Review: Going to the Bad by Nora McFarland

Going to the Bad by Nora McFarland is the third outing for KJAY news shooter, Lilly Hawkins, and I came to the party late. I did not, however, miss much, unless you include a smart mouthed, size 10 shoe wearing, salty shooter not afraid to get her hands wet -- or bloody -- when needed.

Lilly Hawkins isn't tall, beautiful, blonde, and perfect. She's far from perfect. She's a loose cannon with brains and guts that is the saltiest protagonist since V. I. Warshawski, without the expensive shoe addiction. Lilly is a take-no-prisoners kind of video journalist who is wary of the future, skittish about committing to her boyfriend and co-worker, Rod Strong, and dedicated to finding the truth in any story -- no matter where it leads.

In Going to the Bad Lilly is faced with her own past and the secrets that the people she loves are determined to keep from her. It all started with a shooting at her Oiltown home in Bakersfield, California on Christmas Eve and things kept getting more tangled and tougher to swallow as she faced the truth of her Uncle Bud's past that dropped the bottom out of her life. Lilly keeps going anyway.

What McFarland has done with Lilly is give us a dysfunctional female in a high pressure job she loves and a cast of screw-ups and average people caught in the chaos of life. Going to the Bad is dark and edgy with a ticking time bomb at its heart that never disappoints.