{"product_id":"bakersfield-a-crime-novel-paperback","title":"Bakersfield: A Crime Novel - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003ePierre Ouellette\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt's the mid-1950s, and the post-war American dream has come into full focus in Southern California. Suburbia, freeways, fast food, television and nuclear paranoia. James Stone, a career cop in LA, is along for the ride - until he becomes enmeshed in an LAPD scandal that costs him his job, his wife, and his home.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe finds himself exiled to Bakersfield, California, the only place he can still find work as a cop. It's a mean little town. Hot, flat and dry. Dominated by agribusiness and oil and little else. But it 's also brewing the flip side of the American dream, with wild honky-tonks playing the first electric music, motorcycle gangs, the Ku Klux Klan, and test pilots from nearby Edwards air base slumming on the weekends. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eStone works homicide and his first case is a murdered young girl found floating face down in the Kern River. It puts him in touch with Christine Harmon, who contracts as the county's forensic pathologist and runs a small clinic on the side. At the time, woman doctors are almost non-existent, and Stone finds Harmon's spirited independence fascinating. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHis investigation takes him deep into the local bar scene, where young players like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard are just getting their start. But then a second homicide pops up, a very sticky one for this ultra-conservative, bible-thumping community. A wealthy businessman is found murdered in his home, apparently the victim of a vicious young drifter living at a seedy motel bar on the edge of town.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith the aid of Dr. Harmon, Stone follows a trail of depravity and corruption that reaches into the highest levels of the local business and legal community. And once again he finds himself caught up in a scandal that threatens to ruin him - and this time maybe even kill him. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 282\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.59 x 9 x 6 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 15, 2018\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47449143214258,"sku":"9780986377075","price":21.55,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0770\/3891\/1666\/files\/720c9d9ce6ec2a300a442bab81f0a4e8.webp?v=1778761749","url":"https:\/\/box.dadyminds.org\/products\/bakersfield-a-crime-novel-paperback","provider":"DADYMINDS BOX","version":"1.0","type":"link"}