"AN ACTION-PACKED THRILLER"

Kirkus Reviews 6-15-09

Borg's 7th Owen McKenna Mystery, Tahoe Night, will be out August 1st! Tahoe Night is about a TV talk show host who gets caught up in an art forgery. The case has Detective McKenna going all the way to New York city before he tracks down a killer and confronts him in a very tense climax out on Lake Tahoe in the middle of the night. Kirkus Reviews has already come out with a great pre-publication review of Tahoe Night.

The last year has been good to Borg. His novel Tahoe Silence won the Ben Franklin Award for Best Mystery of the Year, shortly after Library Journal chose it as one of the 5 Best Mysteries of 2007. Further, Mystery News reviewer G. Wedgwood also chose Tahoe Silence as one of the Top 5 Mysteries of the year. Tahoe Avalanche also got great reviews, including in major journals such as Mystery News and Library Journal.

Todd Borg's TAHOE AVALANCHE hinges on an event that happened during the Gold Rush in Virginia City, Nevada, just over the mountains from Lake Tahoe. 140 years later, the young people who learn of this event begin dying in Avalanches at Lake Tahoe.

Detective Owen McKenna and his Great Dane Spot pursue a killer whose motive is as mysterious as his method is obvious. What connects the victims together, and why are a San Francisco gangster, a wealthy family from the Presidio and a Sierra Foothill vineyard implicated in a string of deaths up on the steep slopes above the famed lake?

Order your copy from your favorite bookstore and find out!

Borg's previous book, TAHOE SILENCE, mixes the enigma of autism with the mystery of an extremely valuable secret.

TAHOE SILENCE received a STARRED REVIEW from Library Journal. Borg's "Best Book To Date...Excellent Series." In their year-end issue they said, "A heart-wrenching mystery that is also one of the best books written about autism."

Booklist's review called TAHOE SILENCE, "ANOTHER EXCITING ENTRY into this too-little-known series."

Mystery News said, "THIS IS ONE ENGROSSING NOVEL, WITH A TIGHT PLOT, COMPELLING CHARACTERS...IT IS SUPERB."

Midwest Book Review said, "Borg's ability to draw readers in to his stories is amazing."

Sam Bauman at the Nevada Appeal said, "TAHOE SILENCE rings thriller bells... Borg does a real service in writing about autism so clearly...Anyone reading this book is going to come away with not only respect for Borg's writing, but also for what he imparts about the disease of autism."

Seventeen-year-old Silence Ramirez is an exceptional artist. She also has autism and has never spoken a word in her life. When she is kidnapped, it appears she's been taken by a gang of bikers whose charismatic leader quotes Aztec commands from Aztec gods. Detective Owen McKenna seems unable to learn anything about the case until Silence figures out how to sneak drawings of her kidnappers out of the house where she is held captive. Owen uncovers the identities of the biker-kidnappers, but that doesn't help him find Silence or even learn why she was taken. Silence knows why she was kidnapped, but that knowledge is locked up inside her mind.

As McKenna studies her drawings, he comes to a horrible conclusion. The kidnappers plan to kill Silence in a ritual Aztec sacrifice at the next full moonrise, an event that is only hours away...

TAHOE SILENCE is Borg's most affecting mystery yet, and we make two predictions about your experience reading this thriller. The first is that you will be gripped throughout, and when you get to the tense and unforgettable climax you will be glued to your chair. The second is that you will fall in love with Silence, the strange wonderful girl who finds comfort and safety in spinning, who is nearly allergic to any human interaction, and whose heart will have you cheering for her.

Prior to TAHOE SILENCE, Borg's fourth mystery was TAHOE KILLSHOT. Featuring the same great characters as the previous novels in the series, TAHOE KILLSHOT has Detective Owen McKenna and his Great Dane Spot chasing down a killer who speaks with a synthetic voice and kills in twisted ways. 

The book opens with the lovely pop singer Glory mountain biking on the world-famous Flume Trail high above the east shore of Lake Tahoe. When she is killed, it appears to be an accident. But Owen gets a call from a young woman who says she knows something about the death. From there, the story is off on a roller coaster of thrills.

Reviewer Gayle Wedgwood of The Mystery News said "THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK containing fascinating characters, hard-hitting action, a fast-paced plot and believable dialogue."

Shelley Glodowski of the Midwest Book Review wrote, "A WONDERFUL YARN... A GREAT READ!"

Sam Bauman wrote in the Nevada Appeal, "A GOOD THRILLER, offering all the pleasure and comfort of sitting down with an old friend to hear another good story."

At the Tahoe Daily Tribune, Nancy Oliver Hayden wrote, "SPOT ROCKS! and so does South Lake Tahoe author Todd Borg...another action-packed mystery...full of twists and turns and clever clues."

These quotes follow many raves for Borg's previous books. "BAFFLING CLUES... MISCHIEF AND QUIRKY CHARACTERS... CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINS" were some of the words Kirkus Reviews used to describe TAHOE ICE GRAVE, Borg's third mystery thriller. Booklist said, "CLEVER PLOT... STUNNING EXOTIC COUNTRY... SKILL IN BUILDING SUSPENSE." The San Jose Mercury News said, "GREAT CHARACTERS, LOTS OF ACTION... CLEVER PLOT." The Midwest Book Review said, "A BIG THUMBS UP." The Dallas Morning News said, "OWEN, HIS GIRLFRIEND AND GREAT DANE MAKE A FORMIDABLE TEAM." The Mystery News said, "THIS ACTION PACKED STORY DEFINITELY HOLDS YOUR ATTENTION." The Nevada Appeal said, "THE CLIMAX IS SPINE-TINGLING."

TAHOE ICE GRAVE followed the first two novels in the series, TAHOE DEATHFALL and TAHOE BLOWUP. Both of these got great reviews and coverage in Kirkus, Publishers Weekly, San Jose Mercury News, The Poisoned Pen, Nevada Appeal, Tahoe Mountain News, Colfax Area Express, Billings Montana Gazette, Deadlypleasures.com, Tahoe Daily Tribune and others.

Further, TAHOE BLOWUP was awarded the coveted "Ben Franklin Award" for Best Mystery Finalist and the title also won "Best Mystery Award" from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association.

TAHOE DEATHFALL won "Top 5 Books Overall" from the Bay Area Independent Publishers Association and also was included on the "Librarians' Choice for Best Fiction" list from the Cincinnati Public Library, an honor shared by such notables as Dennis Lehane, Stephen Hunter, Donald Westlake, Anne Tyler, Amy Tan, Don Delillo, William F. Buckley and John Irving.

Such honors and press coverage are very unusual for a new author from a small press.

For More Information about Borg's Tahoe mysteries, please visit http://toddborg.com

What Makes A Thriller?

Several of you have written to ask what makes a thriller. Some of you are students working on a college paper, while others are writers looking for clarification of the various genres associated with mysteries and thrillers.

If you'd like more information on what separates mainstream fiction from thrillers and mysteries click on this link for our new "What Makes A Thriller?" page.

Dear Reader,

We all know the feeling.  

You’ve worked hard all day. Dinner is over, the dishes are done and you finally have some quiet time to spend by yourself. Without even looking at the TV, you know there is nothing good to find there.

What you really want is a good book.

Something uncommonly entertaining, a story that will take you beyond your city, outside of your job, into an exciting world you only dream about.

Better yet, you want a story with thrills and chills and daring escapades.  You want a thriller.  A book where the hero is up against the worst bad guy you can imagine.

We at Thriller Press want the same thing.

So we’ve started a small publishing company that specializes in mysteries and thrillers with compelling characters and plots with lots of action.

Our goal is to search out well-written novels and bring them to you. We will produce them in first class style in trade-sized softcover, and make them available to you through your favorite venue.

Please order them through your local independent bookstore. They can find them at Ingram or Baker & Taylor, the country's largest wholesalers.  Our mysteries and thrillers are also listed in Books In Print. Or, if you’re not near a bookstore and prefer to buy online, you will find our books at the major online bookstores, Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com and Borders.com.

Please browse through our website. Read about our thrillers. Then order our books. Read just one and you may discover that you’ve found a new favorite publisher.

What's in an Owen McKenna Mystery Thriller?

TAHOE DEATHFALL 
A teenaged girl hires Lake Tahoe Detective Owen McKenna to  hunt for the ruthless murderer of her twin sister who was killed when they were six-years-old. 

When McKenna and his Great Dane Spot investigate,  multiple deaths from the past are revealed and his client becomes the next intended victim.  

Fast action sequences, dog heroics and an unexpected role for a famous painting by Edward Hopper  make TAHOE DEATHFALL a captivating mystery thriller.

Borg's second novel in the Owen McKenna Series is Tahoe Blowup, a thriller about forest fires

Detective McKenna returns for a  second engagement in TAHOE BLOWUP, a riveting thriller about a murderous arsonist who is lighting deadly forest fires in the Tahoe Basin.  

When the killer kidnaps McKenna's girlfriend and plans to burn her in a giant fire called a "Blowup," it looks like  McKenna and his dog Spot will need a miracle to save her from the monster fire.

Like the first McKenna thriller, TAHOE BLOWUP is heavy on the action, features another famous painting and a dog that will win readers' hearts.

Skaggs comes to Thriller Press with a new mystery series featuring a protagonist who is a manic depressive.

"I've known three people with bipolar illness," Skaggs says, "and I've often thought that the benefits of their energy and creativity nearly made up for the depression that they suffer from.  I  wanted to create a character who is  manic-depressive and show the truth about the light side as well as the darkness." 

The result is CRUSH ME SLOWLY, a thriller featuring a protagonist whose motive for  helping people in trouble is not money, but the mental health benefits that result from his efforts. 

In a manic phase, Skaggs' hero gets into wild and funny  situations and often needs help extricating himself from the resulting predicaments. But when he starts to slide into black depression he finds someone else in very bad shape and endeavors to solve their dilemma.  In the process, he seems to give his own brain a dose of seritonin and the other neuro-transmitters that turn his mood around. 

Titled CRUSH ME SLOWLY, the first of Skaggs' new series is a gripping mystery about a Minneapolis woman who is murdered without apparent motive.  The story rushes from the Midwest to Seattle and then to the rugged San Juan mountains of Southwest Colorado. The climax will have readers stressing over the fate of the killer's next victim and keep them guessing about the killer's identity until the very end.

A fast read with fascinating characters, this story will entertain even as it gives an inside look at a common mental health problem.  Look for CRUSH ME SLOWLY to debut in the next year or two.

Thomas Cage to debut THE HUNTRESS

Cage delivers a straight-ahead thriller about a woman who is unaware that her husband was once in the Witness Relocation program.

When a Wall Street Investment Banker kidnaps her children to ransom the money stolen by her husband, he sets in motion a story that showcases a female hero with astonishing focus and dedication to saving her kids.

With scenes that will make you gasp and others that bring out the cheers,  Cage's novel features a woman who turns the tables on the killers and proves that the hunted can become THE HUNTRESS. 

Cage has also shown us a completed draft of his second novel.  Titled FEVER, it is about a psychopath who has butchered one woman and is stalking another in a twisted effort to fill a void left by his long-dead baby brother.  FEVER promises to be another thriller that will make readers lose sleep.  

More good news is Cage's plan for a sequel to THE HUNTRESS which Cage reports is tentatively titled THE HUNTRESS RETURNS.