After his highly acclaimed debut, White Tombs, Christopher Valen brings St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana back in a suspenseful novel filled with tension and action that doesn t let up until the final, explosive ending. The body of a young Hmong woman is found on Harriet Island near the Mississippi River. It appears to be a simple case of murder and revenge. But what begins as a routine investigation soon morphs into something far more sinister. Trusting his instincts and determined to find justice, Santana relentlessly follows clues through a maze of political intrigue and deadly secrets, all the while wondering who he can trust, and whether he can survive long enough to resolve the case, save the city from a catastrophe and keep the woman he loves safe.
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John Santana, the St. Paul, Minnesota, homicide detective who made his first appearance in White Tombs (2008), has a tough case on his hands. A young Asian woman is found murdered. Santana soon learns that she was a prostitute, and that neither her father (a former general in the Vietnam War) nor her brother approved of her lifestyle. But is this a case of a family exacting retribution for a daughter's shameful life, or is there something else going on here? Santana-an appealing series lead, strong and intelligent-has his hands full with an assortment of suspects and, as it turns out, more than one body to deal with. Readers who enjoyed White Tombs will settle easily into this one; on the other hand, it works fine as a stand-alone, and fans of well-plotted mysteries with a regional flair (the author uses Minnesota, his home, to good effect) should be encouraged to give this one a look. Pitt, David. --Booklist
About the Author
Christopher Valen's first novel, White Tombs, featuring John Santana, won the Reader Views Choice Award for Best Mystery and the Garcia Award for Best Fiction. He lives in Minnesota with his wife, Martha.
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Christopher Valen is a graduate of the Citizen's Academy at the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department. He has worked with juvenile delinquents and as a teacher, administrator and college professor. His first novel featuring St. Paul Homicide Detective John Santana won the 2008 Reader Views Choice Award for Best Mystery and the 2008 Garcia Award for Best Fiction. His second book in the series, The Black Minute, was released in September 2009. It won the 2009 Reader Views Choice Award for Best Mystery and the Lynda Goldman Award for Best Novel. The Black Minute was also one of three finalists for the 2009 Midwest Book Award. John Santana will return in Bad Weeds Never Die, scheduled for release September 1, 2011. Christopher lives with his wife, Martha, near St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information please visit www.christophervalen.com
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
super police procedural,
This review is from: The Black Minute (Paperback)
St. Paul, Minnesota Homicide Detective John Santana leads the investigation into the murder of a twenty something Asian woman on Harriet Island. He learns that her name was Mai Yang, a Hmong, whose father was a general who fought on the American side during the Viet Nam war. She was also an Internet prostitute whose partner Jenna Jones is shocked.
John and his partner Kacie Hawkins interview Grace Chandler who found the body; to his shock he is attracted to her as he avoids personal entanglements since his Columbia childhood. They next visit the father who is icy cold and the brother Kou who is shocked. He heads to the Myth Club where Mai was on Saturday night to see if anyone can verify she was there and with whom. There John is further stunned by a woman who looks like his sister, whom he has not seen in two decades. When Jenna and Hmong gang members are killed, John and Kacie know they must solve the cases before a blood bath between clans and gangs occur; increasingly Kou looks guilty in what may be a vendetta in honor of his sister, but the murders have the precision of a military leader. The second John Santana St. Paul police procedural (see White Tombs) is a terrific thriller that contains a strong investigation, insight into the hero's past in Columbia and fascinating look at immigrants. The case engages the reader as John and Kacie follow the clues. The story line includes a special freshness interwoven within the inquiry that enables the audience to obtain an interesting perspective on the similar issues confronting first generation immigrants from diverse countries with specificity on the Hmong culture in Minnesota. Christopher Valen provides the audience with his second straight winning whodunit. Harriet Klausner
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Black Minute,
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This review is from: The Black Minute (Paperback)
I read "White Tombs" as a paperback but purchased "The Black Minute" as a Kindle book. I was very disappointed in the poor formatting of this Kindle book and contacted Amazon and was advised the poor formatting was due to the publisher. Amazon offered me a refund but I was 30% thru the book and wanted to finish it and didn't want to wait for them to ship me a paperback. While the formatting was of poor quality, the novel was excellent and I went ahead and ordered the 3rd book of this series in the Kindle format. The next book, "Bad Weeds Never Die" was published by a different publisher and the formatting was excellent. I am, as I write, about 1/2 thru the 3rd John Santana novel.I am hoping there is a 4th John Santana novel in the works. It is an excellent series. "The Black Minute" further develops the John Santana character. He is a man who has lost really everything. He has lost his family, his faith and his country and lives under a death sentence but somehow manages to move on and live his life. Since we live close to St Paul, a story set in this city is very interesting. I went ahead and checked out some of the interesting details, in the book, regarding the city and found them quite accurate. I am not going to go thru the details of this work of fiction as the former reviewer did this quite well. Suffice it to say that this series is worth the read if you like this genre in books that are well written, detailed with excellent character development that engages the reader in the developing plot.
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