Badlands: A Novel (Highway Quartet)

Excellent, as usual. This is a new series, but different from Joe Pickett. Still set in the west. Box's style is smooth and easy. The mystery was solved, but still a loose end. So, expect more in this series.

One of writer's best books - suspenseful, difficult to put down, reader fully involved from beginning as to outcomes and fate of leading characters. Definitely recommend this book most enthusiastically.

I read this cop procedural because I was born and raised in North Dakota and it's pretty much never the setting in any fiction. I wanted to see how the author used the cold, bleak area as a unique "character" for what turned out to be a pretty standard detective novel. We always know Who-done-it. We just have to watch the newly-transplanted detective navigate her way through the bone-chilling cold and good old boy landscape to catch the bad guys. The author does a pretty good job of catching the "North Dakota nice" behavior of the good guys. And although it adds flair for a sympathetic young hero's literal journeys, riding a bike in -30 degree temperatures is absolutely not possible: the kid would freeze so fast, and tires become so dangerous!! The bad guys, meth-heads and rogue cops are flat stereotypes. Still, it was fun to read about my home state as it morphs into a changed place with the big oil extraction. I'd recommend it if you want an easy read set in a place you don't know anything about.

Another outstanding novel my Box! Cassie Dewell is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters! Can't wait for future installments in the series to see what happens between her and the infamous Lizard King! Box is one of the best authors out there right now! He has become a must read author for me!

A little too formulaic and unoriginal. Box is rushing through his novels these days (including the Joe Pickett series) and losing both the originality and the clear prose he had initially. In a movie sense it would indicate the continuity was not checked.

Totally enjoyable. Very hard to put down. Very exacting description of just how cold it gets in that area. Good to see a strong female act with intelligence and courage. I enjoyed it tremendously. Thanks to. C J Box.

There was a time when the author wrote novels that came to an end. Now he writes novels that end in cliffhangers, perhaps in the hope that you will buy his next novel. I remember the motion picture theatre of my youth that had serialized cliffhangers included in their Saturday afternoon matinees. He did this with his last Joe Pickett novel, and now he is doing it with his alternate character.

As to the novel, it is set in the oil boom in North Dakota. A small town is overrun with new people, including the villains attracted by lots of money floating about. Aside from prostitution, which seems to be a usual industry in a booming economy (especially when there are 20 men for every woman), gangs move in competing for the drug trade. Everyone in town is employed one way or another, if they really want a job, and new people can find work if they are willing to work in North Dakota during the winter, when the temperature can drop down to 30 degrees below zero.

The novel is fast paced, and possibly the crimes are solved a little too easily.

Badlands features his newer character, Cassie Dewell for the second time. She is in North Carolina at the request of local and federal authorities to interview a trucker they believe to be the Lizard King, a serial killer who targets lot lizards, female prostitutes who work truck stops. Cassie is familiar with him from her position as investigator for the county sheriff in Helena, Montana. Cassie’s partner Cody Hoyt was shot and killed by one of the Lizard King’s cohorts. She subsequently took the killer down, but Ronald Pergram, the ringleader and suspected Lizard King, eluded them. He subsequently burned down his childhood home with his mother inside it, destroying any DNA trail.

Now the authorities in North Carolina are holding an independent trucker who was found to have a kill room in his trailer. Unable to find any trace evidence, they are detaining him while they go over every nanometer of the rig and wait for his reaction to Cassie’s meeting with him. The trucker they have in custody is Dale Spradley, whose background check reveals only two years of history. Although his hair color and body weight are different from Pergram, his height and age seem to match. His penchant for picking up 48-foot loads despite having a 53-foot trailer is what piqued the authorities’ interest and led to the kill room discovery.

Coincidentally, Cassie is on the short list for a great opportunity with Bakken County in Grimstad, North Dakota as chief investigator for Sheriff Jon Kirkbride.

The action takes place over six days. Each day is crammed with events and new characters that keep the reader engrossed as the story sails along, bringing Cassie and Kyle closer to their encounter. Cassie is a gutsy cop and likeable person. Kyle is one resilient kid. When they combine forces, exciting things happen.

All that stuff at the beginning of the book about the Lizard King? Red herring as far as this story is concerned, but a phone call Cassie receives near the end of this book hints that the next installment of this series will have the Lizard King finding his way to Grimstad. I can hardly wait.

Rating: 4.5. Badlands is an entertaining read chock full of sharply delineated characters and exciting plot developments. This is the kind of book that you want to share with your fellow readers as soon as you finish it.

I was disappointed in the setting of this book. The story line and plot is realistic and believable I had no problem getting into the story. I like the characters esp the young newspaper boy who loved his mother through the good and bad!

Spoiler alert...do not proceed if you wish to read the book. I am a Wyoming guy and big CJ Box fan. This is his most disappointing effort to date. A very contrived, overly violent plot (and I do not generally mind well-written violence). The main character frequently exhibits major errors in judgment (you put a mentally-challenged kid in a deadly situation and you do not check him for weapons? Come on! And then apparently no ill psychological effects after participating in and witnessing several brutal acts? A very shallow effort from the guy who created the originally great character of Joe Pickett.

Those of you familiar with the character in this and the previous book will certainly love it and I am already chomping at the bit for the next one. Cassie has a heck of a ride ahead! I can't help but wonder if Joe Pickett and Cassie will cross paths in a future book? Hmmmmm!

Bought this for my wife, who loves action mysteries, and she loved it. I bought the box as well for our cross-country trip; that's a lot of long distance driving, and the audio books keep me awake. I won't worry about falling asleep with this one!