Grady Service is back.
And this time the scene is dicier than ever. We go back in time twenty-five years to meet Service as a young Conservation Officer. He's still fresh from Vietnam, but he's on his home turf now. Service is good at his new job and he's been tapped for an unusual assignment that threatens to be his last. It's the height of the historical battle in the U.P.'s Garden Peninsula. The Garden has always been a lawless place, where armed fishermen claim their takes and to hell with law enforcement. The renegades far outgun the COs who, understaffed and underfunded, risk their lives to attempt to enforce limits. Shootouts are common, intimidation reigns, and overfishing continues. Service goes undercover to expose the leaders of the Garden revolt. With the aid of a one-legged female informant and lessons of stealth learned in the jungles of Vietnam, Service descends into the land of outlaws. The question goes beyond whether he will come out of the Garden alive, to whether he can root out the criminals without becoming one himself.
Full of outrageous characters and the verisimilitude Heywood is famous for, Running Dark is a wild and fully entertaining ride.


In Praise of previous books in the series:
"Top-notch action scenes, engaging characters both major and minor, masterful dialogue and a passionate sense of place make this a fine series."
--Publishers Weekly (for Chasing a Blond Moon)
"A gripping plot, replete with memorable surrounds and spiky characters, makes this second in the series (after Ice Hunter) an excellent choice for most collections. A good pick also for readers who enjoy outdoor mysteries by such authors as Nevada Barr or Dana Stabenow."
--Library Journal (for Blue Wolf in Green Fire)
"Crisp writing, great scenery, quirky characters and an absorbing plot add to the appeal of the memorable first entry in a promised series of "woofs cop' mysteries."
--Wall Street Journal (for Ice Hunter)
The fourth in the fabulous Grady Service Woods Cop Series.
Grady Service is back. And this time the scene is dicier than ever. We go back in time 25 years to meet Service as a young Conservation Officer. He's still fresh from Vietnam, but he's on his home turf now. Service is good at his new job and he's been tapped for an unusual assignment that threatens to be his last. It's the height of the historical battle in the U.P.'s Garden Peninsula. The Garden had always been a lawless place. In the 1970s, armed fisherman claimed their takes and to hell with law enforcement. The renegades far outgunned the COs who, under staffed, and under funded, risked their lives to attempt to enforce limits. Shootouts were common, intimidation reigned, and over-fishing continued. Service goes undercover to expose the leaders of the Garden revolt. He's a good as dead. With the aid of a one-legged female informant and lessons ofstealth learned in the jungles of Vietnam, Service descends into the land of outlaws. The question goes beyond whether he will come out of the Garden alive, but whether he can root out the criminals without becoming one himself.
Full of outrageous characters and the verisimilitude this series has come to be known for,
Running Dark is a wild and fully entertaining ride.