Peace River

Suspense wraps each page of Chip Ballard’s gripping novel, Peace River,set in the small, rural, central Florida town, Flowing Wells. This finelycrafted whodunit keeps the reader guessing until the end as it hurdlesthrough a tangled web of lies, deception, perversion, and murder.

When the body of Pinewood County’s most promising senior,Sandy Carlton, is found face down on the bank of Peace River witha bullet in the back of her head, Pinewood County Sheriff CharlieMorris’s investigation takes him to a very dark corner of a sleepySouthern town.

At first Charlie cannot imagine anyone having cause to kill the popularstudent. But soon he begins to realize any number of people could havewanted her dead, and even he is shocked at secrets that are exposed.



Chip Ballard’s impressive first novel is murderously good. “Peace River” peersbehind the calm facade of life in small-town Florida to find a deadly mixof drugs, greed, sex and high-school jealousy. Ballard’s writing is crisp andclean, his plotting is impeccable, and he’ll introduce you to some charactersyou only think you know and like. There’s a lot going on in this novel andevery bit of it is entertaining. Be ready for some surprises and don’t trustanyone you meet as “Peace River” keeps you turning the pages.

—Rick Wilber, author of “The Cold Road,” “My Father’s Game,”and the forthcoming mystery “Rum Point.”

Dr. Rick Wilber
School of Mass Communications
University of South Florida