. This is a book well worth your time. Highly recommended.
I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.
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