The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne

A 2025 NPR Book We Love

Your ancestors breathe through you. Sometimes, they call for vengeance.

Babs Dionne, proud Franco-American, doting grandmother, and vicious crime matriarch, rules her small town of Waterville, Maine, with an iron fist. She controls the flow of drugs into Little Canada with the help of her loyal lieutenants, girlfriends since they were teenagers, and her eldest daughter, Lori, a Marine vet struggling with addiction.

When a drug kingpin discovers that his numbers are down in the upper northeast, he sends a malevolent force, known only as The Man, to investigate. At the same time, Babs's youngest daughter, Sis, has gone missing, which doesn't seem at all like a coincidence. In twenty-four hours, Sis will be found dead, and the whole town will seek shelter from Babs’s wrath.

The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is a crime saga like no other, with a ferocious matriarch at its bruised, beating heart. With sharp wit and profound empathy, award-winning author Ron Currie, delivers an unforgettable novel exploring love, retribution, and the ancestral roots that both nurture and trap us.

"Terrific in-your-face crime story, featuring the unlikeliest drug family you've ever met. It's like the second coming of Elmore Leonard." —Stephen King

“Darkly funny, shocking, and unblinking, The Savage, Noble Death of Babs Dionne is a tour de force with a palpable rendering of place and time and unforgettable characters.” —C.J. Box, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Battle Mountain