Former Sheriff Detective Al Quinn is enjoying his
retirement as well as his small home on the shores of a lake near Austin,
Texas. In some ways he misses his former
job, but in others he is glad to be out as 25 years with the Travis County
Sheriff’s Department was long enough even if he had a good boss. His biggest annoyance these days at his
isolated home is the drought. If the
unrelenting Texas sun keeps cooking the surrounding area forcing the lake level
ever lower he will soon have to do some work to extend the boat dock.
The call from Sheriff Clayton of Travis County, his
former boss, changes things. According to Clayton, Ali’s estranged brother,
Maury, is in the hospital. The homicide
unit of Austin Police Department thinks it was a possible murder attempt.
Sheriff Clayton does not know anymore more and that means Al is going to have
to break the twenty year silence between them.
Al soon finds not only Maury in the hospital, but
Detective Ferguson Jergens by his side. Al had known her back in High School, even
taken her to the Prom, and a lot of years have passed. According to her,
somebody gave Maury three tablets of Viagra, a drug he had no prescription for
and should have never taken, and it almost killed him. He is still alive and is
not out of the woods yet. Whether it happened at the assisted living center
where Maury lives or by some other way has yet to be determined. Maury can’t
talk. It also has not been determined
if, Maury, a ladies man possibly did it to himself or willingly took the pills
offered by others. According to
Detective Jenkins everyone one is a possible suspect and that includes Al
because he is the brother and their long history of conflict.
Al may hate his brother for good reason, but he
certainly did not attempt to kill him. If he wanted his brother dead he would
have done it years ago. He also may be retired and considered a suspect by the
beautiful detective, but that is not going to stop him from going over to the assisted
living center which is Maury’s home and start asking questions. Before long a second attempt on Maury’s life
is made, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are involved, and ,
and members of a notorious Mexican drug cartel are involved in a case that
moves all over the Austin area as Maury, Al, and their friends battle to stay
alive.
Well known for Bones
In the Rain (Blue-Eyed Indian Mystery Series)
and quite a few other books, award winning author Russ Hall has a really good
book on his hands with To Hell And Gone In Texas. A
complex action oriented mystery full of interesting characters, numerous
suspects and plenty of clues, as well as lots of local color regarding the
Austin, Texas area, this is a book that comes fully alive for the reader. All of the above is a very long way of saying the
book is very good and well worth your time.
To
Hell And Gone In Texas
Russ
Hall
Red
Adept Publishing
August
2014
ISBN#
978-1-940215-33-4
Large
Paperback (also available in e-book)
238
Pages
$13.99
Material
supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.
Kevin
R. Tipple ©2014
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