Bad Axe County #3
by John Galligan
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jun 2021
336 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
A record heat wave suffocates remote rural Wisconsin as the local sheriff tracks down a killer hidden in the depths of the community in this atmospheric, race-to-the-finish mystery by the acclaimed author of the Bad Axe County series.
Sheriff Heidi Kick has a dead body on her hands, a homeless young man last seen alive miles from the Bad Axe. Chillingly, the medical examiner confirms what Sheriff Kick has been experiencing in her own reoccurring nightmares of late: the victim was buried alive. As the relentless summer heat bears down and more bodies are discovered, Sheriff Kick also finds herself embroiled in a nasty reelection campaign. These days her detractors call her "Sheriff Mommy"—KICK HER OUT holler the opposition's campaign signs—and as her family troubles become public, vicious rumors threaten to sway the electorate and derail her investigation.
Enter Vietnam veteran Leroy Fanta, editor-in-chief of the local paper who believes Heidi's strange case might be tied to a reclusive man writing deranged letters to the opinions section for years. With his heart and liver on their last legs, Fanta drums up his old journalistic instincts in one last effort to help Heidi find a lead in her case, or at least a good story...
With simmering tension that sweats off the page, Bad Moon Rising infuses newsworthy relevance with a page-turning story of crime in America's heartland, capturing global issues with startling immediacy while entertaining from start to finish.
"Rural Wisconsin is darker than you might think in the third gripping mystery featuring a young woman sheriff...The plot is gritty and propulsive, the prose well crafted, the finale satisfyingly bizarre. Intriguing characters take a wild ride through backwoods Wisconsin in this irresistible mystery." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"As the pages turn, the author prompts readers to consider a range of timely issues (climate change, homelessness, corrosive wealth) via masterfully executed and action-packed storylines that coalesce in a shockingly memorable final act sure to leave readers eager for the next Bad Axe County thriller." - BookPage (starred review)
"[S]uspenseful...Readers will root for Kick as the action builds to a satisfyingly hard-edged denouement. Fans of gritty rural crime, such as Ace Atkins's Quinn Colson series, will be enthralled." - Publishers Weekly
"[A] compelling country noir in which a few good souls attempt to fight entropy." -Booklist
"The third Bad Axe County mystery, following Dead Man Dancing, is a grim, atmospheric story set in a bleak territory. Fans of Tricia Fields's gritty Josie Gray mysteries or Chris Harding Thornton's dark Pickard County Atlas may appreciate the bizarre cast of characters and the harsh setting of this book." - Library Journal
"As unique a place in the mystery universe as you will ever find and in the eloquent prose of John Galligan it comes alive in a ride that is smooth, unexpected, and memorable. This book is a diamond in the rough." - Michael Connelly, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Law of Innocence
"Fascinating characters, a thoroughly original voice, and a riveting sense of place and atmosphere...Unputdownable." - Ausma Zehanat Khan, author of A Deadly Divide
This information about Bad Moon Rising was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
John Galligan is the author of the novels Red Sky, Red Dragonfly, The Nail Knot, The Clinch Knot, The Wind Knot, and Bad Axe County. He lives and teaches writing in Madison, Wisconsin.
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