Publishers Weekly
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Full of imaginative plotting touches, Deutermann's fast-paced sequel to his acclaimed 2005 suspense novel, The Cat Dancers, finds Cam Richter, formerly a lieutenant with the Manceford County, N.C., sheriff's office, now doing less stressful work as the head of a PI firm staffed with other ex-cops. Park ranger Mary Ellen Goode, Richter's more-than-colleague who was severely traumatized in their last joint inquiry, reaches out to him for help after a probationary ranger is raped and left for dead in a Smoky Mountains national park. Richter's inquiries soon reveal that the crime was tangentially related to a much bigger criminal conspiracy, possibly centered on methamphetamine sales orchestrated by a figure out of a Grimm's fairy tale, the evil Grinny Creigh, and her incestuous clan. The author's impressive ability to bring the remote Appalachian region to life bodes well for the health of this series. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Ex-cop Cam Richter returns to the North Carolina backwoods for a blood feud with backwoods royalty. In a certain remote section of the Smoky Mountains, the Creighs rule by Divine Right. Just ask M.C. Mingo, sheriff in perpetuity of Robbins County. Better yet, ask the clan's matriarch, Grinny Creigh, who spins her gluey web over what the locals have learned to call Spider Mountain. Why is she called Grinny? Because she grins "the way a hungry witch grins at a fat little child who blunders into her cauldron room asking about lunch." Responding to an SOS from his park ranger friend Mary Ellen Goode, whose young protg has been brutally beaten by an assailant thought to be outfitted in Creigh livery, Richter, ever sensitive to his inner knight, turns up ready to slay dragons. He gathers up Frick and Frack, his brave and brilliant German Shepherds, and goes hunting where no one unapproved by the Creighs dares hunt. In response, the arrogant, supremely confident Creighs declare open season on Richter, expecting a quick and easy kill. But now they're dealing with the stuff of series heroes, and Richter vs. Creigh is a battle royal. Most Deutermann novels (The Cat Dancers, 2005, etc.) are character-driven. Here, slam-bang action outweighs nuance. The result is best for short attention spans. Copyright ŠKirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

High in the mountains of North Carolina, a family operated methamphetamine gang has finally, after years of operation outside the law, gone too far. When Cam Richter, a freelance investigative consultant (and formerly a lieutenant in the sheriff's department), discovers that the malevolent Creigh family has branched out into child abuse, he vows to do everything in his power to bring them down, once and for all. But he didn't reckon on Grinny Creigh, matriarch of the clan and an incredibly ruthless, amoral villain. She is also one of the crime genre's more original and memorable creations, a mother-cum-crime-lord with a heart forged out of cold steel. Grinny is a welcome change from the usual sort of thriller villain, and she makes what could have been a ho-hum novel into something altogether different. This is definitely a cut above previous offerings (mainly Clancy-like military thrillers) from retired U.S. Navy captain Deutermann. --David Pitt Copyright 2006 Booklist