Five O'Clock Shadow
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- $4.99
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Newlywed Pauly Caton watches, horrified, as the hot air balloon—the one she should have been riding in—falls from the sky. She races to the wrecked basket to discover both the pilot and her husband Randy dead in the fiery crash. The lone survivor appears to be an unknown child, who runs from the scene, naked and fearful, and disappears from sight. Shocked, Pauly turns to her Grams, a flashy grande dame and carnival owner, and a source of comfort for her pain.
During the ensuing weeks, Pauly learns that nearly everything she knew about her new husband was based on lies and deception. As Christmas approaches, she attempts to pick up the pieces of her life and uncovers a host of other surprises about Randy—things that make her question everything about her choice to marry him. She senses she can trust no one, not even the police, and learns that there are secrets which threaten to put her own life in danger.
Praise for Susan Slater’s previous mystery novels:
The Dan Mahoney series:
“Flash Flood is just what it sounds like—a fresh, surprising, adrenaline-rush whitewater ride. It’s also funny. Susan Slater can flat-out write.” —Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author
“Slater’s excellent sequel to Flash Flood takes insurance investigator Dan Mahoney to tiny Wagon Mound, New Mexico … Readers will be glad they’re along for the ride.”— Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“There’ll be much, much more, with whispers of everything from alien experiments to voodoo, before Slater closes out this lively, surprising case, first of a series.” – Kirkus Reviews
“Dan Mahoney is an appealingly resilient character, a welcome addition to the roster of sleuths that make the Southwest a hotbed of current mystery fiction.” —Publishers Weekly
The Ben Pecos mystery series:
“Solid, suspenseful narrative and colorful glimpses of Native American life ... strongly recommend.” —Library Journal
“A series to watch.” —Booklist
“… Ben Pecos—raised far from New Mexico’s Tewa Pueblo—could become as lasting a fictional presence as Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee.” – Chicago Tribune
“… a gripping, interesting tale.” –5 stars, online review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The plot of Slater's gripping follow-up to last year's Flash Flood moves as fast and as unpredictably as the New Mexico weather, which can go from sun to blizzard in a moment. Newlywed Pauly Caton watches in horror as the hot air balloon holding her husband, Randy McIntyre, crashes into a sand bar in the middle of the Rio Grande. A small, otherwise naked boy wearing Randy's jean jacket flees the gondola, leaving behind two dead men Randy with a broken neck, the pilot with a bullet through his forehead. When the medical examiner discovers that Randy had had an irreversible vasectomy, Pauly is shattered and confused. The children they both seemingly had looked forward to before their marriage were never a possibility. The more she learns of Randy's secret past, the more Pauly becomes suspicious of everyone around her, even her carnival-queen grandmother with whom she takes refuge in Albuquerque. With her blonde hair, heavy make-up, breast implants and growing list of ex-husbands, Grams stands out in an unusual supporting cast that includes tattooed men and lethal snakes. From the book's devastating opening to its chilling climax, readers will be captivated by Slater's fresh, gutsy heroine. FYI:Slater is also the author of Thunderbird (2002) and other titles in her Bill Pecos mystery series.
