Featured Book of the Day

Bones by K. J. Dahlen

Excerpt Heat Level: 1

Book Heat Level: 1

Buy at:  www.roguephoenixpress.com 

Excerpt

Max squatted near the opening in the rocky outcrop and took off his sunglasses. He was hot and tired and had just about given up finding this place. He wasn’t eager to go inside since the inside of the opening was dark and uninviting. But Max knew he had to go in there. The small hole in the side of the cliff was barely big enough for a child to scramble into let alone a full size man, but he knew he didn’t have a choice. God, I hate small places, he thought as he crawled inside. The hole was small and cramped and Max had to bend over to get through. I really hate small places, he emphasized as he struggled to get through the cramped opening. The hole in the cliff had been harder to find than he expected. The directions given to him by two young boys hadn’t been all that clear.

The boys said the opening was straight up from the dam below and a little left of the big oak tree. What they failed to tell him was which big oak tree. The whole hill was littered with oak trees right up to the base of the cliff.

It had taken him the better part of an hour to find the opening. There had been a lot of hillside to search. The boys had told him they left an old t-shirt to mark the opening, but Max hadn’t found the t-shirt. Some small animal or the wind must have carried it away. He hoped he had the right entrance this time.

He’d found a couple of other openings in the rock face that had led him nowhere. This opening appeared to be the one the boys had described. According to the boys, this small cave led to a cavern with the treasure. Max hoped it led somewhere.

His hands and face were scratched up from pushing brambles and brush out of his way. The thought had also occurred to him that the seldom visited, rocky part of the side of a cliff just a little ways north of the town Max was sheriff of, might be just the spot to run into a snoozing wolf or worse yet a rattlesnake. He heard something scramble out of his way a couple of times, but he hadn’t heard the symbolic rattle of the snake so whatever remained hidden from his sight wasn’t a snake. He’d tried to make enough noise to ward off unexpected company and hoped he hadn’t sounded like a complete idiot in the process. If anyone had spotted him, they would have thought he was drunk in the middle of the morning and that would never do for a sheriff.

The flashlight he held in his hand did little to penetrate the utter darkness that surrounded him. The cave walls and floor were slimy with what Max didn’t even want to hazard a guess and it smelled even worse. It smelled like something crawled in this narrow opening and died. The boys who found the cave might think this little venture was "neat", but Max didn’t. He’d lost his sense of adventure for little games like this a long time ago. He couldn’t believe he was here now.

The boys had been in this cave a couple of days before and had found what they thought was an Indian burial place. They had been reluctant at first to tell anyone of their find but eventually told their dads. As a result, Richard Crabtree had brought his son, Timmy, to see him. Max could tell that Timmy hadn’t wanted to tell anyone about his secret place and Max hadn’t been all that interested in the boy’s tale. Most of it was just the imagination of a ten year old. It wasn’t until Timmy mentioned the skeletons that Max became interested.

Max knew enough about the local tribes in Wisconsin to know they didn’t bury their dead above ground in forgotten caves. The boys told him that they hadn’t seen or found any other Indian artifacts and Timmy was positive someone else had robbed the cave of all its treasure. As sheriff, Max felt bound to check out their story. If there were skeletons in there, he had to find out why.

 Reviews

All-in-all, this is an enjoyable mystery that kept my interest from beginning to end.

Laurie
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

BONES
K. J. DAHLEN
ISBN: 9781936403141
January 2011
Rogue Phoenix Press
http://www.roguephoenixpress.com
Ebook
$0.99
130 Pages
Mystery/Crime
Rating: 3 Cups

Max Reardon, Sherriff of Marlboro, Wisconsin, unexpectedly finds a serial killer lurking in his small town. As the investigation proceeds, it quickly becomes clear that some people will go to any lengths to discredit Max and shut-down his inquiries.

Joey Harrington and Max are good friends. She is the daughter of his former FBI partner and friend, Jack. Joey is a skilled forensic anthropologist, and Max needs her expertise to identify the victims of the serial killer from the bones that have been found.

Max begins unraveling the mystery and piecing the various clues together, but there are forces opposed to his efforts. The tension builds as attempts are made to sabotage the evidence and his investigation. Then the personal attacks begin, and no one close to Max is safe.

The story grabbed me immediately. The events unfold relentlessly as Max investigates the murders and uncovers a conspiracy of silence. The sentences used to convey the mystery are short and generally unadorned with much descriptive detail. The narration is straight-forward and sharp, as it slices like a razor into the recesses of the reader’s imagination. I especially enjoy the relationships between Max and his co-workers and friends. His respect for their talents and overriding concern for their well-being is admirable and should be emulated; he is an extraordinary role model. Overall, I think the story is well-told, but there are a few occasions when I found myself questioning why a particular action was either made or left undone, as it seemed to me to be somewhat pat or slightly off-kilter. All-in-all, this is an enjoyable mystery that kept my interest from beginning to end.

Laurie
Reviewer for Coffee Time Romance & More

Buy now at www.roguephoenixpress.com