HUNGRY TOWN

There appears to be no escape from the voracious appetite of this dead-end Rust Belt town, where the deserted mill symbolizes how little hope remains.

The Lodi, Ohio, of this debut novel offers nothing to do, nowhere to go, and few prospects for anything better. In setting at least, hard-boiled crime fiction doesn’t come much harder boiled than this. Kids get in trouble, because what else is there to do? The good cops try to battle the disillusionment that has corroded the ideals of the bad cops. There are two seemingly distinct plotlines that must inevitably intersect. Stefani Rieux is one of the best and most decorated cops in Ohio, though she has combated the casual and relentless sexism of her colleagues throughout her career. Her partner, Harry Mulqueen, has her back and her trust. They also might be in love with each other, though neither is ready to admit it, perhaps partially because she is engaged to Harry’s slightly wealthier and more ambitious brother. They get called to the mill to investigate a disturbance, which involves kids shooting some amateur porn. Because of some heavy-handed treatment by another cop, one of the kids flees, jumps, and dies. There are repercussions for all of them and throughout the community. Around the same time, a young woman arrives in town after a series of foster homes have honed her survival instincts. She is fleeing from a grifter boyfriend and the mysterious disappearance of a young boy who had been left in her care. She finds a job at the local diner, which serves as a sanctuary for the regulars. Her story, the cops’ story, and the story of the dead kid and his survivors become enmeshed, but there can be no real resolution, not in a town like this.

There are plenty of stock characters here, but a literary flair lifts this above the routine procedural.