Daily Archives: March 24, 2015

I recently discovered C. J. Box and his Joe Pickett series so I was thrilled to get an opportunity to read “Badlands”. This is a stand-alone novel but one which I hope will be developed into a series of its own.

The story revolves around two individuals, Kyle Westergaard and Cassie Dewell. Kyle is a small for his age twelve year old who has some learning issues due to fetal alcohol syndrome. People are inclined to think of him as somehow slow when in truth, he just doesn’t see the point of talking as most people don’t understand him. Cassie is a detective who has been on the trail of the “Lizard King” for years. This criminal has been involved in the abduction and murder of many women over the years. Cassie takes a new job as Chief Investigator in the new wild west of the North Dakota oil boom country in Grimstad in Bakken county. Turns out that Kyle is a resident of Grimstead, too.

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