Ricky Delgado works as a chicken hanger at the poultry plant in Rugoso, Texas, a small border town just thirty miles south of Laredo. His quiet, illegal lifestyle is disrupted when he learns that his brother Tomás has been shot and injured shortly after crossing the border. Together, Ricky and Tomás must make a decision: to risk their illegal status and seek justice, or remain silent and endure the injustices common to all “wetbacks” within the states. Meanwhile, Ricky is fighting a battle within his own body, a disease he acquired in the poultry plant, unbeknownst to everyone but the crooked manager and the company’s doctor. The townspeople of Rugoso have long been used to Mexicans entering the states illegally. The street signs, billboards, and food labels are printed in both English and Spanish to accommodate more consumers. Even the judicial system has a growing number of authorities with Spanish last names, and Herschel Gandy is sick of it. A wealthy Rugoso ranch owner and self-appointed defender of the border, he has taken to firing warning shots at illegals crossing over on his ranch. But when he finds a bloodied backpack near the place he had been shooting, the repercussions of his cover-up game affect the entire town. Warren Coleman, the best border patrol agent in Rugoso, has been struggling with his conscience since allowing a trio of illegal aliens to cross one morning. One was obviously injured. After stopping a van smuggling drugs over the border, Warren shoots and kills the driver in his partner’s defense. He is immediately thrown into national spotlight for his heroism, or brutality, depending on the source. While visiting his partner in the hospital, Warren again runs into the illegal with the injured hand. Fearing the consequences of his decisions, Warren must decide between leaving Rugoso for a new start, or pursuing his growing suspicion that there is more to discover about the Mexican’s injury. The Chicken Hanger confronts the present-day controversy of politics and prejudice along the Texas-Mexico border. Rehder weaves between multiple perspectives and opinions of those protecting America and those hoping to become Americans, and asks whether a man’s worth is measured by his citizenship, or by the life he leads. Long-standing arguments about border control in the South and the motives of opposing sides create a suspenseful tale of one illegal immigrant’s fight for justice in the land of the free.
From the Edgar, Lefty, and Barry award-nominated author Ben Rehder comes the funniest entry yet in his hilarious Blanco County mystery series. Some kind of unidentified wild creature is on the loose in Blanco, and, over the protests of sensible game warden John Marlin, the local population has convinced itself that they're dealing with a mythical beast called a chupacabra. Of course it doesn't help Marlin's cause when a dead body turns up with a suspicious fang-like wound in its neck... Then things really get out of hand: tabloid news programs invade Blanco, good ol' boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock develop a cockamamie get-rich-quick scheme involving the animal, and everyone is a little surprised at the booming population of voluptuous Chinese dwarves who've turned up in town. Only a first-rate humorist and ingenious plotter like Ben Rehder can tie it all together, and Flat Crazy is further evidence that this fan-favorite author has hit his comic stride.
Lonnie Blair was sitting comfortably in a deer blind on a crisp January afternoon when his life came to a sudden, violent end. Was it an accident, or had Blair's long history of womanizing finally caught up to him? Blanco County game warden John Marlin joins the investigation and quickly identifies a prime suspect -- a neighboring ranch foreman with several questionable incidents in his past. But is the answer really that simple? Meanawhile, local good ol' boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock also have a mystery to solve. How did the founder of a new wellness retreat convince Red's girlfriend to participate in a risqué photoshoot -- and what should Red do about it? Boom Town is the explosively funny new installment in Ben Rehder's Blanco County series.
Welcome to Blanco County, Texas, where the right to bear arms is about to go very, very wrong. In his most ambitious, hilarious, and commercial novel yet, Rehder mercilessly skewers all sides of America's gun culture. Martin's Press.
When televangelist Peter Boothe decides to build a megachurch on the banks of the Pedernales River, he thinks his biggest problem will be a few unhappy neighbors. However, when backhoe operator Hollis Farley unearths a rare fossil on the construction site---a discovery that could lead to plenty of embarrassing Darwinian publicity---the cover-up begins. Soon, Farley is dead, shot in the back with an arrow, and Game Warden John Marlin is asked to help with the case. What he and the local deputies find is a suspect list of biblical proportions: Could it have been the bitter geology professor? The private fossil collector with a somewhat unusual fetish? The minister’s wife who takes the Commandments rather lightly? Or the geriatric environmentalist with a mean right hook? Nothing is sacred in Holy Moly, Rehder’s most laughable Blanco County satire yet, a twisted tale of greed, corruption, infidelity, and, yes, paleontology.
Game warden John Marlin hopes that Burnett, a likeable kid, isn't found dead in his burned down house. But Marlin doesn't have the same warm fuzzy feelings about rancher Vance Scofield, who is missing after his SUV is found in the river. Scofield, a skirt-chasing SOB, is a "high fencer," a rancher who pens trophy bucks behind deer-proof fences which lazy hunters can bag for a fee. To Marlin it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Worse, a range war of sorts has erupted with the low-fence ranchers, and things are turning downright ugly. Of course Marlin still doesn't know about the X-rated pictures a blackmailer took of the state senator in cahoots with the high fencers...the scheme being hatched by two bumbling poachers...or the stolen red Corvette which may be the key to everything. What has caught his attention is the sheriff's department's pretty new deputy...
It's deer season in Texas...and the hunters have become the prey! The opening of deer season always brings a Texas-sized wave of excitement to sleepy Blanco County, but this year, game warden John Marlin is finding mysteries as thick as ticks on a whitetail's rump. First, there are reports of a blonde bombshell who's been raising Cain with hunters, scaring away wildlife and trashing vehicles. Then, there's the tragic discovery of a local man shot to death and left in his deer blind. Further muddying the watering holes are the schemes of a recently relocated East Coast wiseguy now called Sal Mameli, who along with his son Vinnie-a wannabe gangster with more muscles than brains-has been trying to corner the area's lucrative brush-clearing market. And finally, a feisty old rancher has disappeared, leaving behind a trail of blood and enough questions to keep both John Marlin and the local sheriff chasing their tails for some time to come. Just as he did in his Edgar Award-nominated novel Buck Fever, Ben Rehder serves up a generous helping of murder, mystery and down-home humor in a place where the sun is hot, the beer is cold, and 'most every neck is good and red. "An over-the-top tale of sex, mayhem and murder in Texas's hill country." -Publishers Weekly
When the 102-year-old inventor of an amazing new hunting product is murdered, the clues point toward the Endicotts, a controversial reality-show family. Did one of the members do something desperate to claim the invention as their own and boost their waning popularity? Blanco County game warden John Marlin intends to find out, if he can prevent his best friend from having a deadly run-in with the prime suspect. Stag Party is the eighth novel in Ben Rehder's hilarious Blanco County mystery series.
Blanco County, Texas. It's one week before the start of deer hunting season, and everyone in town has come down with a case of... Buck Fever The fury begins with Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock, two drunken poachers who fire a shot in the direction of Blanco County's most important resident: a wide-eyed, white-tailed deer named Buck who lives on the Circle S ranch. Now Buck is on the loose, and no one knows where to find him: not Trey Sweeney, the man who took the bullet meant for Buck, albeit right in the flank of his own deer costume; not Tim Gray, the veterinarian who can't function very long without popping a few canine tranquilizers; and especially not Roy Swank, owner of the Circle S, who wants desperately to find Buck for reasons no one can quite understand. Navigating all this turmoil is Blanco County Game Warden John Marlin, with a little help from his best friend Phil and a beautiful nurse named Becky who seems too good to be true. But when a dead body turns up, the real mystery in madcap Blanco County soon boils down to a single question: Just who is hunting whom?
Meet Roy Ballard, freelance videographer with a knack for catching insurance cheats. He's working a routine case, complete with hours of tedious surveillance, when he sees something that shakes him to the core. There, with the subject, is a little blond girl wearing a pink top and denim shorts-the same outfit worn by Tracy Turner, a six-year-old abducted the day before. When the police are skeptical of Ballard's report-and with his history, who can blame them?-it's the beginning of the most important case of his life. OTHER NOVELS BY EDGAR AWARD-NOMINATED AUTHOR BEN REHDER Buck Fever Bone Dry Flat Crazy Guilt Trip Gun Shy Holy Moly The Chicken Hanger The Driving Lesson Get Busy Dying
Alex Dunn owned one of the most valuable collections of hobo nickels in the world, and it appears somebody killed him for it. Now Roy Ballard and Mia Madison are hired by the insurance company to track the collection down, which means they might reveal the identity of the killer in the course of their investigation. But the more they dig, the more suspects they uncover, including Dunn's children, his ex-wife, and a buxom masseuse who takes a hands-off approach to the services she offers.
Safari Adventure is a small but popular zoo that entertains visitors from all over Texas-until one morning when most of the animals escape and a body is found on the premises. Game warden John Marlin works closely with the sheriff's office, at first to capture the animals, and then to solve the mystery of the missing zookeeper. But local good old boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock just might figure it all out first, after they pick up a hitchhiker with a questionable past and some inside information that makes him a prime suspect.
When a Blanco County hog hunter goes missing after a fight with his girlfriend, it's not a laughing matter-even when one of today's hottest blue-collar comedians is a suspect. Game warden John Marlin joins forces with the sheriff's department once again to root through the clues and discover the truth. Meanwhile, two of the county's most notorious poachers-Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock-decide to launch an investigation of their own, and the cops are not amused.
Deke Gilbert was a legend on the central Texas demolition derby circuit, until a suspicious late-night crash ended his life. Unfortunately, Deke left behind a teenage daughter, Christie, who now has nowhere to go. That's when good ol' boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock step up and, in a rare moment, do the right thing. They give Christie a place to stay until her 18th birthday, just a few months away. But things get complicated when Christie brings home gossip that draws Red and Billy Don into an investigation of Deke's death. Soon, they are on a collision course with one of the baddest men in the county, and it quickly becomes a wild ride that none of them will forget.
When the manager of a fast-food restauant is accused of bullying an employee to the point of attempted suicide, Roy Ballard and Mia Madison are hired to document his behavior. As they look deeper, they learn that another employee quit abruptly a few months earlier and hasn't been seen since. Did she really leave the state, as the manager claims? Roy and Mia simply want to confirm that she's okay, but even her family members back home don't have any answers. Neither does the owner of the restaurant, who has an unexpected connection to the missing woman, or the violent ex-cop, who tries to shut the investigation down. But Roy and Mia won't stop digging until justice is served.
Ricky Delgado works as a chicken hanger at the poultry plant in Rugoso, Texas, a small border town just thirty miles south of Laredo. His quiet, illegal lifestyle is disrupted when he learns that his brother Tomás has been shot and injured shortly after crossing the border. Together, Ricky and Tomás must make a decision: to risk their illegal status and seek justice, or remain silent and endure the injustices common to all “wetbacks” within the states. Meanwhile, Ricky is fighting a battle within his own body, a disease he acquired in the poultry plant, unbeknownst to everyone but the crooked manager and the company’s doctor. The townspeople of Rugoso have long been used to Mexicans entering the states illegally. The street signs, billboards, and food labels are printed in both English and Spanish to accommodate more consumers. Even the judicial system has a growing number of authorities with Spanish last names, and Herschel Gandy is sick of it. A wealthy Rugoso ranch owner and self-appointed defender of the border, he has taken to firing warning shots at illegals crossing over on his ranch. But when he finds a bloodied backpack near the place he had been shooting, the repercussions of his cover-up game affect the entire town. Warren Coleman, the best border patrol agent in Rugoso, has been struggling with his conscience since allowing a trio of illegal aliens to cross one morning. One was obviously injured. After stopping a van smuggling drugs over the border, Warren shoots and kills the driver in his partner’s defense. He is immediately thrown into national spotlight for his heroism, or brutality, depending on the source. While visiting his partner in the hospital, Warren again runs into the illegal with the injured hand. Fearing the consequences of his decisions, Warren must decide between leaving Rugoso for a new start, or pursuing his growing suspicion that there is more to discover about the Mexican’s injury. The Chicken Hanger confronts the present-day controversy of politics and prejudice along the Texas-Mexico border. Rehder weaves between multiple perspectives and opinions of those protecting America and those hoping to become Americans, and asks whether a man’s worth is measured by his citizenship, or by the life he leads. Long-standing arguments about border control in the South and the motives of opposing sides create a suspenseful tale of one illegal immigrant’s fight for justice in the land of the free.
Game warden John Marlin hopes that Burnett, a likeable kid, isn't found dead in his burned down house. But Marlin doesn't have the same warm fuzzy feelings about rancher Vance Scofield, who is missing after his SUV is found in the river. Scofield, a skirt-chasing SOB, is a "high fencer," a rancher who pens trophy bucks behind deer-proof fences which lazy hunters can bag for a fee. To Marlin it's like shooting fish in a barrel. Worse, a range war of sorts has erupted with the low-fence ranchers, and things are turning downright ugly. Of course Marlin still doesn't know about the X-rated pictures a blackmailer took of the state senator in cahoots with the high fencers...the scheme being hatched by two bumbling poachers...or the stolen red Corvette which may be the key to everything. What has caught his attention is the sheriff's department's pretty new deputy...
Blanco County, Texas. It's one week before the start of deer hunting season, and everyone in town has come down with a case of... Buck Fever The fury begins with Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock, two drunken poachers who fire a shot in the direction of Blanco County's most important resident: a wide-eyed, white-tailed deer named Buck who lives on the Circle S ranch. Now Buck is on the loose, and no one knows where to find him: not Trey Sweeney, the man who took the bullet meant for Buck, albeit right in the flank of his own deer costume; not Tim Gray, the veterinarian who can't function very long without popping a few canine tranquilizers; and especially not Roy Swank, owner of the Circle S, who wants desperately to find Buck for reasons no one can quite understand. Navigating all this turmoil is Blanco County Game Warden John Marlin, with a little help from his best friend Phil and a beautiful nurse named Becky who seems too good to be true. But when a dead body turns up, the real mystery in madcap Blanco County soon boils down to a single question: Just who is hunting whom?
From the Edgar, Lefty, and Barry award-nominated author Ben Rehder comes the funniest entry yet in his hilarious Blanco County mystery series. Some kind of unidentified wild creature is on the loose in Blanco, and, over the protests of sensible game warden John Marlin, the local population has convinced itself that they're dealing with a mythical beast called a chupacabra. Of course it doesn't help Marlin's cause when a dead body turns up with a suspicious fang-like wound in its neck... Then things really get out of hand: tabloid news programs invade Blanco, good ol' boys Red O'Brien and Billy Don Craddock develop a cockamamie get-rich-quick scheme involving the animal, and everyone is a little surprised at the booming population of voluptuous Chinese dwarves who've turned up in town. Only a first-rate humorist and ingenious plotter like Ben Rehder can tie it all together, and Flat Crazy is further evidence that this fan-favorite author has hit his comic stride.
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