The idyllic facade of a small coastal tourist magnet hides its secrets well. But when the shining star pitcher of the girls’ softball team guns down the most popular boy in school, the shockwaves reverberate far beyond the school’s walls. In the wake of the killing, two of the town’s newer residents turn over deeply embedded rocks, exposing a subculture of almost unimaginable horror lurking beneath.
Formerly a nurse with Médecins Sans Frontières, Dolly has become a defender and confidante to dozens of local teenage girls, and she refuses to accept that MaryLou (“Mighty Mary”) McCoy’s gunning down Cameron Taft in a high school hallway is a typical school shooting. Although MaryLou’s guilt is not in doubt—it’s even captured on the school’s security camera—the girl insists on a trial . . . but inexplicably refuses to cooperate with her own defense. Enlisting her troupe of teenagers and the local contacts she has cemented, Dolly calls on all of her resources to get to the truth . . . and to whatever secret MaryLou is guarding.
When Dolly’s husband, Dell, sees his beloved wife begin her quest, he immediately signs on. A former mercenary and ex-Legionnaire, Dell treats this “job” as he would any other—with no boundaries. His entire arsenal is put into play: guile, extortion, tracking devices, shadow networks, and, finally, an act of terrorism that blows the cover off the soul-killing rite of passage demanded of the town’s most vulnerable girls. Dell’s discovery of MaryLou’s true motive and the community’s shocking failure to protect its children culminates in a decision to put the town itself on trial. The explosive verdict blows away the facade . . . and forces the village to stand in judgment of itself. The aftershocks keep coming until the foundation itself fractures, leaving cracks too deep to patch ever again.
1 of 1 copy available
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 11, 2013 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9780307907752
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9780307907752
- File size: 2301 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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April 1, 2013
Prolific author Vachss (Another Life) introduces Dell, a graduate of the French Foreign Legion, in this compelling first in a new thriller series. Now retired from mercenary work, Dell lives with his true love, Dolly, in a small Oregon town where he spends his time taking care of his woman and killing those he considers the scum of society: deer hunters, animal torturers, and anyone who has anything to do with sex crimes against women. Thanks to his military training, he avoids getting caught. When a friend of Dolly’s, high school softball star MaryLou, walks into her school and shoots three students, killing popular athlete Cameron Taft, Dell tries to figure out why MaryLou acted as she did and in the process unearths a shocking smalltown secret. The extended section devoted to MaryLou’s murder trial threatens to tip into polemic territory, but readers will stick with the story, and the series, because the steadfast, relentless Dell, with his uncompromising morality, commands attention. -
June 1, 2013
Former French Legion mercenary Dell and his true love, Dolly, a former Doctors Without Borders nurse, have retired to an idyllic Oregon-coast resort town. Dolly's trusting demeanor means their home has become a safe house for local teens who need more nurturing. Then, shockingly, one of her young friends, MaryLou, fatally shoots Cameron, the high school hottie. Dolly begs Dell to do something. MaryLou refuses to use the insanity card, stoically remaining silent until Dell earns her trust. Using stealth, psychological experience, and pure strength--Dell is a trained killer--he unearths a secret society of teen boys and learns that there is a tacit understanding in this little town that boys will be boys and some girls will be destroyed by them. Dell and Dolly will not rest until the evil is eradicated. VERDICT This series debut from best-selling Vachss (Another Life; Blackjack) exhibits his trademark crusading tone as the vigilante hero seeks justice for wronged youth. Razor-edged and compulsively readable, the pages fly by even if the broad strokes leave you wondering later about the details. Sadly, it's topically ("ripped from the headlines") appropriate. [See Prepub Alert, 12/16/12.]
Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
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May 1, 2013
In a small Oregon town, MaryLou, the star pitcher for the high-school girls' softball team, brings a pistol to school, kills one boy, wounds two others, and surrenders herself. It seems like an open-and-shut case, but MaryLou has two formidable defenders: Dell, a former mercenary with his own concept of justice, and his wife, Dolly. Rallying around MaryLou, they uncover a pervasive culture of evil that has operated without resistance owing to an incompetent and timid justice establishment. Dell enlists a group of experts who are able to turn the prosecutor's slam-dunk case on its head, even as Dell plots his own street justice against a culture of evil entitlement. Vachss, best known for the very dark Burke series of urban crime and retribution, seems to be embarking on a new series with Dell and Dolly. As in all of his work, Vachss explores the horrific intersection of victims and victimizers, evil and avengers. The setting has moved from urban to small town, but the eternal conflict is as it ever was. As always, Vachss is disquieting but engrossing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)
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