Desert Dirt
by Simon Pearce
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Pub Date Dec 13 2025 | Archive Date Dec 21 2025
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Description
Riverside County, California is a wasteland of sunbaked secrets and blood-soaked vendettas, where the line between justice and vengeance is as thin as a chalk outline. In the desert, the past never stays buried.
For Detective Sam Quade, the badge is both a shield and a license to steal—it lets him clean up Riverside County’s filth and take what he wants, but some stains don’t wash out. After years spent chasing killers, he’s now hunting something far worse: the truth. But the truth doesn’t come without a body count.
Kyle walks out of jail, but in the desert, freedom is just a mirage. The woman he loved is gone, and the answers he needs are buried under layers of lies, dirt, and death. As he follows the trail of her disappearance, he’s pulled into a violent world of outlaw bikers, gangs, and crime families—where every step forward leads deeper into the dark.
Few men survive the game like Nicky Hill: sharp-dressed, silver-tongued, and ruthless. He built his empire by making the right moves at the right time. But now, death has come calling for him and his people. If Nicky wants to stay on top, he’ll have to remind the world why the name Hill still commands fear.
Three men. Three paths soaked in blood. One truth that ties them all together. And at the center of it all—a girl named Suzie Q, whose name is written in blood across the desert.
Brutal, unforgiving, and dripping in noir atmosphere, Desert Dirt is a gritty crime thriller about power, revenge, and the bodies left behind when the dust settles.
Available Editions
| ISBN | 9781916050396 |
| PRICE | |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Average rating from 3 members
Featured Reviews
Desert Dirt drops you straight into the brutal heat and moral rot of Riverside County, where three very different men are pulled toward the same violent truth. The story moves between a deeply flawed detective, an ex con searching for answers about the woman he loved, and a crime boss who refuses to loosen his grip on power. What really stood out to me was how alive the setting felt the desert isn’t just a backdrop, it presses in on every decision and mistake. I enjoyed this book because it never felt rushed or flashy for the sake of it, instead it let the tension build naturally and kept surprising me with how dark and human it was.
This book grabbed me by the collar and dragged me straight into the desert.
I tore through Desert Dirt because it feels raw, dirty, and real in the best way. I loved how nobody in this story is clean or safe and how every choice has weight and consequences. The desert vibe is thick and gritty, the characters are intense, and the story keeps twisting in ways that made me mutter wow more than once. If you like crime stories where justice is blurry, revenge is messy, and nobody walks away untouched, this one is absolutely worth your time 🌵🔥
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