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Publisher:
Lean Press |
Release
Date: August 2004 |
ISBN:
1-932475-02-8 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Trade Paperback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Mystery/Suspense |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Beverly J. Rowe |
Reviewer
Notes: |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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Deadly Distractions
A
Stan Turner Mystery
By William Manchee
This story starts
off with a literal bang as Stan Turner's client is found standing
over the body of a dead IRS agent, with his shotgun in hand. Since
Dusty Thomas has had a years-long feud with the dead agent, Bobby
Tuttle, and Bobby was killed with a shotgun, Dusty is charged with
first degree murder even though he claims to be innocent.
Stan's new partner,
Paula Waters, handles Dusty Thomas' arraignment and begins to get
an investigation underway while Stan is finishing his vacation.
She even manages to arrange financing for Dusty's defense. A radical
paramilitary group, the Citizens Defense Alliance, or CDA, is doing
the funding, much to Stan's dismay. He doesn't want to be associated
with this group of anti-government radicals.
Since the CDA denies
the legitimacy of the federal income tax and has been a target of
federal prosecutors for many years, Stan's worst fears are realized,
and his office immediately comes under the close scrutiny of the
FBI and the press. To further complicate matters, Stan's best client
and close friend, Tex Weller, has transferred 1.8 million dollars
to Stan's trust account from Ecuador, and now he is reported missing
by his wife.
While Stan is searching
for Tex in Ecuador, Paula continues her investigation of Bobby Tuttle's
murder and quickly discovers a long list of enemies with motive
to kill him, becoming more and more convinced that Dusty Thomas
is innocent. Her investigation is sidetracked when she learns Stan
is missing and may have been kidnapped. As time goes by and Stan
doesn't turn up, she is forced to turn her attention back to the
Dusty Thomas case and leave the search for Stan up to the FBI. Then
Paula, herself, is charged with a phony hit and run.
Paula, of course,
is secretly in love with a very happily married Stan, and by alternating
viewpoints between Stan and Paula, Manchee achieves the near impossible
task of getting into the mind of each protagonist. The action is
non-stop with surprises in every chapter. Parallel, complicated
plots converge to an explosive climax. Don't start this book until
you have time to read the whole thing...you won't want to put it
down.
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