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A Novel
by Erin Young
Some things don't stay buried.
A breakneck procedural that is beautifully written and masterfully crafted, Erin Young's The Fields is a dynamite debut - crime fiction at its very finest.
It starts with a body―a young woman found dead in an Iowa cornfield, on one of the few family farms still managing to compete with the giants of Big Agriculture.
When Sergeant Riley Fisher, newly promoted to head of investigations for the Black Hawk County Sheriff's Office, arrives on the scene, an already horrific crime becomes personal when she discovers the victim was a childhood friend, connected to a dark past she thought she'd left behind.
The investigation grows complicated as more victims are found. Drawn deeper in, Riley soon discovers implications far beyond her Midwest town.
"Fast, smart and authentic. Riley Fisher is a bold new character on the crime scene, grounding this eerie and engaging thriller. The Fields is one of the best procedurals I've read in a good long while." - Ace Atkins, New York Time bestselling author of The Heathens
"The Fields is my favorite sort of novel: the sharp prose and explosive plot immediately drew me in, but the richly textured exploration of life in rural America stayed with me long after I finished. I hope to see more of Sergeant Riley Fisher, the novel's dynamic female protagonist. This is a classic crime series in the making." - Cristina Alger, New York Times bestselling author of Girls Like Us
"Some things don't stay buried. [P]romising if overstuffed...Young delivers a disturbing, twist-riddled thriller stocked with well-drawn characters. Fans of Midwestern crime fiction will be pleased." - Publishers Weekly
"[Young is] determined to shine a light on a real problem—the destruction of family farms to feed corporate greed—but...a complicated plot overshadows solid character development in this gory debut." - Kirkus Reviews
This information about The Fields was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Erin Young's debut thriller, The Fields, was inspired by an article about the menacing power of Big Agriculture. A decision to set the novel in Iowa, corn-capital of the world, led her to make a fascinating journey across the state, from chance encounters with cops and farmers to an audience with a local mayor, shooting Glocks and getting caught in supercell storms, from the state capitol to the state fair. Having grown up in a fishing village in Devon, she is drawn to the claustrophobic dramas of rural small-towns and the secrets they hide.
Erin Young is the pseudonym of acclaimed historical novelist, Robyn Young, author of eight internationally bestselling novels. She has been published in 19 languages in 22 countries, selling two million books worldwide. The Fields is her first contemporary thriller. She lives and writes in Brighton, England.
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