Pages: 324 pages

Publication Date: July 4, 2021

Genre: Suspense / Thriller / Crime Thriller

Following a tactical raid at an Oklahoma farm, a phone call sends U.S. Deputy Marshal Piper McKay rushing back to the East Texas cattle ranch where she grew up. Her grandmother, Jennie Layton, is near death from a crushed skull. When local authorities claim the cause of the injury was an accident, Piper isn’t convinced.

Who wants Jennie dead and why? Is the reason connected to a dubious contract Piper finds in Jennie’s desk? Piper realizes her grandmother isn’t the only one in danger when she barely escapes a deadly attack. Thrust into the middle of a high-stakes, high-risk shell game, Piper’s become the target. The case takes a bizarre turn when Piper unknowingly crosses paths with a Special Ranger. If he can’t derail her investigation, it could cost him his life.

With millions of dollars on the line, nothing will stop a ring of cold-blooded killers, including the murders of a U.S. Marshal and a Special Ranger.

 

 

 

 

Teachers claim they do not have favorite students and as an editor, I also try to live by that.  Every author I work with has a special place in my heart.  But let’s get serious – there are 4 in my world that may have a slightly larger spot in my heart.  The ones that when I get the email that the next book is ready for me, I get a little more excited and a happier skip in my step.  Anita Dickason is one of those.  I fell in love with her stories long before I had the privilege of working with her.  I would easily put her books up against any of the big names or New York Times bestsellers. 

In this book, Dickason uses all her personal knowledge, and a ton of research to portray U. S. Deputy Marshal Piper McKay as a woman to be respected and impressed with.  Set in the heart of Texas with cattle rustling taking on a whole to meaning and advanced to the modern-day, I learned a lot about Special Rangers, the cattle business and even DNA.  There are so many agencies working together in Texas that it could have been confusing; however, Dickson takes the reader through the process and makes it crystal clear how they all work and interact.   She also uses incredible minor characters to enhance every step of the story. Intrigue, action, and intelligent characters kept my attention focused on every page.

PS – I really enjoyed the character that shares my name!   

 

 

 

 

Award-winning Author Anita Dickason is a twenty-two veteran of the Dallas Police Department. She served as a patrol officer, undercover narcotics detective, advanced accident investigator, tactical officer, and first female sniper on the Dallas SWAT team.

 

Anita writes about what she knows, cops and crime. Her police background provides an unending source of inspiration for her plots and characters. Many incidents and characters portrayed in her books are based on personal experience. For her, the characters are the fun part of writing as she never knows where they will take her. There is always something out of the ordinary in her stories.

 

In Anita’s debut novel, Sentinels of the Night, she created an elite FBI Unit, the Trackers. Since then, she has added three more Tracker crime thrillers, Going Gone!, A u 7 9, and Operation Navajo. The novels are not a series and can be read in any order.

 

As a Texas author, many of Anita’s books are based in Texas, or there is a link to Texas. When she stepped outside of the Tracker novels and wrote, Not Dead, she selected Meridian, a small community in central Texas for the location.