Snake Eyes
-
- $4.99
-
- $4.99
Publisher Description
A JOHN DENSON MYSTERY
John Denson, the Seattle private eye with a taste for screw-top wine and beautiful women, and his partner, Willie Prettybird, a shaman of the Cowlitz tribe, are up against their deadliest case: an engineered outbreak of anthrax in the Pacific Northwest that may kill hundreds of people, including John and Willie—unless they can locate the villain who's spreading the disease.
Once tobacco-chewing cattle baron Monty Hook calls in the fearsome duo, the list of suspects balloons: what of the rodeo cowboy determined to strut his stuff at Chief Joseph Days this weekend, or the gorgeous barkeep with a roving eye, or the ancient but spry teacher intent on enjoying this week's reunion of her old high-school students? And what of the chief of police himself—not to mention the televangelist Hamm Bonnerton, in town for some quick fund-raising? One of them's playing liar's dice, and coming up snake eyes. And killing people...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seattle PI John Denson (who never met a piece of bacon he didn't like) and his partner, Cowlitz Indian William Prettybird (who never met a mushroom he didn't like) find themselves in Enterprise, Ore., combatting an outbreak of anthrax, better known as hoof-and-mouth disease. They have been hired by the lawyer of Monty Hook, an outspoken anti-environmentalist rancher whose cattle have inexplicably become infected. Meanwhile, the odious Reverend Thaddeus Hamm Bonnerton, a right-wing preacher who spices his rants with environmentalist frenzy (e.g., proclaiming the hole in the ozone punishment for the sins of livestock farmers), is back in town for a revival meeting and for his high-school reunion. Cows die, people are murdered and Denson and Prettybird have to sort it all out--Denson employing the chat-and-chew method while Prettybird relies on hallucinogenic encounters with his beloved animal people. It's hard not to like the two detectives, and Hoyt (Red Card) is observant and funny writing from Denton's point of view. But, with a dearth of truly viable suspects, Hoyt needs either more satire or more suspense to carry his weak plot.
