Vultures in the Sky by Todd Downing
One of CrimeReads' "10 Novels You Should Read This December"!
A train headed for Mexico City meets murder when it stalls out in the desert . . .
The journey of the Mexico City-bound Pullman seems ill-fated from the outset -- what with the engine troubles and the threat of an impending railway strike -- but no one aboard expects the terror that will descend upon the luxury train between Laredo and its destination. First a man dies as the vehicle passes through a dark tunnel and then, just as United States Customs Agent Hugh Rennert begins to investigate, the train comes to a screeching halt in the middle of the desert.
More deaths follow as night falls, and when it becomes clear that a murderer is on the loose, the stationary cars transform into an isolated hall of horrors. The varied and intriguing cast of passengers begins to panic, but Rennert remains calm and collected, untangling the web of motives in a desperate search for the culprit. Will he be able to unmask the killer before the voyage ends?
A suspenseful whodunnit that charts a path through the Mexican wilderness, Vultures in the Sky highlights the best aspects of the Golden Age mystery, mixing classical detective work with a tense, closed-circle setting. The third novel in Todd Downing's Hugh Rennert series (which can be enjoyed in any order), it shows an undeservedly forgotten author working at the top of his craft.
Todd Downing's love affair with pulp adventure dates back to his consumption of classic radio dramas and comic books as a child in the 1970s, which broadened into a general appreciation for scifi and fantasy media of all kinds. He grew up in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, writing and drawing from a young age, his works ever-present in school literary journals and newspapers, and eventually on film. He married his high school sweetheart and moved to Seattle in the early 1990s where he began to write professionally, and worked as an artist in the videogame industry until his publishing company became a full time operation. As the co-founder and creative director of Deep7 Press, Downing was the primary author and designer of over fifty roleplaying titles, including Arrowflight, RADZ, Airship Daedalus, and the official Red Dwarf RPG. He continues to write genre fiction for stage, film, comics, audio, and adventure gaming products. Widowed to cancer in 2005, Downing remarried in 2009 and currently enjoys an empty nest in Port Orchard, Washington, with his wife, two cats, an elderly German shepherd and a flock of unruly chickens.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781613161807 |
| ISBN 10 | 1613161808 |
| Title | Vultures in the Sky |
| Author | Todd Downing |
| Series | An American Mystery Classic |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Penzler Publishers |
| Year published | 2021-01-08 |
| Number of pages | 300 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |