Bitch Factor [Hardcover]

Chris Rogers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2, 1998

The name may be Dixie, but she's no fainting Southern belle: Any bail jumper in Houston knows that Dixie Flannigan is a woman to be reckoned with. It's a dangerous job for a woman to do solo, but she's armed with her .45, a stun gun, a shiv in her boot, and the most important weapon of all...Bitch Factor.

After ten years in the Houston DA's office, watching the guilty get off on technicalities, Dixie Flannigan was hardened, worn-out, and ready for a more hands-on style of justice. So she left it all behind to become a bounty hunter. Now, free to bring in criminals with no holds barred, she's already a local legend in the jails and courtrooms for her combination of brains, cunning, and macho style. But she's about to discover that being tough as nails is harder than it looks.

When her old friend Belle Richards--"Texas's Hottest Defense Lawyer"--calls in a favor two nights before Christmas, Dixie has no intention of taking the job. If she doesn't show up for her family's Christmas dinner, she'll be in the doghouse again. Then Dixie finds out Belle's client is an accused child-killer who ran down an eleven-year-old girl during a drunk and claims not to remember it. Parker Dann looks guilty as hell to the jury, and Belle is sure Dann's going to jump bail to save himself ten-to-twenty in prison. Dixie tells herself she's taking the job to see that justice is served and Dann faces his punishment, but she's really out for some private revenge on the child predators of the world. But what she should have remembered--and what she's about to learn the hard way--is that Lady Justice herself can be a bitch.

Dixie tracks Dann to the wilds of North Dakota and has him safely cuffed and shackled in the back of her Mustang, when a massive Blue Norther blizzard hits. It will take every ounce of her Superbitch abilities to get them back to Texas in one piece, hopefully before Dixie's bitch facade cracks...and before she starts believing that Parker Dann--drunk, child-killer, and bail jumper--is innocent.

Hard-edged, riveting, relentlessly suspenseful, Bitch Factor marks the debut of a talented new writer, and one of the toughest, most appealing heroines to appear in a long time.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's not surprising that Dixie Flannigan comes across as 250 pounds of attitude stuffed into a 120-pound package. As a Texas prosecutor turned bounty hunter, Dixie has to intimidate a collection of much larger males into believing she's capable of doing them serious harm if they try to escape her clutches. In her debut thriller, Chris Rogers pushes just hard enough on Dixie's tough-talking image to make her believable, and then drops her into a story where her smartness and humanity become equally important. Transporting an escaped prisoner through a South Dakota snowstorm, Dixie slowly finds herself believing him when he insists that somebody else killed the 11-year-old girl he's accused of running over while drunk. We believe him, too: the wisecracking Dixie isn't the only soft touch in town.

From Library Journal

Dixie Flannigan is a self-described "bitch," a legend in the jails of Houston, Texas, for her skills at bounty hunting, tracking, and returning the most determined bail jumpers. On Christmas Eve, she's hired to find Parker Dann, a charming alcoholic charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly running down 11-year-old Betsy Keyes as she walked to school. Dixie's search takes her to South Dakota, where she encounters her first blizzard and, unexpectedly, finds herself believing Parker's protests of innocence. When Dixie discovers that Betsy's younger sister was also killed in an "accident," terrible memories of her own childhood surface, threatening to demolish her facade of toughness. This first novel is masterful from beginning to end, and Dixie is the best new heroine to come along in years. Rogers deftly avoids expository traps, allowing Dixie's past to come out gradually as she pursues justice. And how refreshing is Parker, a male character who is warm, caring, honest...and a gourmet cook! Highly recommended to all libraries.
-?Laurel A. Wilson, Alexandrian P.L, Mount Vernon, Ind.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; First Edition, edition (February 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553106597
• ISBN-13: 978-0553106596
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,526,803 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unable to put-it-down read, July 30, 1998

By 

Nadia Cyr-Canty [e-mail] (Houston, Texas- formerly from Wisconsin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bitch Factor (Hardcover)

"Bitch Factor" was so good, and so believable that I could not put it down! As a former Police Officer (Detective on a Police Force in a Minnesota location), and avid reader, I found this story to be one of the best ever! The character, Dixie Flannigan and her dog Mud, wormed their way into my heart within minutes and I shall be looking for anything written by one of the most talented authors ever! Chris Rogers can be compared to Mary Higgins Clark and all the other terrific writers! "Bitch Factor" gave the picture of a gentle-tough gal, living and working, as a realistic person, and as a good book should, I could put myself in her shoes throughout the story. The snow storm was so realistic that anyone who has lived in the north would visualize themselves experiencing the same. Ms. Rogers shows so much talent as a writer that I am waiting anxiously for her next book, and I hope dozens more, of Dixie Flannigan's experiences.

Critics who did n! ot like this story seem to be unable to realize a real life situation and probably live a most sheltered life. "Bitch Factor" shows life as it is, and those of us who have lived close to the edge know the life protrayed as Dixie Flannigan in "Bitch Factor", is what it really is like out there. "Bitch Factor" will be given, by me, to many friends that also love a great read.

Keep up the great writing Ms. Rogers. Write for those of us who appreciate a talented, thrilling, suspense, tension filled, humor-packed, adventure.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Best first book I've read in a long time., March 30, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Bitch Factor (Hardcover)

Chris Rogers is going to be a wonderful writer. Her heroine is unique, first because she is a female bounty hunter and second because she is very real to me. If you were to substitute the word Bitch with strong and smart you would be closer to her persona but, of course, she wouldn't sell nearly as many first books, would she?

This is the beginning of a very long and fruitful writing career for a very good author. If I had to criticize one aspect of her writing, it is that she gave me almost too much information about Dixie. One of the things I enjoy most about the characters I follow is discovering more about their past lives in each successive book.

Welcome to the female mystery writers' club. You are already on my favorites list and I can tell you are headed to the top!

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Beach Book, July 3, 2001

By 

Leah Jesse "Giggling Archaeologist" (Victoria, B.C., Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bitch Factor (Mass Market Paperback)

The title caught my interest along with the flourescent orange cover page. The rest of the book kept my interest. This book is about a Houston bounty hunter, Dixie Flannigan, who goes after FTA Parker Dann. Dann is accused of killing a child in a drunk-driving accident and is running away from the prospect of a long prison term. Once she tracks him down, she needs to use every part of her tough-girl facade to get him back and before she starts to believe he's innocent. I liked Flannigan, because she reminded me of Stephanie Plum and Kinsey Milhone. I liked the way the story unfolded, although I found it predictable. And I liked the cast of characters that filled this book with humour and adventure. I also liked this book, because it's short and can be read in a day or two.