Crude Carrier

Brief Description: The father-daughter team of Jim and Julie Raiford, first introduced in "Body Slam," returns to investigate the international oil industry in this gripping mystery by Edgar Award winner Rex Burns. The Rossi family received only a handful of letters after their son shipped out on the supertanker "Aurora Victorious." The first dispatches were from Harold himself, describing the blend of tedium and excitement that defined life onboard the ship. The last communication came from the ship's owners: four brief sentences informing them that their son had died and been buried at sea. Desperate to know more, the Rossis turn to James and Julie Raiford, the father-daughter detective team behind the Touchstone Agency. As the Raifords soon learn, work on the open sea is dangerous--and asking questions can be deadly. When the shipping company stonewalls the investigation, James joins the "Aurora Victorious" as an electronics officer, and Julie digs into the proprietors' shadowy background. International oil shipping is a ruthless business, and its secrets run as deep as the ocean itself. Description for Sales People: PROVEN SELLER Rex Burns is a bestselling author with several successful series to his credit. TREMENDOUS AUTHOR PLATFORM Burns's reviews have appeared in the "Denver Post," the "Miami Herald," and the "Washington Post." His essays have appeared in scholarly publications as well as in popular press like the Huffington Post. For several years, he wrote a monthly mystery book review column for the "Rocky Mountain News, " was a contributor to Scribner's "Mystery and Suspense Writers," and was an adviser and contributor to the "Oxford Companion to Mystery."CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED Burns's books have been praised in the "New York Times Book Review," the "Washington Post Book World," the "Boston Globe," the "Philadelphia Inquirer," the "New Yorker," and more. TIMELY THEME With the price of oil a mainstay of all major news outlets, Burns's tour through the seamy underside of the global oil industry is both fascinating and relevant to today's readers. Biographical Note: Rex Burns (b. 1935) is the author of numerous thrillers set in and around Denver, Colorado. Born in California, he served in the Marine Corps and attended Stanford University and the University of Minnesota before becoming a writer. His Edgar Award-winning first novel, "The Alvarez Journal" (1975), introduced Gabe Wager, a Denver police detective working in an organized crime unit. Burns continued this hard-boiled series through ten more novels, concluding it with 1997's "The Leaning Land." One of the Wager mysteries, "The Avenging Angel" (1983), was adapted as a feature film, "Messenger of Death," starring Charles Bronson. Burns's other two series center on Devlin Kirk and James Raiford, both Denver-based private detectives. Once a monthly mystery review columnist in the "Rocky Mountain News," Burns has also written nonfiction and hosted the Mystery Channel's "Anatomy of a Mystery." He lives and writes in Boulder, Colorado. Review Quotes: "A skillful and sensitive writer." --"The New York Times Book Review" "Among the best fictional police writers . . . [Burns] avoids cliches and provides us with good, intense narrative . . . within a truthful framework." --"National Centurion: A Police Lifestyle Magazine" "One of our best writers of mysteries." --"The Boston Globe""Burns, the author of a detective series starring Denver cop Gabe Wager, brings an understated style and attention to background detail to this satisfying mystery." --"Booklist""Burns succeeds in making life aboard a huge oil tanker both fascinating and scary." --"Publishers Weekly"Review Quotes: ""Crude Carrier" is a solid mystery. And like Burns' previous mystery, "Body Slam," he gives readers something more. In this case, it's the world of international oil shipping. This is Burns at his best." --"The Denver Post" "Burns succeeds in making life aboard a huge oil tanker both fascinating and scary." --"Publishers Weekly" "A skillful and sensitive writer." --"The New York Times Book Review" "Among the best fictional police writers . . . [Burns] avoids cliches and provides us with good, intense narrative . . . within a truthful framework." --"National Centurion: A Police Lifestyle Magazine" "One of our best writers of mysteries." --"The Boston Globe" "Burns, the author of a detective series starring Denver cop Gabe Wager, brings an understated style and attention to background detail to this satisfying mystery." --"Booklist"Brief Description: "When a sailor dies under unusual circumstances, James Raiford goes undercover on the high seas. The Rossi family received only a handful of letters after their son shipped out on the supertanker Aurora Victorious. The first dispatches were from Harold himself, describing the blend of tedium and excitement that defined life onboard the ship. The last communication came from the ship's owners: four brief sentences informing them that their son had died and been buried at sea. Desperate to know more, the Rossis turn to James and Julie Raiford, the father-daughter detective team behind the Touchstone Agency. As the Raifords soon learn, work on the open sea is dangerous -- and asking questions can be deadly. When the shipping company stonewalls the investigation, James joins the Aurora Victorious as an electronics officer, and Julie digs into the proprietors' shadowy background. International oil shipping is a ruthless business, and its secrets run as deep as the ocean itself"--Page 4 of cover. Review Citations:

Publishers Weekly 10/06/2014 (EAN 9781497641549, Paperback)

Booklist 10/15/2014 pg. 18 (EAN 9781497641549, Paperback)

Contributor Bio:  Burns, Rex Rex Burns (b. 1935) is the author of numerous thrillers set in and around Denver, Colorado. Born in California, he served in the Marine Corps and attended Stanford University and the University of Minnesota before becoming a writer. His Edgar Award-winning first novel, "The Alvarez Journal" (1975), introduced Gabe Wager, a Denver police detective working in an organized crime unit. Burns continued this hard-boiled series through ten more novels, concluding it with 1997's "The Leaning Land". One of the Wager mysteries, "The Avenging Angel" (1983), was adapted as a feature film, "Messenger of Death", starring Charles Bronson. Burns's other two series center on Devlin Kirk and James Raiford, both Denver-based private detectives. Once a monthly mystery review columnist in the "Rocky Mountain News", Burns has also written nonfiction and hosted the Mystery Channel's "Anatomy of a Mystery". He lives and writes in Boulder, Colorado.