About this item
In this unusual spin on the classic spy novel, murder strikes from our wartime pasts...Iraq War veteran Sam Blackman with his prosthetic leg and his no-nonsense private eye partner Nakayla Robertson love their investigations which always carry a thread from the past -- and they love each other. An interracial couple in the new South, the Asheville, NC, pair has surrounded themselves with a terrific support team including an unorthodox lawyer and a veteran cop. They deploy humor both to bind them together and to deflect insults. Plus, it helps deal with the tragedies their work uncovers.Such a tragedy interrupts a meeting between the PIs and the neighboring law office when a body is unearthed from the grounds of the nearby Pisgah Astronomical Research Institute. During the Cold War it monitored developing space programs. Today it plays a vital role gathering weather and climate data. The body has been in the ground a long time. Why would its discovery spark off a new murder in Asheville's mountain music scene, the victim found amid the garbage of dark, dank Rat AlleyShe was the fiance of the man murdered long ago. But surely this case is more than a domestic drama playing out over time....The Sam Blackman mysteries excel at merging past and present, bringing little-known history to light, and are perfect for fans of James Lee Burke, Stephen Mack Jones, Margaret Maron, and Robert B. Parker.
About the Author
A native of western North Carolina, Mark sets most of his mysteries in Asheville and the surrounding Appalachian mountains. In addition to his Sam Blackman and Barry Clayton series, Mark has written the political thrillers, THE 13th TARGET and THE SINGULARITY RACE, and two Young Adult mysteries: a thriller, A CONSPIRACY OF GENES, set in a children's hospital and an historical "locked-room" murder mystery, DEATH ON A SOUTHERN BREEZE, set on a train traveling from Charlotte to Charleston in the summer of 1860. Mark also has written the play "A DYING BUSINESS." two short stories, TWO OF A KIND, available for the Kindle, and the sci-fi thriller DOUBLE CROSS OF TIME set in 2030 when today's breaking scientific discoveries yield surprising and dangerous consequences. Check out the video section of his author page for a tour of Sam Blackman's Asheville, book trailers, and a preview of his latest Barry Clayton mystery, SECRET UNDERTAKING.
