TW/CW: alcohol abuse, death of an infant, pet death, cults, domestic violence, police corruption
This is the prequel sequel to Ashkanani's 2021 novel Welcome to Cooper - which I absolutely loved. In Welcome to Cooper, we see Joe Finch as the partner to that book's main character, Thomas. This novel is set some time before Welcome to Cooper and we see Joe Finch evolve into the man and detective we see later. This felt almost like a villain origin story since Joe was clearly an antagonist in Thomas's life. But even if you haven't read Welcome to Cooper, this was still a compelling police procedural and works perfectly well as a stand alone read. But if you did read Welcome to Cooper, this is a wonderful follow up that gave me more of that gritty, small town feel that I loved.
Ashkanani does a fantastic job of making the town of Cooper its own character. We get so many details from the oppressive heat to the ancillary characters all seeming like they're just biding their time for something better to come along. Cooper is not painted as a picturesque, middle America, small town. Instead, it is gritty, sleazy, corrupt hole that these characters find themselves in and it seems like anyone who has the means to leave the town does so in a hurry. The people who live their do their best to make it a community, but there's only so much they can do. This was really highlighted when Joe - who grew up in Cooper - is reminiscing about fellow high school students with an old friend and when he inquires where X person is now, their stories are never happy. I also really loved how Joe, an insider to the town, was paired with an outsider so Joe could explain to his partner how this town really works. Getting that outsider perspective and sometimes shock at just how bad this town can be was a great lens for the reader.
I was pleasantly surprised when we got chapters from the POV of a woman in the cult - Laura. Her chapters start at about the 10% mark in the book and then we get one of her chapters for every 3ish of Joe's. Of course, it isn't immediately apparent how Laura and Joe's plots are connected, but they do come together eventually in the end. I was pretty equally interested in both plot lines, although I was more emotionally invested in Joe's. I think these cult chapters were a great way to break up the more procedural sections of the main plot line. I did find the cult plot line to move pretty quickly, but I didn't find myself lost or confused at any time. We just didn't get as much build up or tension that I think we would have if the cult plot was primary.
The actual police investigation was great and had some great reveals. We get a good balance of leads, dead ends, and double backing onto previously visited suspects. There were also some great pay off moments were a small detail from earlier paid off big time later on in the investigation. Having read Welcome to Cooper, I knew generally how some details were going to play out because I knew how Joe is in that book, but Ashkanani did a great job at really building up Joe's character that I was still hoping some details would end up differently. I also think the villain had a pretty great reveal that I didn't see coming. I didn't find the ending quite as bleak as Welcome to Cooper's ending, but it also wasn't what I would call a happy ending. I'm pretty sure no one in Cooper gets a truly happy ending.
Overall, this was a really great read and I loved being back in Cooper. This gave me more of that gritty, depressing, oppressive despair that I loved in the original. It was so interesting to see Joe's evolution from this version into the version we see later on. The investigation was well plotted and I was interested from start to finish.
Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC
Publication date: March 8, 2022
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