Publisher Description
In this newest entry in the Edgar-nominated Delia Mariola series, a serial killer stalks the streets of a depressed Rust Belt town on the cusp of revitalization.
Johnny-Boy is a killer. He lives for the thrill of the hunt, the stalking of human prey. Fittingly, he works as a hitman but always finds time for extracurricular activity on the side. When a new assignment sends him to Baxter, a depressed Rust Belt town experiencing a chaotic upheaval at the dawn of a new economic beginning, Johnny-Boy plans to keep things professional. But when he realizes that the streets are awash with drug activity, small-time mobsters, and loads of transitory laborers in town to construct a new car plant, Johnny-Boy sees an opportunity to have a little fun while he’s there. . . .
The work of cleaning up a town of lowlifes and criminals is a never-ending slog for Delia Mariola, Chief of Detectives. But when a young teenager—nearly the same age as her own son—is found tortured to death, the stakes suddenly feel higher than ever. Delia brings her best detective, Blanche Weber, onto the case and together they set out to discover who the killer is and what he’s doing in this town. But having two female detectives lead the case seems to rub a certain segment of the locals the wrong way, especially when one of the women is a hothead, the other is a lesbian, and both have risen to the top due to their excellent and uncompromising work as detectives. As they watch the streets in an effort to catch a killer, Delia and Blanche must also watch their own backs for attacks from within.
The fourth installment in the saga of Delia Mariola and her hard-bitten town of Baxter, Johnny-Boy is a tough, gritty crime novel with an unforgettable queer heroine at its center.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Carter's brutal yet satisfying fourth case for Delia Mariola (after Boomtown) brings the chief of detectives face-to-face with a misanthropic contract killer. Delia taps Blanche Weber, her best investigator on the police force in the rust belt town of Baxter, to help her solve the murder of a teenager who's been tortured to death. As their inquiry takes them into the murky world of the local drug trade, the women contend with pushback from those in their conservative, economically depressed town who don't appreciate two women sniffing around so boldly. Meanwhile, a hired gun named Johnny-Boy blows into Baxter for a job, then decides to do some Dexter-like housecleaning while he's in town, taking out drug runners and two-bit mobsters on the side. As the bodies pile up, Delia and Blanche try to determine if the deaths are connected to the teenager's murder. Carter toggles between the perspectives of Delia, Blanche, and Johnny-Boy, which provides welcome variety, but is occasionally jarring, especially when Johnny-Boy's sections introduce sudden bursts of graphic violence. Still, thriller fans with strong stomachs will have a blast.
