The author tells of when, as a lawyer looking for a change of pace, he stumbled into a job as assistant prosecutor in Camden County, Missouri, in the late 2010s. This job was different from anything he’d ever done before, and in these pages, he details the trials and tribulations of starting fresh in a new position. The problems that rural Missouri faced while he was on the job were unique, and Cunningham’s narrative moves seamlessly between the appalling and the absurd. One chapter details the brutal trial of an abuser and master manipulator and explores what it takes to put a monstrous criminal behind bars. The next chapter tells the story of a defendant who was charged with assault and multiple counts of witness tampering but was “physically too big to go to prison,” which caused logistical issues that officials had never encountered before. The stories culminate in the author’s attempt to run for head prosecutor, the ensuing small-town political drama, and the damaging aftermath. Cunningham’s prose is consistently compelling, and the pen-and-ink illustrations at the start of each chapter add visual interest. Several moments of humor are sharp and well timed, and readers are sure to let out a few chuckles. Other jokes are told in a manner that would be entertaining in fiction but feel uncomfortable in nonfiction, even when the people are anonymized. Some descriptions feel quite uncharitable and needlessly harsh, such as one of “a large-breasted blonde, with duck lips, a face of perpetual surprise, and a pronounced reputation for drunken flirtation with men of means.” An acidic tone works well when talking about perpetrators of violence, but not when referring to co-workers and political opponents. Such severity will inevitably put off some readers who might have otherwise enjoyed the work.