Hour of the Hunter - J.A. Jance (1991) William Morrow 

A thriller with the requisite elements.  You know who the bad guy is from the beginning, you just don't know how they will stop him, each time you see how the good guys will save the day, they are diverted.  In the end it is the bad guy's target victim who defeats him.  The author weaves the local native culture into the story.  The scenes are brief.  Yet the story is so strong that it became a bestseller.