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Shadow of the Raven [Hardcover]

David Sundstrand (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 6, 2007
Francisco Flynn is an officer in Land Management in the Mojave Desert, and he wouldn't have it any other way. The son of an Irish immigrant railroad man and a half-Mexican, half-Paiute mother, he lives in the caboose that his father brought up to a hilltop when the railroad stopped running there. Frank loves the desert and the animals that live there. He loathes the wealthy hunters who hire Indians to lead them to where they can shoot Bighorn rams and take their heads to hang as trophies on the walls of their fancy studies.
 
Over the years, Frank has come upon dead bodies---the remains of people who got lost and ran out of water, their corpses drying into mummies in the desert heat.  But now he finds a dead man who has only recently lost his life, and it looks very much like he's been murdered. His shoes are gone, he's shirtless, and there is no canteen anywhere in sight. 
 
A day or so later, Frank hears word of a trio of bikers who have blown into town looking for a missing comrade.  They pick fights in the local bar and don't hesitate to kill when it suits them.  Frank is certain that the dead man he found is connected to them, and that many people could be endangered, including the woman reporter he has learned to love.  Frank will do anything to rid "his" desert of the bikers who are spreading danger and hate, including putting his own life on the line.

With Shadow of the Raven, David Sundstrand adds a shining new voice to  Southwestern crime fiction.
 

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Bureau of Land Management officer Frank Flynn goes looking for bighorn sheep, but finds the bloated corpse of a poacher, left to die without shoes or water, in Sundstrand's well-crafted debut set in the Mojave Desert. Frank teams with reporter Linda Reyes to investigate. Their search for the murderer parallels that of the victim's brothers—Roy, Hickey and Jason Miller—a trio of unrepentant, unwashed misfits whose detecting methods leave a trail of death and destruction. Roy and company mistake Flynn for an illegal guide and force him to lead them into the canyon to hunt down the wealthy trophy hunter likely responsible for their brother's demise, but these skillfully painted lowlifes wend their way to their inevitable and poetically just deserts. Sundstrand's rugged half Irish, half Native American protagonist as well as the unforgiving desert setting will appeal to fans of western mysteries like Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series and C.J. Box's Joe Picket novels. (Feb.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

While out hiking in the Mojave Desert on his day off, Bureau of Land Management officer Frank Flynn discovers a body and two dead bighorn sheep. Although neither matter falls within the jurisdiction of the bureau, Frank feels compelled to investigate. Along with reporter Linda Reyes, he links the dead man to a poacher and discovers that a pair of violent, amoral, psychopathic brothers is also on the trail of the killer, hoping to exact revenge from those responsible. In addition, Frank tries to find the culprits who are placing spikes in the desert to deter off-road vehicles. Caught between two worlds, with an Irish father and a Native American mother, Frank makes an endearingly human main character. A principled caretaker of the land entrusted to him, he may remind readers of Joe Pickett, the game warden hero of C. J. Box's series. Similarly, Sundstrand's ability to capture both the beauty and danger of the Mojave Desert will spark comparisons to both Box and Nevada Barr, also known for vivid depictions of wilderness settings. Sue O'Brien
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (February 6, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0312361351
  • ISBN-13: 978-0312361358
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,867,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

4 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Rich characters, February 19, 2007
By 
This review is from: Shadow of the Raven (Hardcover)
Francisco "Frank" Flynn is an officer with the Land Management. He's the son of an Irishman and a half-Mexican and half-Paiute Indian. His passion is the animal life of the Mohave Desert.

When he finds a man who has been recently murdered, he becomes suspicious. It's not unusual for someone to die in the desert, but this corpse has no shoes or canteen. Later, Frank learns that some bikers are searching for a missing friend. He believes the dead man is the biker the men are looking for.

Frank loathes the bikers and is determined to rid the desert of this human danger. He and reporter Linda Reyes look into the man's unusual death, and as a result, danger begins seeking them.

I love the character of Frank. His passion runs true and deep, his voice strong, his determination is fierce. The supporting characters are richly drawn and you love to hate the bad guys. The plot is delicious and you'll find yourself turning the pages and losing track of time.

Armchair Interviews says: Sundstrand's debut novel, Shadow of the Raven, is a winner.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars nice read, February 9, 2010
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Dovie (Reno, Nv USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Shadow of the Raven (Hardcover)
How I wish that the BLM really had people like Frank on the job. Between the offroaders and people who dump their trash in the desert the BLM is very understaffed. Any way I enjoyed the book very much. Not like Tony Hillerman or Nevada Barr but fun and it kept me, reading way pass my bedtime. I am looking forward to the next "Frank" book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars fabulous whodunit, February 7, 2007
This review is from: Shadow of the Raven (Hardcover)
On his off day, Bureau of Land Management officer Francisco "Frank" Flynn plans to spend time enjoying the bighorn sheep wandering the Mohave Desert; but to his chagrin for the third time in six months he has found a desiccated corpse whose eyes and nose were dessert for ravens. Frank assumes the dead man was probably a poacher or a sportsman. However, he finds it odd that the deceased has no boots or any footwear even as he calls it in to his superior at the BLM.

Frank is disgusted with the Inyo County Sheriff's Department who sent morons into the desert. He soon joins with local reporter Linda Reyes to investigate what happened to the victim with no shoes or evidence of a water container nearby. At the same time they look around beyond the sheriff's designated "crime scene" ring to other keys spots like a watering hole, three of the four Miller brothers (Roy, Hickey and Jason) look for their missing sibling Donnie. When Roy learns that Donnie is dead, assuming half-breed Frank is an impoverished illegal guide, he forces him to escort the threesome into a desert canyon so they can kill the hunter who he believes murdered his sibling.

SHADOW OF THE RAVEN is a fabulous whodunit starring Frank, a fabulous lead character who fits in so well in the rugged terrain; he makes the tale though the support cast at BLM, the sheriff's department, the reporter and the low life Millers enhance understanding of him and of the desert. Fans of Joe Picket will fully appreciate this descriptive suspense filled mystery.

Harriet Klausner
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Finding another dead body ruined Frank Flynn's day off. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
butt print, sandy voice, rich white guy, ore car, tamale pie
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Roy Miller, Eddie Laguna, Red Mountain, Surprise Canyon, Joshua Tree Athletic Club, Sheriff's Department, Los Angeles, Mojave Desert, Dave Meecham, Frank Flynn, Range Rover, Donnie Miller, Jack Collins, Linda Reyes, Paiute Palace, San Bernardino, Bill Jerome, Bureau of Land Management, Kern County, Michael Sorensen, Mitch Cooper, Owens Valley, North America, Ben Shaw, Death Valley
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A note from the author--David Sundstrand 1 Feb 18, 2008
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