A Turtle Roars in Texas: An Al Quinn Novel

Russ Hall

Dec 2015 · Red Adept Publishing, LLC

About this ebook

 

Trouble rides through Texas.

Detective Al Quinn had hoped to spend his retirement fishing at his lakeside home and taking care of the local deer. That bubble pops when Gladys Sanders, the sixty-year-old co-owner of an organic farm, is found dead by her two sisters, her body displayed like a scarecrow. On the same day, her son is run over in his kayak.

Evidence slips away from the scene right under the noses of two deputies, so Sheriff Clayton asks Al to mentor a younger detective. That simple task explodes into raw danger when three rival biker gangs with ties to Mexican cartels start mixing it up in earnest.

ICE Agent Jaime Avila tells Al that old turtles ought to leave the fighting to the young. But when the danger involves Al’s brother, Al dives into the heart of the ruckus. Before the war is over, the gangs just might get to hear the turtle roar.

Ratings and reviews

OK .. I confess! I wanted to read this one because of it's title. I had never heard of this author and kept fingers crossed the book was as interesting as what seemed offered by the title. Detective Al Quinn is retired ... sort of. But when two murders happen on the same day, Sheriff Clayton asks Quinn to return temporarily and to help out a rookie detective. There are biker gangs and Mexican cartel gangs and drugs and violence... good cops, dirty cops. Lots and lots of energy and movement ... very fast paced. The Detective and Sheriff are good-old-boys. They won't start the trouble, but, by golly, they're the first ones to jump in when called for. Now .. back to the title. Do turtles really roar? No spoilers here ... but you may want to read it just to satisfy your curiosity. This is the sequel to "To Hell and Gone in Texas" can be read as a standalone. Not the greatest book out there ... but this one was well-written enough to keep me turning the pages. My thanks to the author / Red Adept Publishing, LLC / NetGalley who furnished a digital copy in exchange for an honest, unbiased opinion.

About the author

Russ Hall is author of fifteen published fiction books, most in

hardback and subsequently published in mass market paperback by

Harlequin’s Worldwide Mystery imprint and Leisure Books. He has also

co-authored numerous non-fiction books, most recently Do You Matter: How Great Design Will Make People Love Your Company (Financial Times Press, 2009) with Richard Brunner, former head of design at Apple, Now You’re Thinking (Financial Times Press, 2011), and Identity (Financial Times Press, 2012) with Stedman Graham, Oprah’s companion.

His graduate degree is in creative writing. He has been a nonfiction editor for major publishing companies, ranging from HarperCollins (then Harper & Row), Simon & Schuster, to Pearson. He has lived in Columbus, OH, New Haven, CT, Boca Raton, FL, Chapel Hill, NC, and New York City. Moving to the Austin area from New York City in 1983.

He is a long-time member of the Mystery Writers of America, Western Writers of America, and Sisters in Crime. He is a frequent judge for writing organizations.

In 2011, he was awarded the Sage Award, by The Barbara Burnett Smith Mentoring Authors Foundation—a Texas award for the mentoring author who demonstrates an outstanding spirit of service in mentoring, sharing and leading others in the mystery writing community. In 1996, he won the Nancy Pickard Mystery Fiction Award for short fiction.