Dead Run (Monkeewrench Series #3)

by P. J. Tracy

Overview

“…A ruthlessly efficient straight-arrow tale that’s a welcome change of pace for the Monkeewrench gang.” —Kirkus Reviews

Computer game company founders Grace MacBride and Annie Belinsky—along with Wisconsin deputy Sharon Mueller—are en route to Green Bay, following reports of a serial killer, when their car breaks down deep in the northern woods.

A short walk through the forest leads them to the eerily quiet town of Four Corners, where they find severed phone lines and a complete absence of any life. But the quiet is deceptive. Before they know it, they witness a horrifying double murder—and discover that this is only the beginning of a race to save their own lives…and countless others.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451218155
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	04/04/2006
Series:	Monkeewrench Series , #3
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	601,375
Product dimensions:	4.18(w) x 6.77(h) x 0.94(d)
Age Range:	18 - 17 Years

About the Author

P.J. Tracy is the pseudonym of mother-daughter writing duo P.J. and Traci Lambrecht, winners of the Anthony, Barry, Gumshoe, and Minnesota Book Awards. Their first four novels, Monkeewrench, Live Bait, Dead Run, and Snow Blind have become national and international bestsellers.

P.J. Lambrecht is a college dropout with one of the largest collections of sweatpants in the world. She was raised in an upper-middle class family of very nice people, and turned to writing to escape the hardships of such a life. She had her first short story published in The Saturday Evening Post when Traci was eight, still mercifully oblivious to her mother’s plans to eventually trick her into joining the family business. She has been a moderately successfully free-lance writer ever since, although she has absolutely no qualifications for such a profession, except a penchant for lying.

Traci Lambrecht spent most of her childhood riding and showing horses. She graduated with a Russian Studies major from St. Olaf College in Northfield Minnesota, where she also studied voice. Her aspirations of becoming a spy were dashed when the Cold War ended, so she instead attempted briefly and unsuccessfully to import Eastern European folk art. She began writing to finance her annoying habits of travel and singing in rock bands, and much to her mother’s relief, finally realized that the written word was her true calling. They have been writing together ever since.

Editorial Reviews

In the latest winner from the pseudonymous mother/daughter writing team, Tracy's quirky characters get caught up in a homegrown terrorist plot featuring ultra right-wing militiamen and three tanker trucks full of nerve gas. Having gotten rich from their gaming software, the eccentric personnel of the Minneapolis-based Monkeewrench computer company (Harley Davidson, Grace MacBride, Annie Belinski and the six-foot-seven-inch geek Roadrunner) are presently giving away their "computerized detective software" to police departments with serial killer problems. Grace, Annie and Wisconsin deputy Sharon Mueller are headed to Green Bay, where Sharon believes a serial killer has set up shop. But during a quick sightseeing detour into the Wisconsin hinterlands, Grace's Range Rover breaks down and the women have to hike through the woods for help. They end up in the town of Four Corners, which seems abandoned. The ladies don't know it yet, but that's because earlier that day a milk truck loaded with nerve gas rolled over, lost its load and wiped out everyone in town. Now the entire area is surrounded by a right-wing paramilitary bent on keeping the spill a secret by killing anyone left alive. Tracy's characters are full of quips and comedy, and yet they all have dark pasts ominously and obliquely referred to throughout the novel. The jokes, cold-blooded murders and the past secrets sometimes work at cross-purposes, but the courage and indomitable spirit of the plucky trio will win readers over as they speed through the final pages of the race-against-the-clock ending. (Apr.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

The mother/daughter writing duo of P.J. Tracy (Monkeewrench; Live Bait) has once again penned a furiously paced tale with their trademark humor and quirky characters-only this time there's a personal twist. Deputy Sharon Mueller suspects a serial killer is at work and asks prickly, paranoid Grace McBride and queen-sized sexpot Annie Belinsky of Monkeewrench fame to accompany her from Minneapolis to Green Bay, WI. Their car breaks down in tiny Four Corners, MN, which appears to be recently vacated. They are not alone, however: an extremist paramilitary group has garrisoned the town and is hunting them down with orders to shoot on sight. The men left behind become concerned when Sharon, Grace, and Annie don't arrive in Green Bay; soon, they set out after them, but this is no damsel-in-distress tale. While these women are smart and feisty, a much bigger problem is afoot than they realize. Four Corners is just part of a larger terrorist plot that takes the combined efforts of the sheriff's department, the FBI, and the Monkeewrench crew to resolve. Strongly recommended for all fiction collections.-Stacy Alesi, Palm Beach Cty. Lib. Syst., Boca Raton, FL Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The four misfit partners in the crime-gaming firm Monkeewrench, who usually specialize in serial killers (Live Bait, 2004, etc.), stumble onto something much more dangerous. Kingsford County (Wis.) Sheriff's Deputy Sharon Mueller, on loan to the Minneapolis FBI, thinks three murders in Green Bay may be the work of a single mastermind. So well-armed paranoiac Grace MacBride and queen-sized clotheshorse Annie Belinsky join her in the six-hour drive back to Green Bay. They take the scenic route, and they're a long way from the main roads when their car breaks down. Walking into little Four Corners, they find Dale's Gas open for business and Hazel's Cafe steeped in cooking odors, but not a single person anywhere. What could have turned the place into a ghost town overnight? Gradually becoming alarmed that Annie and Grace have fallen off the radar, their Monkeewrench partners, cactus-collecting Harley Davidson and technogeek Roadrunner, realize along with the women that the answer is even more terrifying than the question. Tracy offers equal opportunity to both sexes for improbable heroics, though the women get to suffer more hairsbreadth escapes and to fire more serious weapons. By the time the dust has cleared, neither the continuing cast nor their fans are likely to trust strangers for a long time. A ruthlessly efficient straight-arrow tale that's a welcome change of pace for the Monkeewrench gang, even though both their peculiar talents and their even more peculiar personalities are seriously underemployed. Author tour

Kirkus Reviews

Fans of the Monkeewrench pals, a team of Minneapolis software experts who help solve crimes, will recognize Buck Schirner’s voice from previous stories. His talent and versatility as a performer continue to be evident in each of the characters he represents in this sinister story of murder and government cover-up. He adroitly conveys the fear and confusion of the pals when they stumble into an abandoned town just in time to witness the cold-blooded murder of two people. After realizing that they’re cut off from the rest of the world, they use teamwork to solve the conspiracy, leaving the listener appreciating their collective crime-solving gifts and anticipating the next Monkeewrench adventure. S.K.P. © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

FEB/MAR 06 - AudioFile