Rating: 
Summary: Exciting Book!
Review: A train engineer is shot from long distance by an expert marksman.Soon after his sexy wife is also murdered.The hero of this book Deputy P.A. Pennington becomes the number 1 suspect.
Pennington was an Army Ranger ssniper during World War II.The
deputy has a suspect from his past.He has not seen his suspect
since World War II ended.Pennington was captured and held by
his chief suspect Nazi Colonel Christian Stangl.Pennington's
sharpshooting had disrupted the train operations of an important
Bavarian railroad pass.Clues indicate to Deputy Pennington that
Stangl has come back into his life.Also added to the mix is Alex
LaChapelle a Scotland Yard Detective who also has an interest in finding Stangl.Add to the mix Sheriff Zimmer.The end of the book
is shocking and finishes with a bang.A very good book that you
will have trouble putting down.
Rating: 
Summary: Spoiled by conspiracy
Review: Again in this episode, someone tries to kill JFK. For the first 90 pages I was hooked by good writing, interesting characters and facts. Then, one line gives away a big secret and what was entertaining goes down hill fast. Lose the JFK fixation and stick with a flawed, deeply troubled main character.
Rating: 
Summary: Old Reliable
Review: I always look forward to a new book by Steve Thayer and I'm never disappointed. He characteristically mixes time levels in interesting and creative ways and manages to write period pieces from a contemporary perspective without sacrificing period detail. In WOLF PASS he's back in Kickapoo Falls, WI with trips to such local mainstays as Devil's Lake and the Wisconsin Dells. I spent 12 years of my life in those environs and Thayer has nailed them. As usual, there's the perfect mix of plot, setting, and character with appropriate dollops of sex and, in this case, nazis. Who could ask for more? Steve Thayer is also highly skilled at depicting real people and real events in ways that demonstrate the fiction writer's art. In this book, for example, there is a plot line involving an assassination attempt that targets President Kennedy. Hey, you know it's not going to happen, because JFK didn't die in St. Paul, but you're still worried. You're in the hands of a pro and he's making you squirm. Very nice work.
Rating:
Summary: Old Reliable
Review: I always look forward to a new book by Steve Thayer and I'm never disappointed. He characteristically mixes time levels in interesting and creative ways and manages to write period pieces from a contemporary perspective without sacrificing period detail. In WOLF PASS he's back in Kickapoo Falls, WI with trips to such local mainstays as Devil's Lake and the Wisconsin Dells. I spent 12 years of my life in those environs and Thayer has nailed them. As usual, there's the perfect mix of plot, setting, and character with appropriate dollops of sex and, in this case, nazis. Who could ask for more? Steve Thayer is also highly skilled at depicting real people and real events in ways that demonstrate the fiction writer's art. In this book, for example, there is a plot line involving an assassination attempt that targets President Kennedy. Hey, you know it's not going to happen, because JFK didn't die in St. Paul, but you're still worried. You're in the hands of a pro and he's making you squirm. Very nice work.
Rating:
Summary: exciting historical police procedural
Review: In 1963, residents of Kickapoo County, Wisconsin are shocked when someone assassinates train engineer Frank Prager while waiting in the yards. The bullet was fired from a hillside six hundred yards away from the target. Townsfolk know that only Deputy Sheriff Pliny Pennington could hit a mark from a distance equivalent to six football fields. Pliny has two reasons to solve the case. First he must clear his name since he is running for the position of county sheriff and no spin control short of catching the real killer will work. Second, he suspects that the murder is the calling card from a World War II enemy, Nazi officer "Wolf" Stangl. When Frank's wife Lisa, who was having an "affair" with Pliny, is killed next, the deputy has no doubts as to the culprit. However, no one else believes a former Nazi butcher is hiding in Wisconsin seeking a personal final solution that is until a revenge seeking Scotland Yard operative arrives in town. WOLF PASS is an exciting historical police procedural that features the return of Pliny in a strong tale. Besides an engaging investigative tale, the story line provides the audience with a deep look at what the Great War cost Pliny physically and mentally. There are plenty of twists, not all needed to prime the pump, but ultimately the plot peels down to Pliny must prove his theory correct or lose more than just an election. Sub-genre readers will applaud this novel and seek Steve Thayer's previous Pliny work (see WHEAT FIELD). Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: exciting historical police procedural
Review: In 1963, residents of Kickapoo County, Wisconsin are shocked when someone assassinates train engineer Frank Prager while waiting in the yards. The bullet was fired from a hillside six hundred yards away from the target. Townsfolk know that only Deputy Sheriff Pliny Pennington could hit a mark from a distance equivalent to six football fields. Pliny has two reasons to solve the case. First he must clear his name since he is running for the position of county sheriff and no spin control short of catching the real killer will work. Second, he suspects that the murder is the calling card from a World War II enemy, Nazi officer "Wolf" Stangl. When Frank's wife Lisa, who was having an "affair" with Pliny, is killed next, the deputy has no doubts as to the culprit. However, no one else believes a former Nazi butcher is hiding in Wisconsin seeking a personal final solution that is until a revenge seeking Scotland Yard operative arrives in town. WOLF PASS is an exciting historical police procedural that features the return of Pliny in a strong tale. Besides an engaging investigative tale, the story line provides the audience with a deep look at what the Great War cost Pliny physically and mentally. There are plenty of twists, not all needed to prime the pump, but ultimately the plot peels down to Pliny must prove his theory correct or lose more than just an election. Sub-genre readers will applaud this novel and seek Steve Thayer's previous Pliny work (see WHEAT FIELD). Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, sexy action/suspense/mystery read
Review: Steve Thayer continues his series featuring the small town Wisconsin Deputy Sheriff Pennington, a character that is definitely not your run of the mill suspense novel hero.
Interesting? Yes. Engrossing? Yes. Different? Yes. Sexy? Well, there is some graphic sex in the book that might or might not be your cup of tea but it isn't really gratuitous sex, it is part of the mystery that surrounds the main character Deputy Sheriff Pennington. If you liked Thayer's other Pennington book 'The Wheat Field' you'll like this too. I personally enjoyed this book more than 'The Wheat Field' because we get a little deeper into the character of Pennington. This book goes into some of Pennington's history in WWII. To me, the shifts between Pennington in WWII and present day Pennington were abrupt and jarring but that's probably just me. I enjoyed the WWII scenes a lot with just two nits to pick. Thayer has Pennington (an airborne ranger sniper) parachuting into the Bavarian Alps from 20,000 feet. Nope. The mountain he will be shooting from is about 7,000 feet high. They would have dropped him from a much lower altitude. More upsetting is that he paints his protagonist Pennington as an expert in all things fire arms related then has Pennington saying the following: 'I snapped in a five-round box magazine, slid the bolt home, and then shouldered my Springfield '03.' Well, the '03 Springfield does not have a box magazine. It has an internal non-detachable magazine. If Thayer didn't catch this his proof reader should have. Still an excellent, very much out of the ordinary book that I would highly recommmend.
Rating:
Summary: A Fast Read
Review: Steve Thayer continues the saga of P.A. Pennington with a novel set in 1962 with side trips to WWII. The novel begins with the murder of a railroad engineer in Deputy Pennington's hometown, Kickapoo Falls, Wisconsin. The deputy begins to fear that this murder, and the ones that follow, have something to do with his WWII experience. The book is a fast read and while not the greatest work of fiction, it is certainly readable.
Rating:
Summary: A fun fast paced read
Review: This book is a worthy follower to The Wheat Fields. Once again Deputy Pennington finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The book is fast passed and has plenty of twist and turns. If you enjoyed The Wheat Fields this book will not disappoint!
Rating:
Summary: A fun fast paced read
Review: This book is a worthy follower to The Wheat Fields. Once again Deputy Pennington finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation. The book is fast passed and has plenty of twist and turns. If you enjoyed The Wheat Fields this book will not disappoint!
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