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Dead or Alive

 

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Dead or Alive 

 

Synopsis

Reviews

Locale

Amazon/Amazon UK

 

 

Publishing Information

Hardcover, Dutton
Published: 26 December 2008 
ISBN-10: 0525950818
ISBN-13:
978-0525950813

 

 

 

 

Read an excerpt

Synopsis

    Living in London while his wife serves as a military attaché at the American Embassy, recently retired Santa Fe Police Chief Kevin Kerney gets an early morning phone call that changes everything and sends him hurrying home to his New Mexico ranch. Riley Burke, his partner in a horse training enterprise, has been mowed down on Kerney’s doorstep by an escaped prisoner cutting a murderous swathe through New Mexico.

    As the killings mount, Kerney teams up with his half-Apache son, Lieutenant Clayton Istee of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Department, to hunt for a psychotic murderer with a growing appetite for blood, who has no intention of being taken alive.

 

Reviews

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My own review:
I myself finished it yesterday -- and I'm here to tell you it's very, very good - a different slant to the series in that it certainly isn't a "who dun it" but a "how do we stop him"!! And for a long while you watch Craig Larson's descent into escalating violence while law enforcement cannot seem to put a hand on him. Given the very good reason that Larson has killed his friend and partner as the very beginning of his spree, Kerney flies back from London, dons a New Mexico State Police special investigator's badge and joins Clayton Istee, his part Apache son, in the cat and mouse chase all over New Mexico. The ending is swift, sure and shocking. There is some great writing here, and Michael shows how evocative his writing can be in juxtaposing his and Clayton's growing closeness and camaraderie along side Larson's mad-bad psychosis and killing. My own feeling is that even though the natural beauty of New Mexico seems to take a back seat to all the mayhem in this book, really it is there all the time thwarting and helping first Larson and then the good guys. And another thing I disagree with is the tendency to equate Michael and his writing with Tony Hillerman and taking over and filling his shoes. Michael is no imitator and has never been a Tony Hillerman clone. They both may be adept at portraying the deep love they have for their own corner of the world, but Michael has earned his place as standing tall in his own shoes on his own success. He is a bloody good writer and this is a bloody good book!!

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— 1 October 2008
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