The Ransom of Progress

"At least as many of us whose lives have been changed for the better know someone who's been hurt or even killed to make this progress possible." Dwayne Loveless, self-styled King of Claremonte County, is being pursued. Deputy Bill Holmes has taken charge of Jonah Stockwell's investigation into Loveless's criminal past. But the animosity between Holmes and Ray West, the sheriff newly installed by Dwayne Loveless, will derail the investigation. Someone else is determined to bring Dwayne Loveless down. Someone who knows his secrets. Someone is using Loveless's mysteriously poisoned cocaine as a weapon to commit murder, with Ray West's department powerless to stop it. In the midst of all these struggles, a tragedy, bigger than any the county has experienced, will divide the population more than ever and force both Bill Holmes and Ray West- indeed, all of Claremonte - to choose sides. Law and order or Dwayne Loveless; human decency or progress.