Boomtown

EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE 2024 FOR BEST PAPERBACK ORIGINALIn the crooked streets of the boomtown, the rule of law is powerless... Police captain Delia Mariola is struggling to drive predatory drug dealers from the American rust belt town of Baxter, before the owners of the new Nissan plant lose faith in the project. It doesn’t help that the influx of male workers for the plant has also meant an influx of criminals. In the workers’ settlement just outside the city limits, a modern Wild West boomtown is now thriving, drawing criminal gangs who promise drugs and female company to men far from home looking for comfort and distraction. With no active policing in the unregulated settlement, the criminals are fighting it out to take control of the drug trade. It’s against this chaotic backdrop that a young sex worker’s body turns up on the streets of Baxter itself. Delia investigates the murder relentlessly, determined to bring justice to the criminal enterprises plaguing her streets. But she’s not the only one hunting the killer, and when strangers turn up seeking their own form of justice for the murdered girl, Delia risks facing off against a vigilante movement that could put her job on the line. The breathtaking new thriller from US author A.F. Carter, Boomtown is the follow-up to the critically acclaimed The Hostage.