ALASKA DEADLY

When a routine case turns deadly, a beginner PI must learn fast.

Novice private investigator Race Warren has seldom been out of Tennessee when he embarks on a trip to Alaska on what he assumes is a routine missing-person case. But this notion is shattered in Anchorage after he is almost killed by a shadowy assassin. Knowing that the missing person has the answers, he tracks his quarry, ex-policeman Ron Billings, to a remote village in the North Slope. Here, he meets a team of scientists studying a tribal cult involved in animal worship. The cult carries out secret ceremonies that might be connected to the mysterious death of a young native girl. As their investigation advances, the scientists suspect that a supernatural entity may be at work.

Warren at last finds Billings in a disastrous first encounter, charged with suspicion and misunderstanding. Billings has his own quest: a search for his daughter, Carrie, taken by Russian traffickers. Warren and Billings unite for their own survival as they look for the daughter, trapped in a life of brutality and abuse. Their search leads them into the criminal underworld, where they must partake in illicit operations but are able to free a young girl with information about Carrie. Then they are discovered, barely escaping with the girl as they set out for a destination hundreds of miles away. They are pursued by teams of Russian gunmen in a harrowing journey of danger, violence, and death. If they can get to Anchorage alive, the girl will be home, Warren and Billings will be closer to finding Carrie, and new light will be shed on the North Slope mystery.

In this enjoyable story, the author excels in creating a spooky mood and in capturing Alaska's beauty, particularly the Chugach Mountains. (Kirkus Reviews)