Smugglers Notch
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- US$7.99
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This thriller centering around a brutal murder in snowbound Vermont "is his best yet. A gripping story, told with skill and style" (Tony Hillerman).
Becky should know better than to hitchhike, but there's no other way to get home. She's waiting by the highway when a skinny Vermont hick named Paul Conklin offers her a ride. He's absent-minded and a little bit awkward, but comes off as harmless—until it's too late. They're deep in the woods when he rapes her, too far from town for anyone to hear her scream as he wraps his belt around her throat and slowly snuffs out her life. But he has made a mistake. Becky's father is friends with the attorney general, and the law will come down hard on Paul Conklin.
In rural Vermont, law takes the form of men like Lawrence St. Germain, a hulking man accustomed to rough winters and grisly crime. He will sacrifice everything to avenge Becky's death, battling not just her killer, but the justice system itself.
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Tough cop nabs killer in order to avenge his partner's death, compensate for his own fatal blunder and redeem his honor. It's an all-too-familiar theme, but Koenig, known for well-crafted crime fiction ( Floater ; Little Odessa ), puts a spin on it. The setting is rural Vermont, and the hero, sheriff's lieutenant Larry St. Germain, is a big, brawling, lumberjack type. The novel opens with a brutal rape-murder; the victim is the teenage daughter of the state's attorney. St. Germain, who shares a log cabin with his ex-wife Annie whom he wants to remarry, bungles the arrest of sneering psychopath Paul Conklin. Resigning in disgrace, the lieutenant becomes an ambulance driver and settles down to life with Annie. Later the killer is put away but makes a prison break with a gang of thugs who go on a bloody rampage as they veer to the Canadian border. St. Germain hops into his ambulance and brings the action to a dramatic if predictable climax. Local color, authentic characters and gritty dialogue carry this snow-clad thriller.
