BEN REHDER’s Blanco County mysteries, Buck Fever, Bone Dry, Flat Crazy, Guilt Trip, and Gun Shy, have made best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Field & Stream. Ben lives near Austin, Texas, where he was born and raised. Visit his... More
When televangelist Peter Boothe decides to build a megachurch on the banks of the Pedernales River, he thinks his biggest problem will be a few unhappy neighbors. However, when backhoe operator Hollis Farley unearths a rare fossil on the construction site---a discovery that could lead to plenty of embarrassing Darwinian publicity---the cover-up begins. Soon, Farley is dead, shot in the back with an arrow, and Game Warden John Marlin is asked to help with the case.
What he and the local deputies find is a suspect list of biblical proportions: Could it have been the bitter geology professor? The private fossil collector with a somewhat unusual fetish? The minister’s wife who takes the Commandments rather lightly? Or the geriatric environmentalist with a mean right hook? Nothing is sacred in Rehder’s most laughable satire yet, a twisted tale of greed, corruption, infidelity, and, yes, paleontology.
"Rehder’s satirical take on greed, faith and foolishness moves at a swift clip, punctuated with dizzy twists and even bittersweet turns, like a good toe-tapping, country and western tune." --Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"Combining sophisticated prose with down-home Texas crime, [Rehder] leaves no part of Texas life untouched." --Library Journal
“Wicked satire. Fast and funny. Ben Rehder is the wittiest writer working today.”---Mark Gimenez, author of The Abduction
Praise for Gun Shy:
“Straight-shooter Rehder sends up players on both sides of the gun-control debate in his fifth Blanco County mystery, a humorous, intelligent take on a serious issue. This satire packs firepower and poignant surprises.”---Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“With this novel, the Marlin series has completed the transition from light mystery to no-holds-barred madcap comedy crime fiction (à la Westlake or Hiaasen).”---Booklist
“Wickedly funny.”---Dallas Morning News
“A wicked funny book about a subject as serious as a loaded .45: gun control. In the process, Rehder has made the leap from writing skillful comic pleasantries to pulverizing satire.”---Austin American-Statesman
“A thriller with more turns than a Hill Country highway. Rehder writes with an assured hand and a knowing tip of the wide-brimmed cowboy hat to the ways and wiles of the characters that people his distinctly Texan landscape. A darn good read. Satirical and often laugh-out-loud funny, the novel is insightful and often touching.”---San Antonio Express-News
“Ben Rehder writes about the Texas Hill Country with such insightful appreciation that he’s come to own the territory, much the same way Carl Hiaasen owns South Florida. In this witty whodunit, the author tackles gun control, managing to skewer both sides of that polarizing issue with sly, satirical humor. With each new Rehder book, I can’t help wondering when some enterprising TV or movie producer is going to snap up the author’s hilarious series for the screen. Gun Shy is the best of the bunch: It scores a bull’s-eye.”---Austin Chronicle
“A zany look at the world of gun control, deftly contrasting competing national organizations and their leaders. Rehder’s clever tale is right on target, laced with dark humor, funny characters, solid police work, and an intriguing plot.”---Lansing State Journal
BEN REHDER’s Blanco County mysteries, Buck Fever, Bone Dry, Flat Crazy, Guilt Trip, and Gun Shy, have made best-of-the-year lists in Publishers Weekly, Library Journal, Kirkus Reviews, and Field & Stream. Ben lives near Austin, Texas, where he was born and raised. Visit his Web site at www.benrehder.com.
Found in: General Mystery
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