Book Blurb:
A sheriff fighting to keep the peace in 1970s Oregon faces a shocking secret from his town’s past, in this crime thriller from the author of Reckoning.
There are rules in the West no matter what era you were born in, and it’s up to lawman Ty Dawson to make sure they’re followed in the valley he calls home. The people living on this unforgiving land keep to themselves and are wary of the modern world’s encroachment into their quiet lives.
So it’s not without some suspicion that Dawson confronts a newcomer to the region: a record producer who has built a music studio in an isolated compound. His latest project is a collaboration with a famous young rock star named Ian Swann, recording and filming his sessions for a movie. An amphitheater for a live show is being built on the land, giving Dawson flashbacks to the violent Altamont concert. Not on his watch.
But even beefed up security can’t stop a disaster that’s been over a decade in the making. All it takes is one horrific case bleeding its way into the present to prove that the good ol’ days spawned a brand of evil no one wants to revisit . . .
Praise for the Ty Dawson Mysteries
“The novel combines the mystery and honesty of Craig Johnson’s Longmire with the first-person narration of a fiercely independent Oregon character.” —Sheila Deeth, author of John’s Joy
“A masterful work of a time gone by. . . . Ty Dawson is a cowboy, lawman, father and philosopher like none other.” —Neal Griffin, Los Angeles Times–bestselling author of The Burden of Proof
Book Buy Link: https://geni.us/nS0u
Author Bio:
Baron Birtcher is the LA TIMES and IMBA BESTSELLING author of the hardboiled Mike Travis series (Roadhouse Blues, Ruby Tuesday, Angels Fall, and Hard Latitudes), the award-winning Ty Dawson series (South California Purples, Fistful Of Rain, and Reckoning), as well as the critically-lauded stand-alone, RAIN DOGS.
Baron is a five-time winner of the SILVER FALCHION AWARD, and the WINNER of 2018's Killer Nashville READERS CHOICE AWARD, as well as 2019's BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR for Fistful Of Rain.
He has also had the honor of having been named a finalist for the NERO AWARD, the LEFTY AWARD, the FOREWORD INDIE AWARD, the 2016 BEST BOOK AWARD, the Pacific Northwest's regional SPOTTED OWL AWARD, and the CLAYMORE AWARD.
Baron's writing has been hailed as "The real deal" by Publishers Weekly; "Fast Paced and Engaging" by Booklist; and "Solid, Fluent and Thrilling" by Kirkus.
"YOU WANT TO READ BIRTCHER'S BOOKS, THEN YOU WANT TO LIVE IN THEM" -- Don Winslow, NYT Bestselling author
"BIRTCHER IS PART POET, PART PHILOSOPHER, AND A CONSUMMATE WRITER" -- Reed Farrel Coleman, NYT Bestselling author
"REMINISCENT OF THE LATE, GREAT ELMORE LEONARD" -- Shots Magazine (UK)
Follow him on Facebook: www.facebook.com/BaronRBirtcher/
Editorial Review:
“Stepping deliberately along the rocky bank, I followed the flow of water, the silence of midday broken only by the whisper of clear currents sluicing across the surface of flat stones. Tom Jenkins, in his search for his lost livestock, would have entered this marshland from the opposite direction, which meant that his field of vision would have encompassed the area in which I was standing. The wounded eagle would have spiraled down and landed somewhere inside the semicircle bordered by the riverbank. By necessity, to retrieve the creature, the helicopter would have had to put down here as well.
I took my time pacing an imaginary grid I’d laid out in my mind’s eye, the vegetation underneath my boots spongy from spring rain and the absence of sunshine in the vast shadow cast by the steep cliff. I stopped moving for a moment to watch a single redband trout lurking inside a dappled eddy, resting in the lee of an ancient snag. A young plover dropped down from the trees just then, skimmed the water’s surface, and disappeared into the bulrushes.”
Yeah, so we’re gonna get to the review in just a minute, but y’all will know what is meant about literary detectives and how sometimes they just…fit. And the story fits them, and it all just works. Folks will know examples, like Harry Bosch, or Hercule Poirot…but this is not LA (or the Nile). This is 1970s Oregon, and Ty Dawson is On Duty. And “Knife River” by Baron Birtcher is one heck of a read. Be prepared to read a mystery – after all, the blurb says so – but in the midst of searching for clues and analyzing dialogue (what d’ya mean, readers likely won’t guess the ending?) and looking for a motive and all the things that us mystery readers do, you are fairly warned you will be swept up in nature. And yes, you’ll be thinking too, that you need to find the weapon or whatever and you need to uncover secrets and… But never fear, leave all of that to Ty, who will almost certainly be your newest literary hero. Meanwhile, others of us will get back to mourning the magnificent eagle that hunters have shot, to admiring the Oregon scenery, to watching the night sky and then waiting for a glimpse of trout. And the birdlife, and the horses. The settings of this novel are gorgeous and yes, they add to the story.
And Ty is another thing to like. He’s a thinker. He will need that intellect, because he has his work cut out for him. The illegal killing of a bird of prey starts the book, but the storyline wends its way back to 1964 and then a separate incident that is unexpected as it is horrific. Birtcher’s writing changes, depending on the scene. His writing about nature is expansive, and admiring. His writing about – the mystery side of things – is direct and graphic. Both approaches suit the story.
“We brought a quart of ice cream outside to the gallery, sat together on the glider, and shared it as we watched the cotton woods perform their nightly dance, like a million butterflies descending on their limbs. This time of year, the days grow longer, dawn breaks early, and the sunsets linger long into the night.
The evening air was cool, the darkness folding softly, silently; no birdsong, no fanfare, no color. It felt like benediction. Or perhaps an elegy. I saw Jesse’s fingers drumming the seat between us, and I gently held her hand in mine, the way I would an injured bird.
“So many changes, Ty,” she breathed. “It’s everywhere. I can feel it.”
“It’s springtime, Jesse.”
“It’s more than that.”
I waited, watched a pair of brown myotis bats describing aimless patterns in the pale night sky.
“I know it,” I admitted. “I feel it, too.”
There’s an assortment of compelling, authentic characters – Ty has a wife (Jesse) and daughter (Cricket), and there are…locals and visitors. Len Kaanan is a record producer; Ian Swann is a singer-songwriter. Ty is a loving husband and father, but at work he is all business, and a force to be reckoned with. This contrast sets him apart from many similar literary detectives who have minimal or murky personal lives, or are otherwise emerging from some sort of alcohol induced, fault-based divorce due to pressures of work. It’s a rare author that can create such a character, showing both a convincing home and professional life, with complexity in each.
“I called the substation to tell Jordan and Griffin I would be a couple hours later than usual coming to the office and set out for the horse barn instead. The early morning cloud cover had finally burned away, and fingers of steam rose from the roof as the sun warmed the damp shingles.
I saddled Drambuie, a bay Morgan gelding that had become my most trusted mount in the string. I fitted his bridle, checked the noseband and chinstrap, tightened the girth cinch, climbed up, and settled myself into the cantle. We passed through the barn doors and headed northward, the noise from the ranch growing more distant as I spurred him along the narrow game trail that wound through an old grove of larch and opened onto a field of tall grass cut by a wide, shallow stream.”
“Knife River” by Baron Birtcher will appeal to many readers. Nature lovers can feast on the author’s descriptive gift for landscapes and wildlife. Mystery aficionados will be frantically trying to work out the deeply satisfying (but elusive) puzzle that stretches back and forwards in time. Those of us that love both aspects will be glued to each page, and time will stop until the novel is finished. What a relief to find a book that makes the reader THINK – and, oh, that eagle…
*****
“Knife River” by Baron Birtcher receives 5 stars from The Historical Fiction Company
Award:
To have your historical novel editorially reviewed and/or enter the HFC Book of the Year contest, please visit www.thehistoricalfictioncompany.com/book-awards/award-submission
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