When Somerton County "bad girl" Leona Darling goes missing, Deputy John Lee Quarrels is ordered to find her. How hard could it be? Just look in the nearest gin mill, right?

But Leona was nowhere to be found. As he begins asking questions, John Lee discovers that Leona was a badge bunny, a cop groupie who was well-known on a less than professional basis by many of his fellow lawmen.

He also discovers that asking questions can get you into trouble, especially when the people you are asking wear badges, carry guns for a living, and have something to lose. John Lee quickly discovers that he doesn't know some of his coworkers as well as he thought he did.

And John Lee isn't the only one looking for Leona. A big, bad-tempered repo man with a penchant for violence wants to find her, too, and he isn't hampered by the same rules John Lee must follow. Before long, two more young women disappear, blood flows, and somebody will die. By the time the story reaches its tragic end, John Lee will learn secrets he never wanted to know and will never look at his fellow man the same way again.

As sultry as a Florida back road in August, as mysterious as the South's live oak trees dripping with Spanish moss, and as deadly as a copperhead strike, the third book in New York Times best-selling author Nick Russell's John Lee Quarrels series will keep you listening late into the night.