The Best Bad Things: A Novel

· MCD
3.2
4 reviews
Ebook
400
Pages
Eligible
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About this ebook

**Finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Lambda Award in Bisexual Fiction**

"Sexy, fun, serious and unputdownable." —Bethanne Patrick, The Washington Post

“Brazen, brawny, sexy . . . full of unforgettable characters and insatiable appetites. I was riveted. Painstakingly researched and pulsing with adrenaline, Carrasco’s debut will leave you thirsty for more.” —Lyndsay Faye, author of The Gods of Gotham

A vivid, sexy barn burner of a historical crime novel, The Best Bad Things introduces readers to the fiery Alma Rosales—detective, smuggler, spy


It is 1887, and Alma Rosales is on the hunt for stolen opium. Trained in espionage by the Pinkerton Detective Agency—but dismissed for bad behavior and a penchant for going undercover as a man—Alma now works for Delphine Beaumond, the seductive mastermind of a West Coast smuggling ring.

When product goes missing at their Washington Territory outpost, Alma is tasked with tracking the thief and recovering the drugs. In disguise as the scrappy dockworker Jack Camp, this should be easy—once she muscles her way into the local organization, wins the trust of the magnetic local boss and his boys, discovers the turncoat, and keeps them all from uncovering her secrets. All this, while sending coded dispatches to the circling Pinkerton agents to keep them from closing in.

Alma’s enjoying her dangerous game of shifting identities and double crosses as she fights for a promotion and an invitation back into Delphine’s bed. But it’s getting harder and harder to keep her cover stories straight and to know whom to trust. One wrong move and she could be unmasked: as a woman, as a traitor, or as a spy.

A propulsive, sensual tour de force, The Best Bad Things introduces Katrina Carrasco, a bold new voice in crime fiction.

Ratings and reviews

3.2
4 reviews
Simi F.
February 15, 2020
boring it drags and drags with run ins and over descriptions of useless bits Main character is annoying. book could be 1/3 as long. quit reading it 1/4 way in..fell into a coma.
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drygin
December 21, 2023
A cross-dressing butch protagonist who disguises herself as a man to woo ladies and gents, and engage in deviant, violent delights on the side. Need I say more? I've yet to read writing that trumps how this novel describes streetfights in such an exceptionally visceral manner, with brilliant dialogue to boot, and a setting steeped in historical research to suit the 1880s period.
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About the author

Katrina Carrasco holds an MFA in fiction from Portland State University, where she received the Tom and Phyllis Burnam Graduate Fiction Scholarship and the Tom Doulis Graduate Fiction Writing Award. Her work has appeared in Witness magazine, Post Road Magazine, Quaint Magazine, and other journals. The Best Bad Things is her first novel.

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