Bad Blood - Casey Sherman

Recently I was sitting at the YMCA pool talking with my friend about books.He said, somewhat louder than usual though he tends to be loud (in a good way) anyway, "YOU SHOULD READ CASEY SHERMAN."
"Really?" I said. "What does he write?"
My friend looked sheepish so I wondered what was up.
"Um, non-fiction. True crime stuff," he said.
"Oh I'll have to.." I said but turned when the woman next me to me spoke up, "He's my husband, that's why he's saying that."
"Oh, cool," was my usual intelligent response.
As you may expect I then proceeded to probe her about her husband's agent, whether I might speak to him, how he first got published, etc.
She, clearly being well versed in this approach, directed me to his Facebook page. I did and found his impressive listing of books including Bad Blood.
Bad Blood is about a townie from Franconia, NH named Liko Kenney and a police officer, Bruce McKay. The two men come from different backgrounds and ideologies. Liko is a free spirit with a wild bent, while Bruce is a disiplinarian who doesn't play favorites. Their first interaction is during a 2003 suspicious loitering traffic stop. The situtation dissolves as Liko refuses to bend to Bruce's will. As the author takes us through this troubling event, he takes great care not to take sides. It's difficult to understand how either man wouldn't have walked away from the situation at some point but neither did and Liko ends up squeezing Bruce's testicles in front of two other officers. The hatred from this event lingers in both men's souls for years until their final showdown after which both men end up dead.
In order to understand where these two were coming from the reader must know the history of both the Kenney and McKay families and of Franconia itself. Throughout the story, Mr. Sherman shows his expertise at weaving pertinent historical information into a action packed narrative.  I was so enthralled after finished the book I looked up more information about Liko on You Tube and found a great video of him describing how much he loved living in the North Country and how outsiders just didn't get it. He reminded me of a lot of young men: confident, self-assured, and naive.
Bad Blood is the story of a sad confluence of events but stands as a great lesson to police officers and wild youth alike - holding a grudge doesn't do anyone any good and sometimes it can kill you.
Check out Casey Sherman on Facebook or click here to buy Bad Blood.