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An overnight raid led by the DEA and local law enforcement startles dairy farmer Jake Grummond and his wife, Mary Margaret. Jake’s alarm is soon replaced by indignation as the DEA and the sheriff’s deputies begin a search of his properties and detain a group of his workers who are suspected of narcotics smuggling. The DEA agent leading the raid is antagonistic toward Jake and his employment of immigrants at the dairy. The aggressive tactics used by law enforcement include violence against Mary Margaret and an employee’s wife. The search turns up no drugs, but Jake’s problems are only beginning. Jake knows the sheriff who accompanied the DEA and holds him accountable. The detaining of his workers jeopardizes Jake’s entire operation, and soon he faces mounting issues that could prove too much for one to bear.
The excellent plot of this book is particularly effective in the wake of past government agency raids at Ruby Ridge and Waco in the 1990s. Government overreach and police action have never been as topical as they are in the current environment. The protagonist is under a strain that could derail any individual’s existence as his business is endangered, his workers face deportation, and his immediate family physically and psychologically breaks down. Jake’s inner strength is coupled with his desire for answers, and his pursuit is paralleled by the investigation of Sheriff Cecil Blakenship. Blakenship and Jake are not friends, but they are allied in their need to find the reasons behind the mistaken raid. Rosenbaum draws out the dramatic suspense in a proficient way, with the twists and turns in the action arriving just in time to jolt the reader. Those looking for a riveting tale that seems highly plausible considering modern-day attitudes and practices won’t be disappointed with this one.
RECOMMENDED by the US Review