Killer View by Ridley Pearson; 2008; 341 pages; G.P. Putnam’s Sons; New York, NY; 978-0-399-15505-5; 6/4/09-6/6/09

This was one of those books that I just kind of cruised through without it or any of it’s characters making any kind of permanent impact.

Sheriff Walt Fleming is a single dad in Sun Valley.  He has to contend with all kinds of things many of which are just there to muddle things up and don’t really connect with any thing.  There is a crazed, but very smart backwoods terrorist (unabomber, anyone), a woman that the sheriff likes but has her own issues, a have/ have not community, the sheriffs’ prejudice against the  rich and payoffs all over the place.  The sheriffs’ friends and community veterinarians either die or disappear, and while the sheriff investigates he comes up against contaminated radioactive ground water.  He runs into ranchers who are slaughtering their stock and burning it and telling the sheriff that there is nothing wrong.  He immediately assumes the company and its’ affluent owner are at fault for the radioactive ground water and the disappearance and murders of his friends.  Meanwhile the crazed terrorist has the vet and is trying to convince that it is part of a government conspiracy.  The vet escapes and takes refuge in a cave with a large black bear.  The sheriff confronts the wealthy business owner in a senate hearing and dares him to drink contaminated water.   After the hearing the sheriff is told by the Vice President of the United States, that it was a government cover up.  The sheriff continues to look for his missing friend and finds him in a confrontation that leads to the sheriff hiding in a dead cow, while the bear has his way with the bad guy.  So basically the ending is that none of what took place will ever be revealed to the public at large.  An unsatisfying ending and a rather odd story. RR