As a life-long resident and ex-arson investigator for McFalls County, Dane has lived his life in one of the most chaotic and crime-ridden regions of the South. When he gets called in to consult on a brutal murder in a Jacksonville, Florida, motel room, he and his FBI counterpart, Special Agent Roselita Velasquez, begin an investigation that leads them back to the criminal circles of his own backyard.
...[a] surprise-filled saga ... Mr. Panowich, as he did in his previous novels, depicts his Southern terrain well. He deftly sketches the tension between Dane, the rural lawman, and Roselita...
While it stands independently of its predecessors...there is some bleed-through among all three titles. However, unfamiliarity with the hard lives lived in the area will not prevent your full-throated enjoyment of Panowich’s latest, which is beautifully told and full of surprises ... Panowich’s fiction is as dark as it gets. Appearing in one of his books, particularly in Hard Cash Valley is a tough gig, but his plotting and complications keep things moving quickly for the reader and for the unfortunate individuals who populate the novel. Hopefully, there are plenty of new characters to keep the stories of this hardscrabble, crime-ridden area coming for the foreseeable future.
Make room for this splendid genre-bender, a crime novel with emotional resonance and a steady flow of fine writing. Plus staggering plot twists, jaw-dropping revelations, and enough suspense to fill two books ... A first-rate thriller, lavishly decked out in high style.
