It's late summer 1984, and Babs Dionne's hometown of Waterville, Maine is on the verge of collapse. A strike at the paper mill has dragged on for a year, pitting neighbour against neighbour, leaving everyone broke and exhausted.
As head of the union local, Babs has presided over Little Canada's decline. She's sworn off violence since killing a man when she was a teenager, and has stuck to this vow even as it's become clear that only violence can save their community. When Babs' best friend Rita returns home after five years away, she is shocked by the state of things. And as the strike comes to a head, Rita notices something else: the men may be broken, but the women are furious, ready to do whatever necessary to take back Little Canada.
They just need Babs to be the fearless woman who emerged from the woods fifteen years ago, drenched in blood. They need Babs to face what she already knows: that the only way to fix things is to assume control. Completely. Mercilessly.
"A thriller in the best sense. You can't put the damn thing down, and the story of these down-and-outs fighting the powers that be will stay with you a long time. Solid-gold guarantee" - Stephen King
"There's more than a little of Don Corleone's ruthless amorality in Babs, who remains admirable in her desire to protect a working-class community even while she engages in criminal, sometimes bloody, activities. And much like The Godfather, the novel serves as allegory for a crumbling American infrastructure where citizens are victimized by rapacious capitalism. . . Currie's passion for the underclass is clear, and Babs' role as their Robin Hood-ish benefactor makes her an appealing antihero. A dark and lively modern-day outlaw tale." - Kirkus Reviews
"Every bit as brutal and satisfying as its predecessor." - Publishers Weekly, Summer Reads
"A good character study and historical crime story" - Booklist
"Sterling prequel to The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne . . . With muscular prose and palpable empathy, Currie deepens his already epic crime series. It's a winner." - Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
