Strong to the Bone--A Caitlin Strong Novel

October 23, 2017
Thriller Award–finalist Land’s epic ninth novel featuring Texas Ranger Caitlin Strong (after 2016’s Strong Cold Dead) offers a double-barreled dose of Strongs: in 1944, Caitlin’s grandfather Earl Strong, also a Texas Ranger, looks into three murders at a German POW camp in Texas; in the present, DNA evidence from an Austin crime scene indicates that the man who raped Caitlin 18 years earlier is still at large. Meanwhile, Dylan Masters, the son of Caitlin’s lover, Cort Wesley Masters, has the misfortune to get on the wrong side of Ryan Fisker, the son of Armand Fisker, who deals in drugs on an international scale. Fortunately, clairvoyant warrior Guillermo Paz shows up at opportune times to save Dylan from the bad guys. Readers won’t be too surprised to learn that Caitlin and Cort are battling the same evils that Earl and others sought to destroy in the 1940s. Texas Rangers enjoy almost mythic status, and Land unapologetically celebrates their heroism in the exploits of Caitlin and her kin. Agent: Natalia Aponte, Natalia Aponte Literary Agency.

November 15, 2017
The ninth entry in the Caitlin Strong series begins with a flashback: Hearne, Texas, 1944. A Texas Ranger, Earl Strong, is called in to track down an escaped prisoner at a Nazi POW camp, a man who is suspected of killing some of his fellow German prisoners. In the present, Caitlin, Earl's granddaughter, intervenes to stop a sexual assault, only to discover that DNA evidence suggests that the man who was attacking the young woman is the same man who attacked Caitlin nearly 20 years ago. Meanwhile, a white-supremacist leader is gearing up for a massive operation intended to throw the U.S. into chaos. Land says he wanted to challenge Caitlin as he's never challenged her before, and he succeeds: this is probably the best of the Strong series, and it's definitely the one that reveals the most about Caitlin's deeply personal backstoryand, yes, in that light, the historical story involving Caitlin's grandfather turns out to be relevant to the modern-day plot. For fans of the series, this pivotal episode is naturally a must-read.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)