“Set in the beautiful Wyoming high country, Death Canyon introduces Jake Trent, a smart and savvy protagonist, in a twisting, turning, murderous tale that thriller readers will love."
Description
The debut novel—“a true thrill ride” (Suspense magazine)—in the series featuring prosecutor-turned-Wyoming-fishing-guide Jake Trent: “a twisting, turning, murderous tale that thriller readers will love” (New York Times bestselling author Michael McGarrity).
It’s early summer in Jackson, Wyoming, where former prosecutor Jake Trent has left the law behind to pursue his dream: becoming a fishing guide and opening a small bed-and-breakfast in the West. Now three seemingly unrelated deaths have occurred in one day—unheard of in the scenic valley of Jackson Hole—disrupting Jake’s idyllic new life.
A skier perishes in a freak late-season avalanche. A French couple is discovered mutilated on a remote trail—presumably by a bear. And on the Snake River, Jake stumbles across the body of an expensively attired fisherman. Meanwhile, a series of small earthquakes—not to mention a bitter dispute between land developers and environmentalists—has left the townspeople uneasy.
Before long, the plausible explanations for each death dissolve. Could there be a sinister connection among them? When fresh evidence points to Jake as a suspect, he goes on the defensive. Is someone out to frame him? Jake teams up with beautiful park ranger Noelle Klimpton to get to the bottom of this series of disturbing events. The trail leads right to the region’s crown-jewel attraction: Yellowstone. With “all the elements of a successful thriller” (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), Death Canyon features “evocative Rocky Mountain themes, a spot-on sense of place, brilliant fly-fishing scenes and characters you just want to root for” (New York Times bestselling author C.J. Box).
Reviews
"Izaak Walton called fly fishing a contemplative man’s recreation, and some of the same can be said of David Riley Bertsch’s Death Canyon except that this debut thriller series featuring fishing guide Jake Trent stacks up bodies faster than cordwood and deftly threads together an investigation like a premium hand-tied fly."
"David Riley Bertsch's first novel Death Canyon offers evocative Rocky Mountain themes, a spot-on sense of place, brilliant fly-fishing scenes, and characters you just want to root for. Welcome aboard, Dave Bertsch."
"A true thrill ride. Readers will definitely look forward to the next book in this series. From this first tale, it looks like Jake Trent will be the next in line for suspense/thriller readers to adore!"