| A nomad writer is roughing it on a wildcat drilling operation in a meth-ridden former boom town in California. She suspects foul play after a co-worker is killed, but will she be the next victim? |
From the Publisher:Hipster movie critic Ann Whitehead pushed a Hollywood murder case to a bloody climax and almost died herself. Changed forever?less stupid and more fun?she has moved on to a place she knows well: the San Joaquin Valley, where her grandfather's closest friend, Joe Balch, owns the oil company that keeps one town alive.|
Balch gets Ann a job with the Oklahoma contractor drilling his wildcat well. It's hard work, but Ann loves both it and her crusty old boss, Emmet. Then a guy on her crew is killed by a falling hammer. Sheriffs rule it an accident but Ann's LAPD squeeze, Detective Doug Lockwood, says it's murder. Ann can't resist the challenge of chasing a killer?and then the killer starts chasing her . . .|
From a writer whose first novel was praised as ?highly literate, exceptionally action-packed and occasionally harrowing? (Chicago Tribune), this is a wild ride full of bad behavior and laughs, oil-field characters, and small-town atmosphere, starring a heroine who never does anything halfway.
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Praise
"Knode's second entry is complex both in plot and setting, equal parts mystery and primer in the art of drilling for oil."
03/01/2012
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