Known Dead by Donald Harstad

The provided text consists of excerpts from a novel, "Known Dead" by Donald Harstad, narrated by a senior deputy sheriff and investigator named Carl Houseman in Nation County, Iowa. The core narrative focuses on the investigation of two initial murders in the summer of 1996, involving a drug dealer and a narcotics agent, which quickly escalates into a larger, multi-agency task force case involving domestic extremist groups and additional violence against law enforcement. The story follows Houseman and a DCI agent, Hester Gorse, as they pursue suspects, including a local tax protester named Herman Stritch and a shadowy figure known as Gabriel, culminating in two intense standoffs and shootouts. The text highlights the interagency conflicts and the challenges of police work, particularly when dealing with well-armed, ideologically motivated criminals, and concludes with a breakthrough in identifying the leader of the extremist group.