Customer Reviews

Crosshairs: A Novel of Suspense

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This is a "must read" to take with you to the shore or keep for a rainy day. The story quickly grabs your attention and the suspense mounts to a crescendo as the tale unfolds. You will not want to put this book down. It is one of those books that keeps your attention and before you know it you are at the end, you check the time, and think - "wow, that was a great book".

You're snapped to attention in the prologue. You settle in and relax into your seat, briefly. As you get to know the three main characters, you're lulled, almost teased, into a wondering, a guessing game. Gunshots are rumbling like kettle drums, softly at first, in the shadows. Victims begin to fall. Clues and unsavory characters begin to drop around you like tinkling brass. The conductor waves his wand and the tempo starts to build. It's crisp. It's clear, almost melodious. It tugs at you. You start to lean forward ever so slightly in your chair.

The pace smoothly, but steadily, quickens. Suddenly, almost violently, cymbals clash! The crescendo peaks, yanking you forward to the edge of your seat and almost to your feet. At the conclusion, you fall backward in your chair, sigh heavily, and as the music fades, realize your heart is racing . . .

Definitely, a winner, Mr. Heitz.

Susan Haley, Author
RAINY DAY PEOPLE
FIBERS IN THE WEB

Tears and Tales: Stories of Human and Animal RescueThe Horse with the Golden Mane: Stories of Adventure, Mystery and RomanceUnsung Patriot: Guy T. Viskniskki How the Stars and Stripes Began

CROSSHAIRS is exciting, vibrant, mesmerizing as Russ Heitz draws the reader into a vortex of mystery and human values laced with suspense and realism. The main character was so real I found myself arguing with his deepest beliefs and had to remind myself that he was a fictional person created by a master writer. Only once before have I read an author with such a scintallating and adept talent for building characters we are about and that was the great Daphne Du Maurier.

CROSSHAIRS isn't just another mystery book. Heitz plunges the reader into a maelstom of channels and eddies that defy resolution. His characters speak; they are real; they are different. We like them. We hate them. We are dazzled by them. We root for them. We disagree with them. But mostly, we care about some and want others brought to justice. The challenge of wondering why anyone would so heedlessly take lives with a souped-up target rifle carries the reader into a feeding frenzy of intrigue. He wants to know not just who the killer is, but what else is going to happen to this newly elected Sheriff. And we cheer for him because he is totally inexperienced at what he does and yet he does it well.

In CROSSHAIRS, Russ Heitz has envisioned the lives of fascinating people and a series of murders that rivet the reader into reading "just one more page" until the entire book is consumed.

If you are an early-to-bed reader, be prepared to travel along with CROSSHAIRS until the small hours of the morning. The book is just that good!

Jesse Eichenlaub has just been elected Sheriff of Klinkton county, a rural backwoods community of gun lovers that hosts a popular and always dangerous hunting season. Having no previous law enforcement experience Jesse is put under the spotlight by opportunistic locals who mistake his academic demeanor as a sign of weakness. With an abundance of patience and a firm desire to make a difference he takes every opportunity to bond with the residents while guarding his back from the unfortunate incidents of his past. However, it's the present that threatens to take his job, his girlfriend and perhaps his life.
A series of shootings precedes the fabled hunting season forcing the sheriff into action. As the investigation limps along on under funded crutches each succeeding death makes it clear that these are not accidents. Now the newly minted sheriff and his staff are racing to link together seemingly ordinary folks in order to establish a motive and track down the killer.
As a mystery Crosshairs hits the target dead center. The characters provide a light, fluid backdrop for a story that is driven by black coffee and personal secrets. Crosshairs presents the reader with the widest possible range of gun toting characters imaginable. From a lesbian Olympic target shooter to a hefty, aggravated county commissioner, everyone is armed with lead. In light of their weapons you'd assume that any individual was capable of justifying a murder but the author teaches you that it just doesn't work that way. It takes more than a motive to commit the ultimate sin.

This mystery novel is a real page turner. It will keep you guessing up to the end. Heitz has developed an interesting plot and an interesting collection of characters.

Crosshairs is a great back-country suspense novel. The characters brought Klinkton County alive and made it a 'real' place. Sheriff Eichenlaub proves to be just what the town needed. The author keeps you guessing right up to the end and leaves you in shock with the ending. Great book! I will be reading the next Jesse Eichenlaub mystery!

There's a new sheriff in town, and dug-in locals are resisting change big-time when a serial killer strikes! With much at stake, the new sheriff can't win for trying, or can he? Crosshairs is an interesting read.

What a great read! My head is still spinning! Crosshairs has more curves in it than the Pennsylvania landscape in which the novel takes place. Just when you think the story has reached a plateau and you can start breathing again, another event creates another level of suspense. I couldn't put the novel down!
Crosshairs packs a powerful punch from the first page to the last. Who is the serial murderer and why is this happening? And, along the road, what will we learn of the life-like characters before, or after they meet their maker?
Author Heitz is a splendid story teller who should not be allowed to read his crafty capers to too young of an audience too close to bedtime.

Purported to be a Novel of Suspense, Crosshairs by Russ Heitz surpasses the expectation for readers of the genre. Jesse Eichenlaub, the newly-elected sheriff of Klinkton County, seems an unlikely candidate for the job. In an area that revolves around deer hunting, Jesse doesn't hunt because he doesn't like killing things; he doesn't like guns and he has no previous experience with law enforcement. To rev up the tension, Gil Klinkton, the man he defeated in the election, the man whose ancestors founded the county named after them; the man who is now his boss, bears an unreasonable antipathy toward his rival He'll use any excuse to oust Jesse from his post. What he doesn't know is that Jesse is hiding something. Now, in the sleepy town of Glen Haven where the most heinous crime is illegal parking, a serial killer is on the loose and no one is safe.

Jesse has two things going for him: his administrative aide, Franky Boone, the leave-no-fact-unturned, Girl Friday who spent ten years learning from the former sheriff, and Clay Letterman, his rotund, but devoted to duty and to the sheriff deputy. Together, they put the Musketeers to shame.

Russ Heitz employs a liberal use of original similes and his novel is devoid of cliches. He excels at plot, structure, pacing and on-the-edge-of-your-seat suspense. In this first novel, Heitz has established a unique voice that captivates the reader, pulling him into the heart of the action. His readers will be impatient for his next novel.

"Crosshairs" introduced me to a part of rural America that was foreign to me, yet fascinating. The beautifully-drawn description of the area is as much as part of the story as are the colorful characters who come and go. I was quickly immersed in the suspense, which shocked me and took my breath away. As the horror unfolded, I wanted to solve the mystery along with the three main, very likable characters. But the story kept me guessing, going one direction and then another, until the surprising, action-filled finale. A must-read novel for those who love suspense.