Customer Reviews

On Deadly Ground

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On Deadly Ground by Michael Norman is thrilling murder mystery set in the surrounding area of Kanab, a small town in southern Utah. Former Denver police officer J.D. Books returns to his home town as a Bureau of Land Management Ranger and immediately gets caught up in a murder investigation.

The story takes many twists when J.D. and Sheriff Sutter investigate the likely suspects and their motives. As the story unfolds there are also surprises both for the investigation and personally for J.D. The plot moves very quickly and the action doesn't stop.

J.D.'s character is very likeable with a laid-back attitude and a past that haunts him. J.D.'s return to the place where he grew up added greatly to the character development as he interacted with old friends and family.

Michael Norman's previous novels also take place in Utah, and he conveyed a good sense of where the story was located in On Deadly Ground. This is a new author for me, and I look forward to reading his previous novels, Silent Witness and The Commission. Michel spent 25 years as a Professor of Criminal Justice at Weber State University, Ogden, Utah. During that time, he served on the Utah State Youth Parole Authority followed by a term on the State Board of Pardons and Parole.

On Deadly Ground is the perfect mystery with tension, action, surprises, and a satisfying conclusion.

If fast paced detective thrillers are your favorite read, then Michael Norman's "On Deadly Ground" is one you will like.

Set in Kane County of Southwestern Utah the plot revolves around the murder of a leader of the local environmentalist movement and the struggles between the pro-development locals and the various elements of their opposition seeking to preserve the land. Add to that the recently returned hometown boy now a Bureau of Land Management officer who ends up investigating the murder, his high school girlfriend, the local sheriff and some LasVegas mob figures conspiring with mining interests and you have all the ingredients for a fast moving and ever twisting story.

Throw in a cross section of characters and the heroes and villans quickly emerge only to confound the reader as the plot unfolds and what seemed obvious becomes increasingly questionable as you rapidly turn the pages.

This is the third of Norman's books and I think by far his best. I look forward to the next one!

Kanab, Utah contains two angry camps as the environmentalists and the ranchers argue over rights. The Escalante Environmental Wilderness Alliance (EEWA) directly opposes the Citizens for a Free West (CFW) as the former believe regulation is needed to protect the land while the latter believes the government should stay out of people's rights to use the land as they feel fit.

The debate turns ugly when the bullet-laden body of EEWA chief David Greenbrier is found hanging from a beam in a barn. Kane County Sheriff Charley Sutter asks native son J.D. Books, recently appointed as a law enforcement ranger at the Bureau of Land Management, to help with the investigation. The former Denver cop who was forced him to resign form the force finds blood on the door of Greenbrier's SUV. Although his initial reaction is to look closely at the CFW, Books uncovers evidence that points towards an EEWA member as a suspect. Lance Clayburn was having an affair with the victim's wife and physical proof ties him to the murder scene. However, Books' experience in the Mile High City makes him suspect the prime suspect as the killer as Clayburn is too easily linked to the homicide; so he looks elsewhere especially to the west where coal interests in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument reside.

This is a strong police procedural that looks deeply at the issue of development vs. individual rights, and the environment as they converge in Kane County. The investigation is fast-paced while making strong cases for mining, conservation and the rights of people; leaving it to the reader to decide what should trump the others. Fans will appreciate this deep thought provoking whodunit as Michael Norman entertains the reader yet also makes a strong case these are not sound byte drill baby issues.

Harriet Klausner