In a small Arizona town a redneck sheriff and his team arrest three day labourers, for murder, and a New York tourist simply for witnessing it. Except Slick isn’t just a poker playing tourist, and the next day his friend arrives with a high price lawyer, only for him to insist on a trial. It is not enough for him to be released, he wants to take down all of them, legally if possible and if not…well, Slick has other resources.

I was actually surprised to find out that this was the author’s debut novel, because it is a very good thriller. The plot is fast-paced and unpredictable, the characters each have a unique personality and depth to them, and there are no loose ends. One thing that stood out was the excellent use of modern technology and it has the best use of cloud-tech I have yet seen. Also this is very definitely a story where anyone can die, and many do, and as they come closer to revealing what is going on the violence escalates. Early on it appears to be a simple story about the dark side of racial politics in the small-town US, but it quickly becomes obvious there’s more than that going on. A legal and political thriller, it can appeal to readers outside the US easily, as the culture of town and community is expanded for the reader as the book progresses and the fact it is in Arizona is key to the plot.

One of the real strengths of the book is the characterisation: Slick stands out as a lead with a lot of depth: he’s intelligent, literate, a vegan, and kills people for a living. Camilla, the DA and prosecutor, has a backstory, personality, and goals of her own. The deputies aren’t portrayed with as much character, but then the story is told from Slick’s point of view so they aren’t really going to go into family backgrounds with someone they are beating up. There was one plot twist which I felt was a little cliched (it is a trope), which I won’t disclose because of spoilers, but it is that rare case where the author had written it so well it actually came as a nasty shock when it happened.

This is an exciting, intriguing, and thrilling book with twists and turns that are unexpected but all too believable. Dear author: please write another one like this.