Big Money, Small Town

A Ryan Tapia Novel

Thomas E. Ricks

In this gripping and dynamic thriller, former FBI agent Ryan Tapia finds himself ensnared in the complex interplay of power, politics, environmental degradation, and resistance at a cobalt mine in Maine.

While building his career as a private investigator in the Maine countryside, Ryan Tapia takes the case of Dr. Ed Healey, a local physician suffering from an acute case of cobalt poisoning. A mine has recently opened in Pushaw county, extracting the valuable minerals needed for batteries in electronic devices and electric cars. But a deadly “Fan” of poison is seeping out . . .

But there are dark legacies in Pushaw that go back to the Salem witch trials and the community on nearby Witch Island, where the Thornfoot family is turning the tables and exploiting the vagaries of modern life for their own ends.

On the cusp of finding his personal happiness once more, Tapia is caught in the middle of this vortex of manipulation and money, desperation and deceit. Neighbors turn on one another and the people of Pushaw risk becoming as deadly to one another as the industrial poison simmering beneath the surface.

In Big Money, Small Town, Thomas Ricks has crafted a nuanced and enthralling novel that challenges our understandings of money and influence in every facet of modern life.

Thomas E. Ricks is the author of five New York Times bestsellers, including the # 1bestseller Fiasco, a history of the beginning of the Iraq War. As a reporter at the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, he was a member of two teams that won the Pulitzer Prize.  He worked in the Maine woods in his youth and trapped lobsters when living on an island in Penobscot Bay. He now divides his time between Texas and Maine.

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Endorsements & Reviews

Praise for the Ryan Tapia Series

“I blew through it.” Sam Sifton, The New York Times

"The author is a first-rate military historian, and his first crime novel reflects the skills of a terrific storyteller with a keen eye for both character and plot. Just after losing his family in a horrific car crash, F.B.I. agent Ryan Tapia is assigned to Bangor, Maine, where the discovery of a dead fisherman leads to an inquiry into the illegal trades of drugs and, yes, rare fish. Thomas E. Ricks lives part-time in Maine, and his knowledge of the terrain and people of that hauntingly beautiful state helps make for a heartfelt thriller." Air Mail

“Celebrated journalist and military historian Ricks tries his hand at a new genre in this crime novel. It’s set in Maine, where a grieving FBI agent named Ryan Tepia is restarting his life. When a fisherman’s corpse shows up on federal land, Tepia is pulled into a case involving drugs, rare fish and the tensions between Maine’s White and Native American communities.” The Washington Post

"A Maine lobsterman’s murder launches this wily, unexpectedly affecting thriller. Ricks, who possesses a matching set of Pulitzer Prizes for reporting he did on two separate teams, for the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, has come through with a thriller that’s beautifully observed throughout, with a morally nuanced denouement." The Portland Press-Herald

"Very much enjoyed this book! I particularly enjoyed Ricks's sensitivity and style. Ryan Tapia is a great, well rounded and fascinating character. Loved it." Adrian McKinty, New York Times bestselling author of The Chain and The Island

"A crackling procedural about a grieving FBI agent who sets out to solve a murder in Maine. The sturdy whodunit plot is enriched by the author’s firm grasp of his setting and a colorful cast of New Englanders who never veer into caricature. A sequel would be welcome." Publishers Weekly

“I’ve enjoyed many of Thomas Rick’s’ bestselling histories, and so I was not surprised but very glad to find his first mystery, set on the coast of Maine, just as riveting and beautifully written. FBI agent Ryan Tapia, alone in the Bangor office—grief struck, watchful and meticulous—heads up a marvelous cast." Anne Lamott, author of Dusk Night Dawn and Bird by Bird

"A deliciously old-fashioned novel that embraces sensually drawn settings in the great state of Maine and colorful characters layered with nuance and complexity. Author Thomas Ricks tells the tale of FBI agent Ryan Tepia, who must track down a murderer while confronting the implacable demands of duty and grief. Read it now." Bryan Gruley, author of the Starvation Lake trilogy

“Thomas E. Ricks’s beautifully written mystery merges people and place with page-turning suspense into a seamless whole. The finest kind of mystery novel." Katherine Hall Page, Agatha awarding-winning author