Badwater [Mass Market Paperback]

Clinton McKinzie (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 27, 2006

From The Edge of Justice to Crossing the Line, Clinton McKinzie has captivated readers with thrillers that combine heart-pounding action with searing human drama–and feature a truly unforgettable hero, Special Agent Antonio Burns. Now McKinzie delivers a new novel filled with his trademarks–the thrill of danger, the clash between the law and the lawless, and the struggles of a family bound by love, loyalty, and a hunger for adventure. Here McKinzie takes us to a stark Wyoming landscape, where one tragic moment plunges Antonio Burns into a whirlpool of hate, violence, and revenge.

Badwater

Antonio Burns is at a crossroads–he rarely sees his six-month-old daughter, and his career has spiraled downward from hotshot golden boy to nearly having his badge confiscated. And things are about to get even worse. When a ten-year-old boy dies in a drowning incident in Badwater, Wyoming, the townspeople want the tourist they feel is responsible convicted of murder. In an already explosive case, Burns has been forced into working for the prosecution–and when a media-hungry celebrity lawyer takes over the defense, justice turns into a charade.

Clinging to his sanity by climbing the crags and caverns of a local canyon, recovering from the near death of his daredevil brother and his breakup with the mother of his child, Antonio tries to turn his back on this situation. But he can’t. He finds one crucial piece of evidence, makes one mistake with a woman, and then turns to his brother, Roberto, for help. Soon he’s all the way in–no matter what the cost to his career, his life, or to the people who still count him as one of their own.…

The spellbinding story of a cop drawn to danger, a community steeped in hatred, and an explosive mix of opportunists, idealists, and a few very bad men, Badwater is a taut, thunderous novel–and Clinton McKinzie at his electrifying best.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

McKinzie's rock-climbing expertise and his ability to write clean, dramatic action scenes make his fifth thriller starring Antonio "Ant" Burns (after 2004's Crossing the Line) a breath of bracing mountain air. On assignment to the Wyoming state police as a special investigator, Ant misses his six-month-old daughter (who lives with her mother in Denver), and he's in trouble at work (using a gun-shaped Taser on an unresisting jail prisoner isn't standard police practice). Then Ant gets involved in the case of a tourist accused of murdering a local 10-year-old boy in the town of Badwater. When an ambitious lawyer who knows how to play the media like a kazoo enters the case, Ant really has problems. As Nevada Barr does with her national park settings, McKinzie makes Burns's love of rock climbing an important part of his hero's life—without allowing this passion to overshadow his exciting stories.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

A breath of bracing mountain air.... As Nevada Barr does with her national park settings, McKinzie makes Burns’s love of rock climbing an important part of his hero’s life—without allowing this passion to overshadow his exciting stories."—Publishers Weekly

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Dell (June 27, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440242193
• ISBN-13: 978-0440242192
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,026,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Explosive Mix of Idealists, Politicians, and Rednecks, July 16, 2005

By 

L. Kelly (Lakewood, CO) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Badwater (Hardcover)

Wyoming cop Antonio Burns is at a crossroads in his career, having been recently demoted from a top undercover agent to a mere scout. His unofficial new job description consists of cruising the backroads of Wyoming, searching for clandestine methamphetamine labs. One afternoon, while searching for clues of illegal drug manufacturing,, "Ant" hears shouts at the Badwater river, goes to investigate, and ends up diving into the river in an attempt to rescue a 10-year old boy who has fallen into the river. Although Ant manages to pull the boy out of the water, the young drowning victim is declared dead on arrival at the hospital. Anton questions the people on the scene who witnessed the boy's fall into the river and finds out that the young boy and two of his cousins were harassing tourists rafting in the river by throwing rocks at them from the cliff above, and Jonah Strasburg, a New York musician, became involved in a shoving match with the boys and accidentally pushed the victim off the cliff.

However, with the political climate in town and the local townspeople's hunger for revenge for the boy's drowning, Jonah quickly finds himself being charged with first degree murder. And Antonio Burns finds himself assigned as the lead investigator for the prosecution. Antonio is a good cop at heart, though, and feels that a first degree murder charge is way too trumped up for an accidental death. The drama of small town politics quickly unfolds in this excellent story. Author McKinzie does a great job of making the small town characters seem true to life.

Besides his burning desire to see real justice served, Antonio Burns also has a burning passion for rock climbing. In particular, Burns is determined to conquer what he believes to be the most difficult "fat crack" in the world in a canyon near Badwater. I enjoyed the technical details of the climb as well.

This was the first Antonio Burns novel that I've read, although it is the fifth one written by McKinzie. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and I plan to go back and read the others. If you're looking for a great police procedural set in the West, I highly recommend this book!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WHY ISN'T CLINTON MCKINZIE ON THE BESTSELLER LISTS???, May 18, 2005

By 

John Daley (Attica, MI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Badwater (Hardcover)

I've been a fan of Clinton McKinzie's books since I picked up Edge Of Justice at Borders on a whim. His thrillers all feature tough, but misunderstood cop Antonio Burns. Burns was once a hotshot, but after a series of events that culminated in him going into Mexico and killing the drug dealer who crippled his brother. With is career in the toilet, he spends his days traveling the back roads and woods of Wyoming looking for drug labs. I'm not going to get into the plot line, that's what the book jacket is for.
What makes these books so great are the characters. Antonio Burns and his drug addicted brother Roberto are real. Almost like they are alive out west somewhere right now.
There is nothing bad about Badwater. It grabs you on the first page and doesn't let go until the last page. Don't start this book on a week night because you won't be able to put it down to go to work the next day. But it is a short read. I packed it away in one sitting.
The only complaint I have, and the reason for the 4 stars instead of 5, is that Mckinzie has Burns use drugs. This bothers me for two reasons. One is that Burns brother is a drug addict and he has watched how using nearly killed Roberto. The second reason is that Burns is a narcotics cop. His job is to stop the flow of drugs. It is a minor detail but to me it did detract from an otherwise fantastic story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars McKinzie has run out of line!, March 8, 2011

By 

Ghenghis (Monvolia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Badwater (Mass Market Paperback)

Very disappointing follow up to "Crossing the Line". Depressing actually.

Since McKinzie has gone on haitus for the past 5 years its easy to see that
his creative spark is GONE! This book leads us down the dreary path of loss
after loss after loss directed at Antonio Burns, with seemingly no hope of
recovery. And thats how we are left, with a defanged lone wolf with no badge,
no friends, and no better half.

Trust me, if you have just discovered this series and are, or think you are
a fan, do NOT read this book. Its terrible.