From the Bookshelf of La Crescent Public Library…

[close] La Crescent Public Library's April book club selection was Bad Axe County by John Galligan. We're looking forward to hosting the author in a week!

Our discussion around this book focused on a lot of the themes and difficult subject matter in the story - human trafficking and misogyny. All agreed it was not an easy read in terms of the violence in the story, but that it was written well. For some members, it read like older crime thrillers, for others they focused on Sheriff Heidi Kick and the bullying and slander she faced as the female sheriff in a small community.

We spent most of our time discussing Heidi as a character. Despite many accidents and beatings she undergoes, some of which a few readers thought was too many and therefore unbelievable, or made her foolish for traveling alone, however we discussed the flipside to it as well. Trauma responses are sometimes survival methods of past trauma. For example, Heidi's unresolved feelings about her parents' deaths, along with the growing mistrust of her husband and the extent of his involvement in her current case, both play a role in blindsiding her as an obsessive police officer who will break rules to get what she wants and serve the justice she deems appropriate in the moment. But we definitely root for her! She's one of the "good guys."

A definite strength of the book that our members enjoyed was the very well researched and rooted writing of place. Book club members either knew or could easily picture the locations and references made to cities, businesses, waterways, old back roads.

Several of our members will continue on with the series and/or look at other books by the author.