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Synopsis
Kanab, Utah is bitterly divided by the politics of land management. When environmentalist David Greenbriar is found dead, County Sheriff, Charley Sutter, seeks help from newly appointed Law Enforcement Ranger, J. D. Books. Books discovers that the victim's widow has been having an affair with Lance Clayburn. Physical evidence links Clayburn to the killing. Books connects Greenbriar's murder to a corrupt Kane County Sheriff's deputy and a Las Vegas business conglomerate with ties to organized crime. Enter Peter Deluca, a very dangerous mob contract killer, who will eliminate anyone who can link him or his employer to Greenbriar's murder.
Publishers Weekly
Mining interests and conservation forces clash in southern Utah in this absorbing whodunit from Norman (The Commission). Shortly after J.D. Books, a new Bureau of Land Management law enforcement ranger, returns to his hometown of Kanab, the sheriff asks him to take a look at a crime scene. The bullet-ridden body of David Greenbriar, the head of the Escalante Environmental Wilderness Alliance, was found hanging from a beam in a barn used as an old west movie set, though it’s clear the victim was shot elsewhere. A former cop who left the Denver police force under a cloud, Books soon locates Greenbriar’s abandoned SUV, with blood traces on the door, near a trail head miles away. Greenbriar’s wife’s lover, a fellow EEWA member, emerges as the prime suspect, but Books has his doubts. A well-crafted plot with plenty of action, a likable hero with a checkered past, and a magnificent western setting make this one a winner. (Mar.)