Hogger

by Donald Wayne Shuey

Set in the Midwestern United States during the gray, gritty days of the Depression, a steam locomotive engineer finds himself reluctantly drawn into an expanding entanglement of violence directed towards the railroad and its employees. Local law enforcement is unable to determine if the cause is a crazed individual, unscrupulous union sympathizers or something even more sinister. The only common element in the ongoing series of bloody and tragic events is a cryptic number found scrawled near the scenes of the crimes. As death and destruction continues to haunt the rail line, the engineer, spurred on by his own deep personal losses, throws caution to the wind and undertakes a personal vendetta to seek the killer or killers. In a torturous search for clues, he finds himself ensnared in a dangerous, unfamiliar world filled with unsavory characters. Engaged in a near suicidal pursuit, his actions expose deep seated and disturbing emotions that are guiding him toward inevitable destruction. In the violent conclusion, the ghastly facts prove to be more disturbing and deadly than he dared to imagine.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007