THE COUNTRY ROAD MURDERS by James Patterson and Mike Lupica

5 stars

A college football star and local Southern small-town hero finds himself unexpectedly sidelined from starting as a quarterback with the Pittsburgh Pirates due to an injury. Silas Tucker must face the shattering of his dreams as well as the loss of a close friend, with no clear path forward. He returns to the North Carolina farm of his father’s mom who raised him and puts himself into hard farm work as well as working out intensely to deal with what’s happened to him. Slias also relies on his best friend Taylor and her husband, a local junior police officer to help him heal.

But Silas and his loyal friends get drawn in to a much larger issue surrounding a family, the Crocketts, the town has dubbed the “Southern Mafia” due to all the drug dealing, crime, violence and mayhem that seems to track back to them. Two huge issues loom in Cross Rivers: a huge uptick in drug dealing to high school students and the sudden disappearances of many young women in the town who seem to have been snatched but without any ransom notes. One of the missing girl’s Dads begs Silas for his help in finding her.

Silas is off to investigate the missing girls and already has a beef with the family: who he thinks may have been tied to his father’s unsolved murder. Silas’ Dad was the principal of the local high school and a highly principled man. Silas follows in his Dad’s footsteps as he turns his football hero status in the town to take on and try to take down the Southern mafia.

From there on out the suspense and tension is non-stop and just keeps ratcheting up! A fantastic read!

Thanks to Little Brown & Company and NetGalley for an advance reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.