TODDBORG.COM

THE BOOKS

Note: My books can be purchased at Word After Word Books, our great local bookstore in Truckee. They ship anywhere.

Here's the link: WordAfterWordBooks.com

Visit them at 10052 Donner Pass Road

Truckee, CA  96161

 

Home
Blog
Books
Events
Owen
Spot
Tahoe Tour
Art
Danes
Speaking
Bio
Contact


TAHOE RESCUE (#22)  ((August, 2024)

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 (#21)  ((August, 2023)

It Started With A Murder 20 Years Ago

When Benito Diaz was a teenager, his mother was murdered. Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna was a rookie on the San Francisco PD, and he helped catch the killer, Tucker Dopple. Benito's testimony put Dopple in Prison.

A Convict Gets Paroled

Two decades later, Dr. Benito Diaz is an oncologist, and Tucker Dopple has been paroled. Dopple stalks Diaz and McKenna. When Diaz goes to a doctors' reunion in Tahoe, Dopple has an opportunity to kill both Dr. Diaz and Detective McKenna at the same time.

A Killer Is Avenging Past Crimes

But Diaz and McKenna have more problems than a murderous ex-con. The doctors and previous medical school classmates have their own scores to settle. When McKenna gets in the way, he and his Great Dane Spot are kidnapped by a crazed pilot who is determined to drop them into Lake Tahoe...

 



TAHOE MOON (#20)  ((August, 2022)

When Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna finds a lost girl, 8-year-old Camille Dexter, he doesn't know that her grandfather and only guardian has been murdered and a killer has been hired to dump Camille's 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 (#19)  ((August, 2021)

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...

 









TAHOE HIT (#18)
Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna is asked to investigate two deaths that look accidental. But they may be what he thinks of as Agatha Christie heart attacks, created by a powerful poison. As McKenna pursues it, hired toughs arrive to beat him to a pulp. That indicates to McKenna that he is correct. But solving the case requires researching a murder from 20 years ago. And the puzzle seems to reveal a revenge modeled on Shakespeare's Hamlet, a tragedy where nearly everyone dies...

"A tense engaging  entry in a long-running... mystery series." - Kirkus Reviews


TAHOE DEEP (#17)

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...

 

"...witty... robust. A smart, intriguing mystery... a strong sense of Tahoe, akin to what Carl Hiaasen's novels provide for Florida. A superior entry...in a long-running mystery/thriller series." - Kirkus Reviews


TAHOE SKYDROP (#16)

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...

 "Borg's books are thrillers first and foremost... Another impressive case featuring a detective who remains not only dogged, but also reflective." - Kirkus Reviews

 

TAHOE PAYBACK (#15)

The First Body is Found on Lake Tahoe's Only Island

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.

More Bodies Follow

A second victim is found with a tennis ball crammed into his mouth. A third has military medals in his cheeks. McKenna suspects that these victims also ran fraudulent charities.

McKenna's Own Girlfirend Fears Attack

While McKenna investigates the murders, his girlfriend Street Casey has reason to believe that her ex-con father, who's jumped parole, wants revenge for her testimony that put him in prison decades ago.

A Twisted Killer Plans A Devastating Climax

It appears that the victims are all payback targets of a vigilante killer. McKenna finds lots of potential suspects. But he can't link any of them to the crimes. What he doesn't know is that both he and his girlfriend are about to face someone who wants them very dead.

"The author has provided a diverse group of believable suspects... Borg effectively sets all this action against the colorful backdrop of Tahoe... an engrossing whodunit ... a worthy addition to a well-devised mystery/thriller series." - Kirkus Reviews


TAHOE DARK (#14)

Despite having no resources and no friends or family to help her, Tahoe house cleaner Evan Rosen has a dream of one day going to law school. But that dream is shattered when she is arrested for murder.

Although Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna was instrumental in finding the evidence that suggests her guilt, he doesn't believe she is a killer. Unfortunately, the case against Evan is solid. The only way McKenna can save her from death row is to find the real killer.

 But this killer is smarter and meaner than any McKenna has ever caught. It looks like McKena and Evan are both going to die before the killer is finished...

 

"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." - Kirkus Reviews

"I CAN'T RECOMMEND THIS SERIES HIGHLY ENOUGH... THEY. ARE. THAT. GOOD." - Kittling: Books

"TAHOE DARK IS PACKED WITH ACTION AND TWISTS. THE SURPRISES JUST KEEP ON COMING...THE FINAL SCENE IS ANOTHER TODD BORG MASTERPIECE." - Silver's Reviews

"A COMPLEX, INTRIGUING, NAIL-BITING THRILL RIDE TO THE VERY END." - Tahoe Mountain News

 

TAHOE BLUE FIRE (#13)

When Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna gets a call from a woman who’s afraid for her life, it sounds like she's excessively paranoid.

Until she’s murdered.

McKenna investigates and learns that the killer may be after a precious artifact that dates back to Renaissance Italy. McKenna also finds a connection between the victims and a famous pro football tackle named Adam Simms. Simms seems gentle as a teddy bear. But decades of football gave Simms Traumatic Brain Injury. McKenna begins to wonder if Simms is suffering dementia or if he’s a diabolical fake.

As McKenna pursues the case, he will need every bit of strength and skill, or he will be the next to die...

 

"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

 

TAHOE GHOST BOAT (#12)

Gertie O'Leary is a 15-year-old girl with a messy bird's nest of red hair, a serious softball pitch, and a dream to be a movie director. She also has a $2 million price on her head. When a gang led by a killer the FBI calls Mikhailo the Monster takes Gertie as the centerpiece of an extortion plot, Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna gets involved in the case. McKenna finds out that Gertie's stepfather has just died in what looks like a boating accident and that Gertie's mother cares more about not losing money to blackmail than saving her daughter.

As the unwanted child of divorced, self-focused parents, Gertie has no defenders. So McKenna appoints himself her savior. But McKenna is one man up against a small army of twisted murderers whose orders are to kill the girl...

"THE OLD PULP SAVVY OF (ROSS) MACDONALD...REAL SURPRISE AT THE END" - Kirkus Reviews

"NAIL-BITING THRILLER...BOILING POT OF DRAMA" - Gloria Sinibaldi, Tahoe Daily Tribune

"A THRILL RIDE... COMPELLING" - Mary Beth Magee, Examiner .com

"A GREAT MYSTERY SERIES" - J Bronder Book Reviews

"ACTION-PACKED IS PUTTING IT MILDLY...FAST PACED, INTELLIGENT MYSTERY"
- Sunny Solomon, Bookin' With Sunny

"THE PACE WILL LEAVE YOU BREATHLESS" Wendy Schultz, Mountain Democrat

"I LOVED EVERY ROLLER COASTER RIDE IN THIS THRILLER" Rating 5+ out of 5! - Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante

"BORG'S WRITING IS THE STUFF OF A HOLLYWOOD ACTION BLOCKBUSTER" - Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News

TAHOE CHASE (#11)

TAHOE CHASE is about a young French woman named Simone Bonnaire whose sadistic boyfriend abuses her. Simone's only friend is Cynthia Rorvik, an older woman who provides comfort. When Cynthia falls from her deck and ends up in a coma, her 92-year-old, former Olympic ski racer husband Joe Rorvik calls Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna and asks him to investigate. McKenna discovers a string of deaths that look like accidents. All of the victims opposed a new, proposed ski resort development in Tahoe. As McKenna gets closer to a devious killer, he realizes that Simone is to be the next victim. But McKenna can't save her because she has left on a solo ski trek into the Desolation Wilderness, and she is unreachable except by the killer who has been following her and has already begun his final chase....

"EXCITING, EXPLOSIVE, THOUGHTFUL, SOMETIMES FUNNY" - Ann Ronald, Bookin' With Sunny

"THE LANDSCAPE IS BEAUTIFULLY CRAFTED... PACE BUILDS NICELY AND DOESN'T LET UP" - Kirkus Reviews

"BE WARNED. IT MIGHT BE ADDICTING." - Gloria Sinibaldi, Tahoe Daily Tribune

"OWEN McKENNA HAS HIS HANDS FULL IN ANOTHER THRILLING ADVENTURE" - Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante

"I CAN GUARANTEE THAT THE OLD MAN WILL HAVE YOU CHEERING OUT LOUD BEFORE THE END OF THE BOOK." - Cathy Cole, Kittling: Books

"TAHE CHASE IS FILLED WITH TWISTS AND TURNS" - Wendy Schultz, Placerville Mountain Democrat

TAHOE TRAP (#10)

When Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna answers his phone early one morning, a young boy named Paco cries out, "Help me!" McKenna talks to Paco and discovers that the boy is trapped in the back of a speeding pickup somewhere in Tahoe. In the front of the truck are two men who have just murdered Paco's foster mother. The men want the boy, but they don't yet know that the boy witnessed the murder and that he hid in their truck. As McKenna races to find Paco, he learns that the two men are contract killers from Las Vegas. Their MO is to use electronic stun guns to immobilize their victims prior to asphyxiating them with plastic rap. While McKenna doesn't have a clue why the killers are after the boy, he knows that if he does nothing, the killers will keep coming for Paco. So McKenna plans to set a trap for them using Paco as bait. McKenna's plan carries a huge risk. If it goes wrong, he will be handing the boy to the killers...

"An open-throttle ride from a murder on the mountain roads of Tahoe" - Wendy Schultz, Placerville Mountain Democrat

"A constantly surprising series of events involving murder, kidnapping, two nasty hired killers from Vegas... and the final motivation of the killer comes as a major surprise. (I love when that happens.)" - Yvette, In So Many Words blog

"I love Todd Borg's books... There is the usual great twist ending (in Tahoe Trap) that I never would have guessed. If you like mysteries, you really need to read this series." - J Bonder Book Reviews

"Another wild ride with private investigator Owen McKenna and his dog Spot..." - Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News

"Super clever!... More twists in the plot toward the end of the book turn the mystery into an even more suspenseful thriller." - Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante

"The plots are high octane and the action is faster than a cheetah on speed" - Cathy Cole, Kittling: Books

"My personal pick for Los Angeles Times Festival Of Books BEST FIND: Todd Borg's Owen McKenna Mystery series." - Laura Davis, LA Books Examiner, Examiner.com

"You will fall in love with the almost-silent, unemotional Paco and feel his pain for the life he has lived for the past ten years." - Elizabeth, Silver's Reviews

"Tahoe Trap offers a chilling thriller..." - Caleb Cage, The Nevada Review

"The chase for the boy is frighteningly fast-paced. In desperation, McKenna sets a trap, with Paco as the bait. And it almost works. The impending catastrophe takes a sudden twist and the reader, as well as young Paco, has one more hair-raising episode before the story ends." - Bookin' With Sunny blog

"A fascinating story with first class writing and, of course, my favorite character, Spot, a Great Dane that steals most of the scenes." - Mary Ligno, Feathered Quill Book Reviews

"Once again Todd weaves an exciting murder mystery. I watch for the newest chapters in the ongoing developments of characters like Jack Reacher, Joanna Brady, Dismas Hardy, Peter and Rina Decker, and Alex Cross to name a few. But these days I look forward most to the next installment of Owen McKenna."  - China Gorman blog

ISBN 978-1-931296-20-5 Thriller Press  $16.95     2011

 

TAHOE HIJACK (#9)

When Detective Owen McKenna responds to a boat hijacking on Lake Tahoe, he is confronted by a madman who claims to know the identity of the murderer of Grace Sun, a case that McKenna worked on three years before. McKenna investigates and discovers that before Grace was murdered, she had recently reunited with a daughter she gave up for adoption at birth. The daughter, Anna Quinn, was also targeted by the killer, but barely escaped. Anna has been in hiding for three years. The murderer is still looking for Anna and a treasure that he believes Anna knows about. In order to save Anna's life, McKenna has to find both Anna and the murderer. But McKenna discovers that the killer has ties to a fanatical militia group. McKenna is out-manned and out-gunned, and it looks like nothing will stop the killer from finding Anna first...

"BEGINNING TO READ TAHOE HIJACK IS LIKE FLOOR-BOARDING A RACE CAR..." RATING: A+ - Cathy Cole, Kittling Books

"A THRILLING READ... ANY READER WILL FIND THE PAGES OF HIS THRILLERS IMPOSSIBLE TO STOP TURNING" - Caleb Cage, The Nevada Review

"NOW I'M HOOKED...BORG NOT ONLY OFFERS A GOOD MYSTERY, BUT DOES A TERRIFIC JOB WITH SOME FASCINATING CALIFORNIA HISTORY THAT IS BOTH ENLIGHTENING AND GRIPPING" - Sunny Solomon, Bookin' with Sunny

"THE BOOK CLIMAXES WITH A TWIST THE READER DOESN'T SEE COMING, WORTHY OF MICHAEL CONNELLY" -  Heather Gould, Tahoe Mountain News

"A FASCINATING AND MUCH RECOMMENDED NOVEL" - Midwest Book Review

"I HAD TO HOLD MY BREATH DURING THE LAST PART OF THIS FAST-PACED THRILLER" - Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante

TAHOE HIJACK WAS CHOSEN FOR BOOK DILETTANTE'S LIST OF BEST CRIME READS 2011!

ISBN 978-1-931296-19-9 Thriller Press  $16.95     2011

 

TAHOE HEAT (#8)

Shortly after Ryan Lear gets a note threatening his life, his friend and business partner Eli Nathan dies in a fall at Lake Tahoe's Cave Rock. Ryan calls Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna and tells McKenna that he believes his friend's death was a murder. Ryan tells McKenna about a vision he's had of a wild Mustang roaming Tahoe's forests, far from the safety of the desert where Mustangs normally live. Ryan believes that it is a bad sign. Moments later, Ryan's life is torn apart by a kidnapping. Then Ryan's beloved neighbor dies just after tuning a piano. McKenna hires another tuner to investigate the piano and learns that hidden in the tuning is a type of code. McKenna can't figure out the piano tuning code or the reason why the Mustang has come so far form his home range. But McKenna realizes that both are connected to a vicious killer who is planning to take apart Ryan's life in the worst way possible...

"IN TAHOE HEAT, BORG MASTERFULLY WRITES A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SO INTENSE THAT IT BELONGS IN AN EARLY TOM CLANCY NOVEL" - Caleb Cage, Nevada Review

"TAHOE HEAT IS A RIVETING THRILLER" - Midwest Book Review

"PLENTY OF ACTION, BEAUTIFUL TAHOE SCENERY, WASHOE INDIAN LORE, WILD MUSTANGS, AND A MYSTERIOUS CODE IN AN OUT-OF-TUNE PIANO WILL KEEP READERS TURNING THE PAGES AS OWEN RACES TO CATCH A VICIOUS KILLER" - Booklist

"THE READER CAN'T HELP BUT ROOT FOR McKENNA as the big, generous, Irish-blooded, street-wise-yet-book-smart former cop" - Taylor Flynn Tahoe Mountain News

"BORG'S TAHOE BOOKS HAVE WON OVER READERS FROM ALL OVER THE COUNTRY" Sam Bauman, Nevada Appeal

ISBN 978-1-931296-18-2 Thriller Press  $16.95     2010

 

TAHOE NIGHT (#7)

TV talk show host Leah Printner had a perfect life until a car accident killed her husband and left her face badly scarred, ending her thriving career. After Leah gets out of the hospital, Detective Owen McKenna gets a call from the landlady of Leah's father. The landlady thinks that a man is stalking Leah. She thinks both Leah and her father are in danger. Will McKenna look into it? McKenna is only on the job a few hours before the father is murdered. When he realizes that the killer wants the daughter as well, McKenna rushes Leah into hiding. McKenna discovers that there is more than one killer, and that they are fixated on Grendel, the monster in the ancient, epic poem, Beowulf. McKenna also learns that the crimes are linked to an art forgery of old-master paintings. Under the paralysis of fear and the trauma of injury, Leah's life hits bottom. The woman is broken and maybe beyond saving. But the killers made one fatal mistake. They took down the father and tried to kill the daughter on McKenna's watch...

"AN ACTION-PACKED THRILLER WITH A NICE GUY HERO, AN EVEN NICER DOG and some worthwhile advice based on meticulous research explaining how to forge and frame and Old Master." - Kirkus Reviews

"BORG HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER WHITE-KNUCKLE THRILLER set in California's beautiful Lake Tahoe region. A sure bet for mystery buffs waiting for the next Robert B. Parker and Lee Child novels." - Library Journal

"A KILLER PLOT... Everyone of its 350 pages wants to get turned...fast." - Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News

"A FASCINATING STORY OF FORGERY, MURDER..." - Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune

"AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO THIS SERIES." - Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News

"SOMETHING TO REALLY ENJOY." - Sam Bauman, Nevada Appeal

ISBN 978-1-931296-17-5 Thriller Press  $16.95     2009

 

TAHOE AVALANCHE (#6)

When March Carrera is buried in a monster avalanche at Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, Detective Owen McKenna is hired by the victim’s uncle. McKenna and an avalanche rescue dog do a search of the slide area and dig up more than they were looking for. As more victims are buried in the snow, McKenna’s pursuit takes him from the mansions of the super rich, to the seedy world of a Chinese mobster, and up onto Tahoe’s highest mountain to save one last innocent victim before a final avalanche buries a 140 year-old secret forever...

ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR! - G. Wedgwood, Mystery News 

"BORG IS A SUPERB STORYTELLER...A MASTER OF THE GENRE" - Midwest Book Review 

"TAHOE AVALANCHE WAS SOOOO GOOD...A FASCINATING MYSTERY" - Merry Cutler, Annie's Book Stop, Sharon, Massachusetts 

"EXPLODES INTO A COMPLEX PLOT THAT LEADS TO MURDER AND INTRIGUE" - Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune 

"READERS WILL BE KEPT ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS" - Sheryl McLaughlin, Douglas Times 

"INCLUDE BORG IN THE GROUP OF MYSTERY WRITERS that write with a strong sense of place such as TONY HILLERMAN" - William Clark, The Union

ISBN 978-1-931296-16-8  Thriller Press  $16.95     2008

 
TAHOE SILENCE (#5)

Silence Ramirez is an exceptional artist and, according to one of her teachers, brilliant. She's also autistic and mute and has not spoken a single word in her 17 years. But she has a priceless secret. When Silence is kidnapped on the eve of the Biker Heaven Festival, Detective Owen McKenna and his Great Dane Spot pursue a notorious biker gang and a kidnapper who will stop at nothing, including murder, to get what he wants. Time to save the girl is short. Silence knows the reason why she was kidnapped, but that knowledge is locked up inside her mind...

WINNER BEN FRANKLIN AWARD for BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR!

Chosen by both Library Journal and Mystery News reviewer G. Wedgwood as 
ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR 

"THIS IS ONE ENGROSSING NOVEL...IT IS SUPERB" - Mystery News 

"A HEART-WRENCHING MYSTERY THAT IS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS WRITTEN ABOUT AUTISM" - Library Journal  

"A REAL PAGE-TURNER" - Nevada Appeal 

"ANOTHER GREAT READ!" - Midwest Book Review

ISBN 978-1-931296-15-1  Thriller Press  $16.95     2007

 

TAHOE KILLSHOT (#4)

When the pop superstar Glory is killed mountain biking on the world-famous Flume Trail high above the east shore of Lake Tahoe, Detective Owen McKenna is drawn into a harrowing investigation. What first appears to be the carnage of a thrill-killer, begins to look like the fallout from a complicated, multi-million-dollar land scam. Owen and his Great Dane Spot must track down a twisted murderer with a synthetic voice and a penchant for killing in the most unusual ways...

"A GREAT READ" - Midwest Book Review 

"A WONDERFUL BOOK" - Mystery News 

"A WINNER" Mountain Democrat 

"SPOT ROCKS" Tahoe Daily Tribune 

"KEEP 'EM COMING, BORG"  Nevada Appeal 

"BORG BELONGS ON THE BESTSELLER LISTS WITH PARKER, PARETSKY AND COBEN" - Annie's Bookstop

ISBN 1-931296-14-6  Thriller Press  $16.95     2004

 

TAHOE ICE GRAVE (#3)

When a young man named Thos Kahale is brutally murdered in the icy waters of Lake Tahoe, Detective Owen McKenna is hired to investigate. Owen learns that the Hawaiian side of the man's family may have been given a manuscript by Mark Twain when he visited Kauai in 1866. That same manuscript may now be hidden in a cave in Lake Tahoe. Owen tracks a vicious killer who will do anything to obtain the manuscript. Only one person, whose identity is unknown, knows its location. Owen and his Great Dane Spot have to find that person before the killer does, and they are running out of time as they chase the killer up a mountain in a blizzard to a cave of ice and a battle to the death.

Chosen ONE OF THE TOP 5 BOOKS OF THE YEAR by a Mystery News Reviewer G. Wedgwood

"BAFFLING CLUES...CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINS" Kirkus Reviews 

"A BIG THUMBS UP" - Midwest Book Review  

"A CLEVER PLOT" - Booklist  

"GREAT CHARACTERS, LOTS OF ACTION AND CLEVER PLOT TWISTS." - San Jose Mercury News  

"A SPINE-TINGLING CLIMAX." - Bookshelf Bookstore 

 "ONCE YOU READ AN OWEN McKENNA, YOU'RE HOOKED FOR LIFE." - Addison Public Library

ISBN 1-931296-13-8 Thriller Press  &16.95     2002

 

TAHOE BLOWUP (#2)

When an arsonist begins lighting deadly forest fires in the Lake Tahoe Basin, Detective Owen McKenna uncovers in the killer the unmistakable signs of what the FBI calls the Homicidal Trinity: firestarting, bedwetting and animal torture. Before Owen can capture the killer, the firestarter kidnaps Owen's girlfriend and threatens to burn her and hundreds of others in a fire so big that firefighters call it a Blowup.

SILVER MEDAL FINALIST BEN FRANKLIN AWARD FOR BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR
WINNER - BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR - Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

"RIVETING...A MUST READ FOR MYSTERY FANS!" - Addison Public Library  

"HIGH TENSION" - Tahoe Mountain News  

"A RIVETING MYSTERY" Petaluma Post 

"SUSPENSE-FILLED TALE OF KIDNAP AND ARSON"  - Colfax Area Express 

"A COMPELLING TALE OF ARSON" - The Poisoned Pen  

ISBN 1-931296-12-X  Thriller Press  $16.95     2001

 

TAHOE DEATHFALL (#1)

Disaster struck when twin sisters Jennifer and Melissa went hiking with their grandmother on their sixth birthday. Melissa got lost, fell off a cliff on the rock slide above Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe, and died. Eight years later, fourteen-year-old Jennifer wants to hire Detective Owen McKenna to investigate the death, which she believes was murder. When McKenna looks into the circumstances surrounding Melissa's death and uncovers a deadly secret that has caused the murder of several people, he realizes that Jennifer is the next intended victim...

WINNER - BEST NEW FICTION - Cincinnati Public Library; WINNER - BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR 
- Bay Area Independent Publishers Association

"THRILLING EXTENDED RESCUE/CHASE" - Kirkus Reviews 

"A TREMENDOUS READ FROM A GREAT WRITER!" - Midwest Book Review 

"BORG OFFERS A SIMPLY TERRIFIC DOG" - Poisoned Pen 

"TAUT MYSTERY...A SCREECHING CLIMAX." - Addison Public Library 

ISBN 1-931296-11-1  Thriller Press  $16.95     2001

 

Home    Books    Bio    Owen    Spot    TahoeTour    Art    Danes    Speaking    Events    Order    Contact