The Slickrock Paradox

by Stephen Legault

Overview

Silas Pearson is looking for answers. It's been more than three years since his wife, Penelope de Silva, disappeared while working on a conservation project in Utah's red rock wilderness. Law enforcement authorities have given up hope of finding the adventurous Penelope alive. And some suggest that she may not have vanished into the desert at all, but simply left Silas for another man. Silas moves to Moab, where his wife was last seen, with one purpose: finding his wife, dead or alive. His search takes him into a spectacular wilderness of red rock canyons, soaring mesas, and vertical earth, where he must confront his failures as a husband and his guilt over not being there when Penelope needed him most.

The Slickrock Paradox is the first book in the Red Rock Canyon Mysteries, a series of books that explores an iconic American landscape through an atypical anti-hero who is deeply flawed, reluctant, and yet familiar.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781927129395
Publisher:	Heritage Group Distribution
Publication date:	09/25/2012
Series:	A Red Rock Canyon Mystery , #1
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Stephen Legault is a full-time conservation activist, writer, photographer and organizational development consultant. He is the author of a number of historical and environmentally themed mysteries, including The End of the Line and The Third Riel Conspiracy, featuring Durrant Wallace, a sergeant with the North West Mounted Police in the late 1800s; The Slickrock Paradox and Black Sun Descending, a Red Rock Canyon Mystery set in Utah's Canyonlands region; and The Vanishing Track and The Glacier Gallows, the most recent mysteries featuring Cole Blackwater, an environmentalist who finds himself solving crimes. Stephen is also the author of Carry Tiger to Mountain: The Tao of Activism and Leadership, which he wrote based on his experience using the Tao Te Ching as a guide to his lifelong work to protect wilderness and wildlife, and Running Toward Stillness (RMB, 2013), a meditation on Buddhist spiritual practice, running and parenthood. He lives in Canmore, Alberta, with his wife, Jenn, and two children, Rio and Silas.

Editorial Reviews

"A perfect recipe for conflict: big money, business first, abuse of native rights and history, all resulting in murder … a skilful story by author Legault and marks a series worth investing your time in." —The Hamilton Spectator

"Legault does a masterful job of making it all so believable. The human landscape in The Slickrock Paradox is littered with characters that are not what they seem to be, such that even the good guys are suspect, right up until the end." —Rocky Mountain Outlook

"Exciting, dense with literary references, and definitely worth a try … Legault's complex new series' start will appeal to conspiracy buffs, outdoors enthusiasts, and literary detectives." —Library Journal

"In The Slickrock Paradox, the mysterious Southwest is more than setting; the desert's powerful character holds its own with compelling personalities and a captivating story. The realistic plot makes this book timely—such nefarious undertakings could be, and are, happening just beyond our knowing." —Greer K. Chesher, author of Heart of the Desert Wild: Grand Staircase–Escalante National Monument, winner of the Utah Book Award for Nonfiction

From the Publisher

Silas Pearson took his independent and active wife, Penelope, for granted until she failed to return from a backpacking trip. For more than three years he's been systematically searching the region surrounding Moab, UT, for evidence of her body. Penelope is now showing up in his dreams, directing him to specific places with clues connected to her favorite author, controversial environmentalist Edward Abbey. Silas follows the hints, which lead to dead bodies and harrowing experiences—and catch the attention of the FBI. Dodging law enforcement officers, greedy developers, and archaeologists, loner Silas forges alliances to save himself and find the killers. VERDICT Exciting, dense with literary references, and definitely worth a try. Canadian author Legault's (The Vanishing Track) complex new series start will appeal to conspiracy buffs, outdoors enthusiasts, and literary detectives. Think Betty Webb for her passion for hot-button topics and Nevada Barr for the gripping challenges posed by the land.

Library Journal