White River Burning: A Dave Gurney Novel: Book 6 - Tapa dura

Praise for White River Burning

"John Verdon writes grown-up detective novels, by which I mean stories with intelligent plots, well-developed characters and crimes that have social consequences. White River Burning, featuring the author's brainy gumshoe-for-hire, Dave Gurney, checks all these boxes . . . While keeping inside the lines of a classic whodunit plot, Verdon enriches the formula with a probing analysis of the way a community rips itself apart." --The New York Times Book Review

"I am impressed by the risks John Verdon has taken with White River Burning. He boldly highlights the issues from each side, and is able to get the message across that sometimes things are not what they appear to be on the surface . . . Don't miss this timely and sobering read." --Bookreporter

"Outstanding . . . The twisty plot builds up to a logical and satisfying reveal. Verdon expertly combines a baffling whodunit with thoughtfully drawn characters in this timely examination of racial tensions." --Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review)

"Compelling . . . Verdon's gripping, fast-paced police procedural will appeal to crime fiction readers with an interest in current events who enjoy David Baldacci, Michael Connelly, and Carrie Smith." --Library Journal

"Verdon is a gifted writer and storyteller . . . He definitely nails the zeitgeist." --Booklist

"It's easy to see why this series is so popular, blending as it does the hard-boiled social observations of noir fiction with the inscrutable pleasures of classic whodunit' puzzle-solving." --Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Wolf Lake

"Fans of classic fair play who appreciate well-developed characterizations in their whodunits will relish Verdon's richly atmospheric fifth mystery featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney (after 2014's Peter Pan Must Die...) Verdon couples the continued nuanced exploration of Dave and Madeleine's relationship with one of his most sophisticated solutions yet." --Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review)

"At the center of the natural and emotional turbulence, Gurney remains steady, methodical, and scientific as he pulls together the case's disparate strands... [T]he notion of shared nightmares holds the reader start to finish." --Kirkus Reviews

"Wolf Lake is a perfect thriller, one that revels in the darkest of places, in worlds both real and imagined. There are monsters in this book, certainly, but they live and breathe and look like us, which makes them all the more frightening. A complex, engrossing mystery, Wolf Lake will challenge what you believe to be true about the banality of evil and the lengths men will go to for the things they most want to hide." --Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland, Finalist for the Hammett Prize

"This novel has a hook worthy of any King creation: Four unrelated individuals in different parts of the country have the same nightmare, then appear to commit suicide. How's that for attention grabbing?" --Bookbub

"Why isn't John Verdon huge? Like household name huge? Verdon has a very distinctive style, one that is slightly offbeat without being off-putting... Verdon is an author deserving of your time and attention; if you love mysteries, you owe it to yourself to read Wolf Lake." --Bookreporter.com

"It’s always a pleasure to watch a keen mind absorbed in a difficult puzzle, which is how Dave Gurney distinguishes himself in John Verdon’s tricky whodunits." —The New York Times

Tensions have been running high in White River as it approaches the anniversary of a fatal shooting of a black motorist by a local police officer. The racially polarized city is on edge, confronted with angry demonstrations, arson, and looting. In the midst of the turmoil, a White River police officer is shot dead by an unknown sniper. As the town spirals out of control, local authorities approach Dave Gurney to conduct an independent investigation of the shooting.

The situation in White River becomes truly explosive as more killings occur in what appears to be an escalating sequence of retaliations. But when Gurney questions the true nature of all this bloodshed, and zeroes in on peculiar aspects of the individual murders, his involvement is suddenly terminated. Obsessed with evidence that doesn't support the official version of events, Gurney cannot let go of the case. Despite intense opposition from the police, as well as from dangerous fanatics lurking in the shadows, he begins to uncover an astonishing structure of deception—learning that nothing in White River is what it seems to be.

White River Burning is the most provocative and timely book yet by the author hailed by The New York Times as "masterly."