Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman returns for the latest instalment in the fast-paced crime series. In a rural part of Nation County, the body of a dead male is discovered in a ditch with one gunshot wound to the head. What appears to be a routine investigation for Carl Houseman and his team turns into a mysterious case, as they learn that there is no way of identifying the dead man: no fingerprint records, no dental records, nothing. This is the cue for an FBI investigator to enter the scene; a new face from the bureau, who suspects it is the body of a Columbian terrorist. Meanwhile, a local meat-packing plant has been accused of passing off contaminated produce. In a town straining under the pressure of mass immigration, the Jewish plant owners suspect foul play. Can there be a connection with the Columbian corpse? Houseman and FBI agent Hester Gorse chase the leads once again in another nail-biting race to discover the truth.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Review
PRAISE FOR DONALD HARSTAD: 'Harstad's books are terrific and really capture the atmosphere of small-town America, where the twentieth century almost seems to have slipped by unnoticed.' Independent on Sunday 'Harstad's first-hand experience ensures his storytelling always rings true.' Arena
A hotbed of federal activity erupts against the bleak backdrop of Nation County, Iowa when veteran Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman and Iowa DCI agent Hester Gorse find a victim of an execution-style killing on a quiet road near a hog farm. When CNN, the FBI, and numerous other governmental agencies swarm the rural county it becomes apparent that there may well be a terrorist connection and the local kosher meat plant its target. A stakeout results in Houseman and his three colleagues being pinned down in an old barn on a seemingly endless cold December night. Fending off fire and grenades from unknown assailants, the four-strong law enforcement team wait for back-up and the alleviation of operational red tape. Suspense builds through dexterous storytelling as background weaves cleverly around this tense white-knuckle standoff. Harstad, himself a veteran Iowan law enforcement officer reports the tale with ease presenting even the most mundane police procedures with finesse. His style is muscular in a been-there-done-that sort of way, which enlightens the reader on the warts-and-all graft of American policing. This book is fifth in the nail-biting Carl Houseman series and will thrill fans of razor-sharp, gritty cop thrillers. (Kirkus UK)
With 26 years as an Iowa police officer behind him, the retired Harstad handles his procedurals with absolute authority and his rural Nation County, Iowa, characters with a dry wittiness. Here, in his fifth Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman thriller (Code Sixty-One, 2002), one can spot what looks like an editorial hand at work in the opening fifty pages when a very long, slow, but amusing crime scene investigation, aflood with ritual detail, is livened up with interchapters woven from the much later big shootout with a wild gang of terrorists. Carl (55, six foot three, 280 pounds) and his DCI buddy Hester Gorse are called to investigate an execution-style homicide near a deep-country farm: the victim has been shotgunned from behind, with most of his head between the ears scooped out and now fanning the gravel. There's a lot to discuss about this crime scene, and as County Medical Examiner Henry Zimmer and the ambulance crew and Carl's surly boss Lamar arrive, it's old home week for Harstad fans. Is the crime drug-related? (The county, with its big new kosher meat-processing plant and influx of immigrants, now floats 18 different European tongues and weird-sounding varieties of Spanish.) The dead man turns out to be a plant worker but not the Mexican he pretended to be; he was Colombian, dealt in meth, and had some very, very bad friends. The day he dies the plant closes for a few days because its many illegal alien workers fear deportation. Soon a second plant worker dies of ricin poisoning: Were those Zionist pigs Hester and Carl poisoned as well? The two end up trapped in a barn surrounded by terrorists lobbing grenades at them. Meanwhile, red tape (this is actually a federal case) imperils their safety amid the explosions. Top-drawer Harstad, full of really cool dialogue. (Kirkus Reviews)
A hotbed of federal activity erupts against the bleak backdrop of Nation County, Iowa when veteran Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman and Iowa DCI agent Hester Gorse find a victim of an execution-style killing on a quiet road near a hog farm. When CNN, the FBI, and numerous other governmental agencies swarm the rural county it becomes apparent that there may well be a terrorist connection and the local kosher meat plant its target. A stakeout results in Houseman and his three colleagues being pinned down in an old barn on a seemingly endless cold December night. Fending off fire and grenades from unknown assailants, the four-strong law enforcement team wait for back-up and the alleviation of operational red tape. Suspense builds through dexterous storytelling as background weaves cleverly around this tense white-knuckle standoff. Harstad, himself a veteran Iowan law enforcement officer reports the tale with ease presenting even the most mundane police procedures with finesse. His style is muscular in a been-there-done-that sort of way, which enlightens the reader on the warts-and-all graft of American policing. This book is fifth in the nail-biting Carl Houseman series and will thrill fans of razor-sharp, gritty cop thrillers. (Kirkus UK)
With 26 years as an Iowa police officer behind him, the retired Harstad handles his procedurals with absolute authority and his rural Nation County, Iowa, characters with a dry wittiness. Here, in his fifth Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman thriller (Code Sixty-One, 2002), one can spot what looks like an editorial hand at work in the opening fifty pages when a very long, slow, but amusing crime scene investigation, aflood with ritual detail, is livened up with interchapters woven from the much later big shootout with a wild gang of terrorists. Carl (55, six foot three, 280 pounds) and his DCI buddy Hester Gorse are called to investigate an execution-style homicide near a deep-country farm: the victim has been shotgunned from behind, with most of his head between the ears scooped out and now fanning the gravel. There's a lot to discuss about this crime scene, and as County Medical Examiner Henry Zimmer and the ambulance crew and Carl's surly boss Lamar arrive, it's old home week for Harstad fans. Is the crime drug-related? (The county, with its big new kosher meat-processing plant and influx of immigrants, now floats 18 different European tongues and weird-sounding varieties of Spanish.) The dead man turns out to be a plant worker but not the Mexican he pretended to be; he was Colombian, dealt in meth, and had some very, very bad friends. The day he dies the plant closes for a few days because its many illegal alien workers fear deportation. Soon a second plant worker dies of ricin poisoning: Were those Zionist pigs Hester and Carl poisoned as well? The two end up trapped in a barn surrounded by terrorists lobbing grenades at them. Meanwhile, red tape (this is actually a federal case) imperils their safety amid the explosions. Top-drawer Harstad, full of really cool dialogue. (Kirkus Reviews)
About the Author
Donald Harstad is a twenty-six year veteran of the Clayton County Sheriff's Department in northeastern Iowa where he was a former deputy sheriff. He is the author of three earlier crime stories featuring Carl Houseman: ELEVEN DAYS, THE KNOWN DEAD and THE BIG THAW.
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