Official Website of

TODD BORG

Author of the Award-Winning
Owen McKenna Mystery Thrillers

and the

Josie Strong Dark Road Suspense Thrillers

PLEASE NOTE: The Tahoe Truckee area has a great local bookstore in Truckee that not only sells my books and many thousands of titles in their beautiful store, but they ship anywhere. Here's the link: Word After Word Books

You can also call them at 530-536-5099

Their address is:

Word After Word Books

10052 Donner Pass Road

Truckee, CA  06161

Introducing the Josie Strong Thrillers:

A Dark Road Suspense

Josie Strong is a Medieval History professor at UCLA. She's a single mom who's raising a 14-year-old daughter, Samantha Strong. They live in a two bedroom condo in Santa Monica close to the beach. Josie is celebrated for having the most popular class in UCLA's history department. Samantha attends a charter school, is a good student, and is also on the volleyball team. They have a good life.

This new series begins with a horrific problem...

WILDERNESS VACATION Book 1 (PUBLISHED JULY 1, 2024)	In Book 1, WILDERNESS VACATION, Josie Strong arranges to take her daughter on a canoe trip vacation to the Quetico Wilderness in Ontario, Canada (Just north of the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness in Northern Minnesota). What Josie and Samantha don't realize is that they recently witnessed a crime that makes powerful men want them dead. What their would-be assassin doesn't realize is how hard they'll be to kill. The man who is pursuing them thinks it will be easy to follow them into the wilderness and leave their bodies in the woods. After all, Josie is a middle-aged, out-of-shape professor, and her daughter is just a kid. Both women are unarmed. But what the killer doesn't know is that the reason Professor Strong's Medieval History class is so popular is that she is an expert in Medieval weapons. The north woods may be a dark wilderness, but chances are that Josie can go into the forest and use ordinary materials to craft a deadly weapon. Good luck, Mr. Assassin. You've met your match.
WILDERNESS JUSTICE Book 2 (Published August 1st, 2024)	In Book 2, WILDERNESS JUSTICE, Josie gets a phone call from California's Bureau of Investigation. The agent tells her that Josie's daughter Samantha has been arrested for bringing drugs over the Mexican border on a school field trip to Tijuana. The Bureau sees an opportunity to pressure Josie into helping them find another killer, who is hiding in the wilderness of Yosemite. Track this man down the way you did the last killer, they tell Josie, and we'll let Samantha go. Refuse and we'll proceed with prosecuting her. While Josie believes Samantha was framed, she's desperately afraid they'll prosecute Samantha for drug smuggling. Her daughter could be tried as an adult and end up in prison. When Josie figures out where the killer is, she is arrested herself in a twisted scheme to hide a conspiracy. Josie has to escape and set a medieval trap to catch the real killer.
WILDERNESS PUNISHMENT Book 3 (Published September 1st, 2024)	In Book 3, WILDERNESS PUNISHMENT, Josie has just finished giving a lecture at UCLA when she finds the Governor of California waiting for her in his limousine. He tells her he has heard of her remarkable investigative skills, and he wants her to track down the man who murdered a family friend, Francis Telman, a Ranger for the U.S. Forest Service. Telman was shot and killed outside of his cabin at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, and the killer escaped over the show on skis. Josie explains that she knows nothing about skiing or winter snow or even the mountain wilderness. But the governor is insistent. He's willing to provide a significant payment if she helps. He also suggests he could cause trouble with Josie's tenure track at UCLA if she doesn't help. Josie is outraged at the suggestion of blackmail. But she feels trapped. She takes on the job only to have Samantha nearly die in a shooting by a former Army sniper whose identity is unknown but who is called Typhon after the Greek God of monsters. Josie and Samantha's lives are in danger, and Josie's only hope is to get help from a former student who is a brilliant computer hacker and can help Josie track the man using special tracking software. Once Josie finds the man, she uses her medieval knowledge to catch the devious killer.
WILDERNESS THREAT Book 4 (Published October 1st, 2024)	In Book 4, WILDERNESS THREAT, the Governor of California contacts Professor Strong and tells her that a shooter she previously caught was killed in a transport truck explosion while he was being taken to prison. The governor pleads with Josie to reopen her investigation and find the culprits. Despite Josie's distrust and dislike of the man, she agrees to take the case because a young woman has been kidnapped. Josie enlists her former computer-hacker student to help find the location where the woman is being held. Then she designs a classic medieval assault on a religious abbey that is being used as headquarters for a criminal drug gang. The odds are overwhelming, seven armed men against Josie, her daughter, and some friends. But Josie will do anything to save the kidnapped woman...

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Introducing the 22nd Owen McKenna Mystery! coming August 2024 TAHOE RESCUE A Young Woman Got A Dream Job Livvy Paar was working as a waiter and a sidewalk busker in Cambridge, Mass, when she got a job as a personal secretary for cosmetics tycoon, Georgia Connor. Georgia let Livvy work and live at her mansion on the shore of Lake Tahoe. Her World Collapsed In A Moment Life was good until Georgia died in a car accident. In a moment, Livvy lost the world she'd come to love. Worse, Livvy began to think that the car accident was rigged, and that Georgia was murdered. She Contacted Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna When Livvy showed up at McKenna's office, he never could have imgined that he would become involved with modern-day pirates who were after a stolen painting worth tens of millions, a painting so valuable they would eliminate anyone who got in their way. Then Livvy Was Kidnapped The pirates felt invincible. But they didn't realize what would happen when they went up against McKenna and his Great Dane Spot. Maybe they would simply kill him. Or maybe he would take them all down...   TAHOE FLIGHT   In TAHOE FLIGHT, a murderer is targeting Detective Owen McKenna and his Great Dane Spot along with several doctors who are attending a reunion being held in Tahoe. McKenna can't seem to figure out the connection between the murders, one of the methods of which is especially diabolical. However, McKenna does find out that a huge biplane is involved, and it may be used for his and Spot's last ride... TAHOE FLIGHT will be in stores come August 1st. And of course, you can always preorder the Kindle version from Amazon.   TAHOE MOON When Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna finds a lost girl, 8-year-old Camille Dexter, he doesn't realize that her grandfather and only guardian has been murdered and a killer has been hired to kill Camille and dump her body in the lake. McKenna also doesn't know that Camille has no relatives or friends because she and her grandfather have been living in his camper. Complicating the situation is that Camille is deaf. Brilliant but deaf. Camille's predicament will break your heart even as you fall in love with her grit and determination.     TAHOE JADE   A Letter from Abe Lincoln In the fall of 1861, President Abe Lincoln wrote a letter to the new governor of California, Leland Stanford. Lincoln sent the letter by Pony Express,which went through Tahoe. The letter from Lincoln was intercepted. It never reached Stanford. An Assault, A Fire, A Kidnapping 160 years later, Firefighter Jade Jaso was assaulted in Sacramento. The next day she nearly died in a warehouse fire. A short time later, her rancher father was killed in a fall at Lake Tahoe. Then Jade disappeared. A Coded Message When Detective Owen Mckenna is brought on the case, he finds Lincoln's letter hidden in the personal effects of Jade Jaso's father, who is a collector of historical memorabilia. The letter contains a coded message. McKenna learns that the message refers to a treasure Stanford had mentioned to Lincoln. Unfortunately, Jade's father made the deadly mistake of talking about the letter. Information of the letter came to a brute of a man who would kill or torture anyone who got in the way of finding that treasure, including Jade and her father, as well as Owen McKenna and McKenna's girlfriend Street Casey...     The 18th Owen McKenna Mystery TAHOE HIT A Sophisticated Killer With A Fixation On Shakespeare's Hamlet... Deadly Past Secrets... The Ultimate Revenge...   TAHOE HIT was an instant Amazon Bestseller and Amazon's #1 Hot New Release in Literature! In their review of Tahoe Hit, Kirkus Reviews wrote, "A tense, engaging entry in a long-running regional mystery series."   TAHOE DEEP In 1940, a teenage blind boy named Danny Callahan witnessed the scuttling of the SS Tahoe Steamer, the grandest ship to ever sail Lake Tahoe. Eighty years later, a killer beats up old man Daniel Callahan, demanding to know the truth about a deadly secret that went down with the ship. If Callahan doesn't tell all he knows, the people closest to Callahan will die...   Here's what Kirkus Reviews said about the previous McKenna thriller: "Yes, Borg's books are thrillers first and foremost, with picturesque settings, but they're also educational as well. Having a thoughtful, inquisitive man such as Owen at their center enhances these volumes. And this latest outing is no exception. Another impressive case featuring a detective who remains not only dogged, but also reflective." - Kirkus Reviews TAHOE SKYDROP A Computer Genius Created A Startup Worth A Billion Dollars Tahoe tech guru Yardley LaMotte had a vision for future robots that could transform the world. He started a company called Tahoe Robotics. A Murderous Gang Wanted The Software Twisted killers with ties to a Swedish prison gang figured out how to steal the software. All they needed was the key to unlock the computer code. The Killers Kidnap A Child Who May Know The Password A brilliant kid was in the classroom when the Tahoe Robotics founder visited a local school and talked about encruption. When that kid goes missing, the father contacts Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna. McKenna Plans To Attack The Gang From The Sky Wen McKenna learns that the kidnappers are hiding the kid at a mountaintop compound protected by armed guards, he plans to rescue the child by using a paraglider to drop out of the sky at night. But the plan goes horribly wrong. Unless McKenna and his Great DaneSpot can find the child, the child will die... Tahoe Skydrop was in an Amazon promotion on Tahoe Skydrop at Christmas. TAHOE SKYDROP shot to #1 on the chart. SWEET!   The year before, McKenna got rave reviews and made several bestseller lists with TAHOE PAYBACK ...  "An engrossing whodunit that should keep readers guessing through the final twist" - Kirkus Reviews When a man tells Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna that his girlfriend disappeared, McKenna wonders if the woman got cold feet and ran away. But when she turns up murdered on Fannette Island with red roses in her mouth, McKenna discovers that she used a scam charity to steal millions. Meanwhile, Street's ex-con dad has jumped parole in Missouri, and she believes he is coming to punish her for her testimony that put him in prison decades before. Both Owen and Street are about to confront someone who wants them very dead... Here's the full, great review that the prestigious Kirkus Reviews posted about Tahoe Payback: A California private investigator and his Great Dane explore the seamy underside of charities. Philosophical sleuth Owen McKenna, aided largely by his dog, Spot, returns in this 15th volume of Borg's (Tahoe Dark, 2016, etc.) mystery/thriller series. When the novel opens, Owen already has a personal case on his plate. His girlfriend, scientific researcher Street Casey, is being stalked by her father, Tom, who has threatened to kill her for her testimony, which sent him to prison for a long stretch. Street has refused Owen's proffered protection, choosing instead to continue living on her own while learning self-defense techniques from him. But, having to pay the bills, Owen gets drawn into a new case involving charity scammers. The client is Douglas Fairbanks, whose parents obviously had a nasty sense of humor. The introverted, middle-aged millionaire wants Owen to find his missing, much-younger girlfriend, Isadore. The two get off to a rocky start when Owen questions Isadore's motives: "You are suggesting that the love of my life is a con artist, a thief?" Fairbanks asks. Owen's instincts prove correct after Isadora is found gruesomely murdered, as he discovers she earned millions off a fake charity. Soon three others connected to charity scams are similarly slain, and Owen is hunting a serial killer. All the while, he is preoccupied by the threat to Street. In Owen, a former San Francisco homicide detective, Borg has created a winning protagonist, both forthright and pragmatic. It's a treat to see how his mind works. Owen has a dedicated partner in Spot, whom he has trained as both a search and an attack dog and who becomes a central figure in this installment. More problematic is the damaged Street, whom Owen struggles to protect while respecting her wishes. The author has provided a diverse group of believable suspects, including the son of a charity's mark, a disabled artist, a forgetful scientist, and even Owen's own client. Borg effectively sets all this action against the colorful backdrop of Tahoe and its visitors and citizens. The result is an engrossing whodunit that should keep readers guessing through the final twist.  A worthy addition to a well-devised mystery/thriller series. - Kirkus Reviews 2016's book, TAHOE DARK, was a local and Amazon bestseller and received rave reviews. Here's what KIRKUS REVIEWS said about TAHOE DARK: "ONCE AGAIN, BORG HITS ALL THE RIGHT NOTES FOR FANS OF CLASSIC DETECTIVE FICTION IN THE MOLD OF DASHIELL HAMMETT, RAYMOND CHANDLER, ROSS MACDONALD, AND ROBERT B. PARKER." - Here's what the critics said about my previous novel, Tahoe Blue Fire. "A GRIPPING NARRATIVE...A HERO WHO WALKS CONFIDENTLY IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SAM SPADE, PHILIP MARLOWE, AND LEW ARCHER." --Kirkus Reviews "A THRILLING MYSTERY THAT IS DIFFICULT TO PUT DOWN...EDGE OF YOUR SEAT ACTION" - Elizabeth, Silver's Reviews "TAHOE BLUE FIRE STARTS OUT WITH A BANG...AND HAS A SPECTACULAR ENDING" - J Bronder Book Reviews "VERY ATMOSPHERIC, THIS IS ANOTHER EXCELLENT THRILLER BY TODD BORG" - Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante  "THIS READER HAS COME TO CARE DEEPLY FOR THESE CHARACTERS" - Cathy Cole, Kittling:Books "TENSION-FILLED AND FULL OF SURPRISE" - Gloria Sinibaldi, Sierra Sun   My novels for 2014 and 2015,TAHOE GHOST BOAT and TAHOE BLUE FIRE, were immediate Amazon Bestsellers and stayed on Amazon's Private Investigator bestseller lists for months. The novel the year before, TAHOE CHASE, was chosen as Amazon's #1 "Hot New Release!" TAHOE CHASE also spent many months on Amazon's "Private Investigator" Bestseller list! .  Cool news: The National Geographic has featured my books on their Sierra Nevada Geotourism website! Click this graphic to see the page:

*** If you'd like to be on my mailing list, please send an email to todd@toddborg.com   Please write "Please Add" in the subject line. I will never share your email with anyone. ***   "If you get the impression that I love these books, you would be correct. I've read four books in this series. All four have been "Wow" books for me. I've never had this happen before, but oh, am I ever enjoying it." Kittling: Books     ***Over 800,000 ebooks and paper books in circulation and over 59,000 reviews, ratings, and shelvings on Amazon and Goodreads, at an average rating of 4.6 Stars   Recent News... The prestigious Left Coast Crime Convention recently came to Reno. I'm proud that they chose me to be the Toastmaster. If you wonder why I was excited about this honor, it's because past Left Coast Crime toastmasters are an impressive group. Previous Left Coast Crime toastmasters include Lee Child, Nevada Barr, Harlan Coben, James Lee Burke, Rick Riordan, Laurie R. King, and other literary luminaries. I'm a lucky guy!! That's me at the very front of the audience of 550 mystery fans, handing out an award. Here's the link: Left Coast Crime Cathy Cole of the popular mystery blog Kittling: Books 1    2    3   4    5    6   7    8    9   10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 The Josie Strong Dark Road Suspense Thrillers 1 2  3   4     BORG'S AWARDS Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year (see below) One of the Five Best Mysteries of the Year       - Library Journal One of the Top Five Mysteries of the Year       - G. Wedgwood, Mystery News Best Thriller of the Year       - Bay Area Independent Publishers Association Best Mystery of the Year       - Bay Area Independent Publishers Association Best New Fiction - Cincinnati Library Starred (Rave) Reviews       - Library Journal, Midwest Book Review, Mystery News, Nevada Appeal, San Jose Mercury News and numerous other papers and magazines and websites Amazon Mystery/Thriller Bestseller List      - Thehe Owen McKenna mysteries have spent countless weeks on Amazon's bestseller list! WONDERING WHERE TO  GET THE BOOKS IN TAHOE? NORTH SHORE Geared For Games, Cobblestone Center, Tahoe City MindPlay in  Paradise Resort, Olympic Valley The Gatekeeper's Museum, Tahoe City The Potlatch, Incline Village SOUTH SHORE Red Hut at Ski Run Blvd Cabin Fever at Ski Run Marina Lake Tahoe Museum Camp Rich General Store TRUCKEE Word After Word Bookstore RENO Grassroots Books at Grove St CARSON CITY The Red Hut Cafe on 395 CARSON VALLEY / MINDEN/GARDNERVILLE Luminary Books in Gardnerville GRASS VALLEY The Bookseller   ***NEWS FOR FRANCOPHILES *** The French translation rights for TAHOE HIJACK were purchased by a publisher in Paris! The French version of Tahoe Hijack is now out in hardcover. The French title? TAHOE L'ENLEVEMENT Une Enquete Du Detective McKenna

Borg walking up to receive the Ben Franklin Best Mystery of the Year Award for TAHOE SILENCE (The cover is displayed on the big screens) The award ceremony was held at the posh Wilshire Grand in Los Angeles

Good ol' Ben on the slab of glass Gold sticker on the book Notice above that TAHOE BLOWUP  was a silver medal finalist in 2002

The Owen McKenna T-Shirt

"I had to rethink everything,  from Chocolate to Paris." - Owen McKenna This luxurious long-sleeved T-Shirt comes from a line that McKenna says in Tahoe Heat. Nick-named the "Epiphany T-Shirt," more details are on the order page. SOLD OUT

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