A worthwhile experience for fans of thrillers with a touch of speculative fiction. For the most part, "Badlands" reads like a well-executed crime thriller, with the bulk of its content focused on the sorts of plot elements, character arcs, and set pieces common to that genre. Where it distinguishes itself in my opinion is via a couple wrinkles that were deftly infused into its overarching narrative from speculative-fiction sub-genres.

There's a bit of horror in "Badlands," which manifests via one of its antagonists, a knife-wielding, fire-scarred assassin who acts as an enforcer and fixer for the book's main villain. The darker scenes involving her read like something straight out of a slasher tale but still manage to line up and fit with the surrounding text in a way that feels organic and natural.

A smaller but equally-interesting speculative flourish occurs via a few brief appearances of "ghosts" that "haunt" the story's protagonist at various points. These scenes are handled equally well, adding a thematically-appropriate dynamic at key points without feeling forced or as if they're having too much of an impact on how things unfold.

For me, those additions took what would have already been a solid thriller and elevated it, acting as strong motivators that kept me turning pages when my interest might have otherwise waned.

Along those lines, my only real complaint about "Badlands" is that I feel it's a bit long for the sort of story it is. I tend to prefer it when a book's length matches up with the level of complexity in its plot and characters and I feel that wasn't exactly the case here. There are some wonderfully rich and vivid descriptions of things, especially in terms of setting, that provide a great sense of place early in the read but, particularly in the second half of the book, I at times found them a bit cumbersome and out of place on a handful of occasions when they broke up the flow of the story's otherwise-increasing pace. There were also some (to me) odd word choices and instances of repetition that I definitely became more aware of than I would have if the overall narrative had been a bit shorter and tighter.

That said, I still found "Badlands" to be a very satisfying and enjoyable read, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to fans of crime thrillers who enjoy having a bit of speculative fiction woven into such tales. I'm giving it a 4.25, happily rounded up so as not to underrate it.