Suspense wraps each page of Chip Ballard's gripping novel, Peace River, set in the small, rural, central Florida town, Flowing Wells. This finely crafted whodunit keeps the reader guessing until the end as it hurdles through a tangled web of lies, deception, perversion, and murder.
When the body of Pinewood County's most promising senior, Sandy Carlton, is found face down on the bank of Peace River with a bullet in the back of her head, Pinewood County Sheriff Charlie Morris's investigation takes him to a very dark corner of a sleepy Southern town.
At first Charlie cannot imagine anyone having cause to kill the popular student. But soon he begins to realize any number of people could have wanted her dead, and even he is shocked at secrets that are exposed.
Chip Ballard's impressive first novel is murderously good. "Peace River" peers behind the calm facade of life in small-town Florida to find a deadly mix of drugs, greed, sex and high-school jealousy. Ballard's writing is crisp and clean, his plotting is impeccable, and he'll introduce you to some characters you only think you know and like. There's a lot going on in this novel and every bit of it is entertaining. Be ready for some surprises and don't trust anyone you meet as "Peace River" keeps you turning the pages.
-Rick Wilber, author of "The Cold Road," "My Father's Game," and the forthcoming mystery "Rum Point."
Dr. Rick Wilber
School of Mass Communications
University of South Florida