Ron Currie

It's late summer 1984, and Babs Dionne's hometown of Waterville, Maine is on the verge of collapse. A strike at the paper mill has dragged on for a year, pitting neighbour against neighbour, leaving everyone broke and exhausted. As head of the union local, Babs has presided over Little Canada's decline. She's sworn off violence since killing a man when she was a teenager, and has stuck to this vow even as it's become clear that only violence can save their community. When Babs' best friend Rita returns home after five years away, she is shocked by the state of things. And as the strike comes to a head, Rita notices something else: the men may be broken, but the women are furious, ready to do whatever necessary to take back Little Canada. They just need Babs to be the fearless woman who emerged from the woods fifteen years ago, drenched in blood. They need Babs to face what she already knows: that the only way to fix things is to assume control. Completely. Mercilessly.

'A tour de force'Guardian'A bloody yet surprisingly warm-hearted spin on The Godfather. Great stuff'The Times, Best Thrillers of 2025 Babs Dionne, doting grandmother and vicious crime matriarch, rules her small town with an iron fist. She controls the flow of drugs into its borders with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a former soldier struggling with addiction. When a drug cartel discovers that its numbers are down in the area, they send a malevolent force, known only as The Man, to investigate. At the same time, Babs's youngest daughter, Sis, has gone missing, which doesn't seem at all like a coincidence. In twenty-four hours, Sis will be found dead, and the whole town will seek shelter from Babs's wrath...

''Literary thrillers just don''t come any better'' Richard Russo''Heartfelt, beguiling, gritty and true'' Justin CroninSometimes your ancestors breathe through you. Sometimes, they call for vengeance...Babs Dionne, doting grandmother and vicious crime matriarch, rules her small town with an iron fist. She controls the flow of drugs into its borders with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a former soldier struggling with addiction.When a drug cartel discovers that its numbers are down in the area, they send a malevolent force, known only as The Man, to investigate. At the same time, Babs''s youngest daughter, Sis, has gone missing, which doesn''t seem at all like a coincidence. In twenty-four hours, Sis will be found dead, and the whole town will seek shelter from Babs''s wrath...''Darkly funny, shocking, and unblinking... Who would guess that there''s another Godfather saga?'' C.J. Box, bestselling author of Three-Inch Teeth