Shadows of Death

Desert Sky Mystery #2

by David Sundstrand

Seth Parker is considered a terrorist by the FBI and is credited with many unusual deaths in Southern California. A man who cut the beaks off of pelicans is found dead and lipless. Another man who ran a dog fighting ring is found torn apart by his own dogs. Two boys who posted a YouTube video of themselves blowing up cats are missing, and no one expects to find them in one piece.

 

When Parker kills two poachers in the Mojave Desert for shooting burros, he falls into Frank Flynn’s orbit. The problem is that Flynn sympathizes with Parker more than he should. Because of this connection and his intimate knowledge of the desert, Flynn seems able to anticipate Parker's next moves, though he is always one step behind.

 

With the opening of Sand Canyon, Flynn finds himself in the awkward position of having to protect an exclusive hunting resort. He’ll have to come to terms with this duty, if he's to stay alive.

 

David Sundstrand’s second novel gives more incredible descriptions of the desert and a riveting story.

Genres: Mystery

319 pages, Hardcover

First published March 17, 2009

About the author

David Sundstrand was a longshoreman, a soldier, a railroad brakeman, and served in the United States Merchant Marine before going to college on the G.I. Bill to study English literature. He liked being a student almost as much as being a ne'er-do-well and might have stayed in college permanently were it not for the constraints of having to make a living. After many years of teaching English in high school and college, he decided to change hats and write something himself. He lives in Reno, Nevada, with his wife, Jacquelyn, two dogs, and a cat.

Reviews

[Cathy Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Line: This time the dead animals were in human form.

Seth Parker is a self-appointed vigilante. If he catches a person showing cruelty to an animal, that person will pay dearly. How dearly? Here are three examples:

A man who cut the beaks off pelicans for stealing his fish was found dead and lipless. The owner of a dog fighting ring is found torn to pieces by his own dogs. Two teenage boys who posted a YouTube video showing themselves blowing up cats are missing, and no one expects to find either of them in one piece. This is the sort of work that Seth Parker has become known for, and that's the reason why he's wanted by the FBI.

Frank Flynn is a law enforcement agent for the Bureau of Land Management. As a person who loves the Mojave Desert and the wildlife that can be found there, he has to admit that he sympathizes more with Parker than he should. Flynn reads about what Parker's been doing until Parker moves into the Mojave and kills two poachers for using wild burros as target practice. Now he's on Flynn's turf, and although Flynn seems able to guess Parker's next moves, he can't seem to get ahead of the killer.

Flynn would rather take a beating than provide any sort of protection at the opening of Sand Canyon, an exclusive hunting resort where the well-heeled can use the latest firepower to kill sedated big cats and other wild game, but that's exactly what he's assigned to do. He knows Parker's going to be there with plans to take down as many people as he can. Now all Flynn has to do is stay alive long enough to bring Parker to justice.

If you're a reader who respects the environment and loves wildlife, you can't go wrong by picking up either of David Sundstrand's Desert Sky mysteries, Shadow of the Raven and Shadows of Death. These two books are filled with beautiful descriptions of the desert and its plants and wild creatures. Frank Flynn has the perfect assignment: protecting the land and the animals that he loves so much, but it's not easy...

"This is where I grew up, and I'm watching it start to die. You know what that's like? People come up here, tear up the land, dump trash, go home, and water their lawns-- with our water." He turned to Linda. "They bring their guns and act like the valley's a shooting gallery. Shoot at anything that moves."


Although he likes and admires his boss and has a good relationship with his girlfriend Linda, he can be very abrasive with people who treat the environment as their own private garbage dump and playground. After dealing with those types, the best thing he can do is spend time in his converted railroad caboose out in a remote corner of the desert.

Sundstrand does an excellent job of portraying the landscape in all its unforgiving beauty and frailty. He also shines a spotlight on a fact that few people give much thought to-- that many areas in the desert Southwest have had their water taken from them so that people in large metropolitan areas like Los Angeles and Phoenix can have their green lawns and swimming pools.

But as good as the writing is about the landscape, it's just as good when it comes to the plot and to how the story unfolds. Frank is dealing with a brilliant, deranged killer on the one hand, and with uncooperative colleagues on the other. When he and Seth Parker meet at Sand Canyon, the action is fast, furious, and bad for the blood pressure-- but oh so good to the last page.

Both books in the Desert Sky series stand alone well, but I recommend reading them both... for the character of Frank Flynn and for the evocative picture Sundstrand paints of the Mojave Desert.

[Sue]

Bureau of Land Management (BLM) ranger Frank Flynn investigates when two poachers are found dead after slaughtering a couple of burros. Frank learns a group, led by Seth Parker, who was in the army with Frank, is murdering those who have been cruel to animals in the same manner they killed the animals. Local law enforcement officers, the FBI, and the BLM work together to trap the killer, who leaves cryptic clues, but he eludes them time and again. This cat and mouse game is personal for Frank who feels responsible for the army training he provided to Parker, leading to his sniper skills. Frank must stop Parker before he carries out his biggest operation to date, and only one may survive the final confrontation between the two. The fast-paced plot, told from both Frank and Parker’s points of view, the beautifully-described harsh Southern California desert setting, Frank’s relationships issues with girlfriend Linda Reyes, and quirky secondary characters add to a series that will appeal to fans of C.J. Box’s Joe Pickett mysteries.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this second book in the Desert Sky series, Frank Flynn, officer with the Bureau of Land Management, finds himself on the trail of one of his former Army charges, Seth Parker. Parker is a defender of animals who has turned terrorist; he seeks out those who have cruelly murdered animals, and treats them with a similar death. If they killed pelicans by extracting their beaks, they are found dead with their lips cut off; if they blew up cats, their bodies can only be found in tiny pieces. Another part of Frank's duties find him protecting an exclusive commercial hunting ranch, where animals are sometimes drugged and tethered so that the "hunters" might make quick kills of the exotic, and sometimes endangered, animals that are stocked on the ranch. Frank finds his sympathies are more often with the terrorist he is trying to stop, until the murders turn more personal. The author builds the story and suspense quite well; the descriptions of Mojave desert landscape is wonderful. I will definitely keep reading this series.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

You need to read to the very end! Is the villain the hermit, or is it someone else. Is it honorable to kill to protect the environment?