Customer Reviews

Tahoe Blowup (An Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I liked this book. It's a fast, scary and funny read. It's a timely subject for a thriller--environmental crimes, in this case arson in the tinderbox forests around Lake Tahoe. The setting is vividliy described, the characters are appealing and funny. The protagonist is a cop turned PI with an irresistable sidekick--a Great Dane named Spot. What could be cloying and prescious is instead hilarious and very moving. The action is intense, nonstop, the dilemna interesting and difficult, the characters full and engaging. I read it at the beach in a couple days. Good read.

"An ordinary forest fire can be put out, but you can only run from a BLOWUP..."

Well mystery fans, he's done it again. Who you ask? Why, Lake Tahoe's very own author Todd Borg. And just what has he done that has readers from Lake Tahoe to San Francisco so worked up? He's released his second riveting novel in the Owen McKenna mystery series; a suspense-filled tale of kidnap and arson at the height of the fire season titled "Tahoe Blowup."

Toward the close of summer in the Sierra Nevada, people who live and work among the pines and firs of the Tahoe National Forest get real jumpy. Months of long hot days coupled with tinder dry brush and low humidity make the threat of forest fires something many lose sleep over. It is almost unthinkable that someone would deliberately set out to release the fury of such fires with the strike of a match. But that is exactly what has been happening at Lake Tahoe and what local private investigator, Owen McKenna, and his Harlequin Great Dane, "Spot," have been asked to stop. That and a string of murders associated with each devastating blaze until McKenna's own girlfriend, Street Casey, is marked as the next victim. Thrill binding excitement right up to the very end-an ending you'll never expect!

Attention to detail, vivid descriptions and lifelike character portrayals are the hallmarks of Borg's style and he has really done his homework on this one. In depth investigative work on everything from environmentalist watchdog groups to forest management techniques and fire fighting theory. It just doesn't get any more real.

"The Colfax Area Express," Colfax, CA

I received this book as a gift. It's been sitting around gathering dust for a while. Started reading Blowup this morning. WHAT AN AMAZING AUTHOR! This guy has an excellent command of the language. He paints vivid mind pictures and is easy to read. I'll probably finish this book before I go to bed tonight, however I already know Todd Borg is going to rank up there with C.S. Forester and Terry Pratchett as one of my favorite authors. Thanks Todd!

Mr. Borg's second novel is even better than his first. The story is an excellent depiction of Tahoe's forests and impending danger from fire. As a neighbor to The Oakland Hills firestorm of 1991, the danger really hit home. As in his first novel, the characters are intriguing, especially his dog Spot.

I look forward to reading more of Mr. Borg's work.

We start with a fire just below Owen McKenna's cabin. After narrowly escaping, Owen learns that this was planned. A note was sent to the fire department saying that this was in retaliation of forestry fire procedures. We then learned that Jake Pooler was killed in the fire. He has a reputation of being a ladies man, having a bad attitude, being severely in debt, and not being the most popular person in Truckee.

When another note is received, everyone is on pins and needles. Although they try their best, two houses are burned like the note said and another life has been claimed, Joanie Dove. The trouble is Owen cannot figure out the connection between Jake and Joanie. Then Owen starts receiving notes, calls, a burned stuffed dog, and muscle to keep him away from the fire investigation, he goes on alert. But when Street is kidnapped, all bets are off.

I love the Owen McKenna series. There is great suspense. I'm always on my toes and when I think I know who did it, it turns out to be someone else. I loved how the story was wrapped up. I am now on the hunt for the rest of his books. This is one mystery series that you will want to read.

I received this book for free from Book Rooster in exchange for an honest review.

The story opens with a bang, literally, as fire surrounds the house of the main character. And it's not the only fire in the town of Lake Tahoe, as Ownen McKenna and his dog try to ferret out the firebug.

This is the second book in the Owen McKenna series, and it was nice to be able to read the second, without knowing anything about the first book.

The characters were very well drawn, and the plot kept me turning the pages. Perhaps a bit of a predictable end, as there weren't that many characters in the book, but enjoyable nevertheless.

I will definitely be on the lookout for other works by this author.

I received a complimentary copy of this book to review.

This is the second mystery thriller of Todd Borg in his Owen McKenna series. Owen, a former police officer turned P.I., is hired to investigate a fatal forest fire set by an arsonist in the Tahoe National Forest. As the story progresses, more fires are started and more people are killed. Owen's Great Dane, Spot, and a search-and-rescue German shepherd named Natasha help unearth clues in this mystery. Owen becomes desperate to identify and stop the arsonist when his girlfriend is kidnapped and in danger of being a victim in the next fire.

Tahoe Blowup is a good mystery with factual information on a variety of topics, including search-and-rescue dogs and their reactions to finds, the positive/negative environmental impact of extinguishing forest fires, entomology, art, and the terrain of the High Sierras.

I enjoyed reading Tahoe Blowup, and I even learned quite a few things in the process. I received a complimentary copy in exchange for this review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book for review......and am I glad. This was a great book about an area I know pretty well having lived in the High Sierra for a couple of years. The author did his homework and made the wildfire problems in the Lake Tahoe Basin very real. Kept me turning the pages and reading into the wee hours of the morning. I definitely look forward to reading more by this author.

I received this free to read and review
This is the second book in the "Tahoe" series and as I had not read the previous one it took me a while to realise that the main character was a detective and what his name was. (It was on the cover and in the publishers blurb, but I rarely read that). Although the start is dramatic with a killing in the first couple of pages the story then settles down and becomes an investigative detective novel until towards the end when it becomes all action. The author obviously knows the area as he describes it and brings it to life; this together with excellent characters including the dogs makes it a good book with a plot that holds together. A bit predictable until the end but the clues are in the text if you read it carefully. It also although part of a series holds up well as a standalone novel, well worth a read.

I just finished this book and found it thoroughly enjoyable. It's your basic mystery thriller about a killer using, of all things, forest fires to go after those he's fixated on. You might ask yourself how does one use a forest fire, as opposed to let's say setting a lone building afire, to kill specific targets? Well, author Todd Borg uses a set of interesting characters and the science of fire to do just that. Before reading this book, I had a general understanding of pyromania, arson investigators, forest fires and search and rescue dogs. However, I did not know that one could actually major in 'fire science,' nor did I understand the problems resulting from fuel build up when forest fires are put out instead of being allowed to burn out naturally. Don't get me wrong, Borg in no way preaches about environmental issues, controlled burns vs natural burns, etc. Rather, he explains just enough to fully flesh out the characters and provide interesting, background details to further the story.

The characters themselves are just as interesting. Author Borg does a nice job at making the main character, Owen McKenna, more than just your typical stoic, emotionally stunted, he-man who gets the girl. Instead McKenna, a former police officer-turned private investigator, is a man who's come to terms with a particularly traumatic event in his past. He is both masculine and sensitive. I enjoyed the fact that Borg portrayed this character so naturally - no flowing hair or bulging muscles here! Instead McKenna comes across as a man who does what he knows is right, makes no apologies for it and looks beyond the surface of those he meets. This is beautifully illustrated in his relationship with girlfriend, Street. Again, Borg deliberately chooses to make her the antithesis of what passes for 'beautiful' today. Street is smart, totally invested in her forensic studies of maggots and other creepy-crawlies,'too skinny,' and acne scarred. Theirs is a lovely, somewhat complicated, relationship due to Street's emotional scars left over from a hard childhood. In truth, I would have liked to see a bit more of their relationship in this book. However, I did not realize that this was actually the 2nd book in the series and will be searching out book 1 to see if their relationship has been further discussed there. And of course, there's no way to leave out the most endearing character of all - Spot! The 170 lb spotted, harlequin Great Dane that is McKenna's constant companion. There are other secondary characters that surround McKenna in his search for the killer and each brings something to the story.

All in all, this was a fun book. Todd Borg uses many different components from fire science to search and rescue dogs to develop a finely written, interesting story. He seeds just enough information for the discerning reader to hazard a guess as to the true killer. If there's one thing I can't stand, it's when an author solves a mystery through the use of last minute information or connections that come from out of the blue. I will definitely be on the lookout for Owen's and Street's story, as well as further investigations in the Owen McKenna series!