Pushed Too Far (2012)
By Ann Voss Peterson
How did I get this book? I bought it.
Available on Amazon.

Pushed Too Far focuses on Val Ryker, the first female police chief of a small Wisconsin town. As the book opens, Ryker is faced with a cop’s nightmare: sudden strong evidence of wrongful conviction in the case that made her reputation. Ryker has to figure out what really happened in that two-year-old case and, even more importantly, what’s going on right under her nose. Oh, and the guy she helped put behind bars? Maybe he’s innocent, maybe he’s not. But one thing’s for sure: he’s feeling mighty vengeful.

Ann Voss Peterson’s new thriller is terrific: intricately yet tightly plotted, economically written, gritty and scary without being grotesque.

Setting is a big strength, here — the small-town Wisconsin location is fully realized and convincing. Character development is also a strength. Ryker is likable and very human. She feels like a real person, as do the book’s other central characters. I loved that about the book. The thriller is, in general, a pretty plot-driven genre, and Peterson gives us plenty of plot. But character gets equal weight in this novel. The results are wonderful. I read it in a single sitting.

Pushed Too Far has a striking, professional cover and is perfectly formatted. The prose is restrained and error-free. Indie publishing at its best: indistinguishable in quality from a traditionally published book, yet much more affordable. And total authorial control over the book’s form seems to have allowed for innovation, too, with the table of contents, acknowledgments, and other “front matter” appearing at the end, a choice that maximizes Kindle sample length. Smart!

This review will be cross-posted on Amazon.