The Drummers
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Police Chief Josie Gray’s life is complicated when sparks and bullets begin to fly after her small town in Texas is overrun by a community wishing to live “off grid.”
The residents of the small town of Artemis are suspicious when a community called The Drummers moves into a local abandoned church. Their leader, Gideon, claims their aim is simple: to live peacefully off the grid without government interference. But when local power substations are sabotaged and the whole of West Texas loses electricity, all fingers point to them.
Forced to intervene, Police Chief Josie Gray and her team try to enter the church only for gunshots to be exchanged. Inside the church one young girl is killed, with Gideon claiming Josie’s stray bullet hit her.
Was Josie responsible? Did one of The Drummers murder the girl and use Josie as a patsy? Were The Drummers responsible for the power outage? As Josie identifies an ever-widening pool of suspects, she learns of a shocking connection reaching far beyond West Texas.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Drummers, so-called because they march to their own beat or more precisely to the dictates of their charismatic leader, Gideon Masters, have taken over an abandoned church in Artemis, Tex., in Fields's timely sixth outing for Josie Gray, the town's police chief (after 2016's Midnight Crossing). According to Gideon, the Drummers are "like-minded people who want to live off the grid without government interference," but could they be responsible for the shots fired at three West Texas power substations? When a Drummer member, a paroled felon, is seen with a handgun tucked into his belt, Josie is forced to intervene. A shoot-out ensues at the church, and 15-year-old Mandy Seneck, a cult member, is fatally struck by a stray bullet. The internet soon fills with posts accusing Josie of creating the circumstances that led to Mandy's death. Another death within the Drummers' community shifts the investigation's direction to Gideon. Fields lays out a plausible route for cult indoctrination of those who think—or at one time thought—of themselves as good people. This convincing look at homegrown terrorism will resonate with many readers.
