by Todd Borg
Whitehall turned to Paco. “We all know that this is the only country you’ve ever known and that you are as American in spirit and deed and experience as I am. Indeed, you’re even working your own business, and nothing is more American than that. Are you okay with becoming an official American citizen?”
“Yeah,” Paco said. He slowly stood up, looked at everyone and said, “Cassie always said that the only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work. So if we grow a lot of tomatoes and peppers, we’ll probably be okay.”
Spot rolled over onto his side and sighed.
About the Author
Todd Borg and his wife live in Lake Tahoe, where they write and paint. To contact Todd or learn more about the Owen McKenna mysteries, please visit toddborg.com
PRAISE FOR TAHOE HIJACK
“BEGINNING TO READ TAHOE HIJACK IS LIKE FLOOR-BOARDING A RACE CAR... RATING: A+”
- Cathy Cole, Kittling Books
“A THRILLING READ... any reader will find the pages of his thrillers impossible to stop turning”
- Caleb Cage, The Nevada Review
“NOW I’M HOOKED...Borg not only offers a good mystery, but does a terrific job with some fascinating California history that is both enlightening and gripping”
- Sunny Solomon, Bookin’ with Sunny
“THE BOOK CLIMAXES WITH A TWIST THE READER DOESN’T SEE COMING, WORTHY OF MICHAEL CONNELLY”
- Heather Gould, Tahoe Mountain News
“A FASCINATING AND MUCH RECOMMENDED NOVEL”
- Midwest Book Review
“I HAD TO HOLD MY BREATH DURING THE LAST PART OF THIS FAST-PACED THRILLER”
- Harvee Lau, Book Dilettante
CHOSEN FOR BOOK DILLETANTE’S LIST OF
BEST CRIME READS OF 2011!
PRAISE FOR TAHOE HEAT
“IN TAHOE HEAT, BORG MASTERFULLY WRITES A SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SO INTENSE THAT IT BELONGS IN AN EARLY TOM CLANCY NOVEL”
- Caleb Cage, Nevada Review
“TAHOE HEAT IS A RIVETING THRILLER”
- John Burroughs, Midwest Book Review
“WILL KEEP READERS TURNING THE PAGES AS OWEN RACES TO CATCH A VICIOUS KILLER”
- Barbara Bibel, Booklist
“THE READER CAN’T HELP BUT ROOT FOR McKENNA AS THE BIG, GENEROUS, IRISH-BLOODED, STREET-WISE-YET-BOOK-SMART FORMER COP”
- Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News
PRAISE FOR TAHOE NIGHT
“BORG HAS WRITTEN ANOTHER WHITE-KNUCKLE THRILLER... A sure bet for mystery buffs waiting for the next Robert B. Parker and Lee Child novels”
- Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal
“AN ACTION-PACKED THRILLER WITH A NICE-GUY HERO, AN EVEN NICER DOG...”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A KILLER PLOT... EVERY ONE OF ITS 350 PAGES WANTS TO GET TURNED... FAST”
- Taylor Flynn, Tahoe Mountain News
“PLENTY OF ACTION TO KEEP YOU ON THE EDGE OF YOUR SEAT... An excellent addition to this series.”
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“ANOTHER PAGE-TURNER OF A MYSTERY, with more twists and turns than a roller coaster ride”
- Midwest Book Review
“A FASCINATING STORY OF FORGERY, MURDER...”
- Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune
PRAISE FOR TAHOE AVALANCHE
ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR!
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“BORG IS A SUPERB STORYTELLER...A MASTER OF THE GENRE”
- Midwest Book Review
“TAHOE AVALANCHE WAS SOOOO GOOD... A FASCINATING MYSTERY with some really devious characters”
- Merry Cutler, Annie’s Book Stop, Sharon, Massachusetts
“EXPLODES INTO A COMPLEX PLOT THAT LEADS TO MURDER AND INTRIGUE”
- Nancy Hayden, Tahoe Daily Tribune
“READERS WILL BE KEPT ON THE EDGE OF THEIR SEATS”
- Sheryl McLaughlin, Douglas Times
“INCLUDE BORG IN THE GROUP OF MYSTERY WRITERS that write with a strong sense of place such as TONY HILLERMAN”
- William Clark, The Union
PRAISE FOR TAHOE SILENCE
WINNER, BEN FRANKLIN AWARD, BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR!
“A HEART-WRENCHING MYSTERY THAT IS ALSO ONE OF THE BEST NOVELS WRITTEN ABOUT AUTISM”
STARRED REVIEW - Jo Ann Vicarel, Library Journal
CHOSEN BY LIBRARY JOURNAL AS ONE OF THE FIVE BEST MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR
“THIS IS ONE ENGROSSING NOVEL...IT IS SUPERB”
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“ANOTHER GREAT READ!!”
- Shelly Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
“ANOTHER EXCITING ENTRY INTO THIS TOO-LITTLE-KNOWN SERIES”
- Mary Frances Wilkens, Booklist
“A REAL PAGE-TURNER”
- Sam Bauman, Nevada Appeal
PRAISE FOR TAHOE KILLSHOT
“BORG BELONGS ON THE BESTSELLER LISTS with Parker,
Paretsky and Coben”
- Merry Cutler, Annie’s Book Stop, Sharon, Massachusetts
“A GREAT READ!”
-Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
“A WONDERFUL BOOK”
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE OWEN McKENNA MYSTERY
SERIES”
- Donna Clark, Librarian, Odessa College, Odessa, Texas
PRAISE FOR TAHOE ICE GRAVE
“BAFFLING CLUES...CONSISTENTLY ENTERTAINS”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A CLEVER PLOT... RECOMMEND THIS MYSTERY”
- John Rowen, Booklist
“A BIG THUMBS UP... MR. BORG’S PLOTS ARE SUPER-TWISTERS”
- Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
ONE OF THE TOP 5 MYSTERIES OF THE YEAR!
- Gayle Wedgwood, Mystery News
“GREAT CHARACTERS, LOTS OF ACTION, AND SOME CLEVER PLOT TWISTS...Readers have to figure they are in for a good ride, and Todd Borg does not disappoint.”
- John Orr, San Jose Mercury News
“A CLEVER PLOT, A SPINE-TINGLING CLIMAX”
- Susan DeRyke, Bookshelf Stores, Tahoe City, California
“ONCE YOU READ AN OWEN McKENNA NOVEL, YOU’RE HOOKED FOR LIFE!”
- Karen Dini, Addison Public Library, Addison, Illinois
PRAISE FOR TAHOE BLOWUP
“A COMPELLING TALE OF ARSON ON THE MOUNTAIN”
- Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen Bookstore
“HIGH TENSION”
- Catherine Abel, Tahoe Mountain News
“RIVETING... A MUST READ FOR MYSTERY FANS!”
- Karen Dini, Addison Public Library, Addison, Illinois
WINNER! BEST MYSTERY OF THE YEAR
- Bay Area Independent Publishers Association
BEN FRANKLIN AWARD, BEST MYSTERY SILVER MEDAL
PRAISE FOR TAHOE DEATHFALL
“THRILLING, EXTENDED RESCUE/CHASE”
- Kirkus Reviews
“A TREMENDOUS READ FROM A GREAT WRITER”
- Shelley Glodowski, Midwest Book Review
“BORG OFFERS A SIMPLY TERRIFIC DOG”
- Barbara Peters, The Poisoned Pen
“McKENNA IS BRIGHT AND WITTY... SPOT IS A WONDERFULLY DRAWN CHARACTER”
- Marty Steinberg, Deadly Pleasures
LIBRARIAN’S CHOICE, BEST NEW FICTION
- Cincinnati Public Library
WINNER! BEST THRILLER OF THE YEAR
- Bay Area Independent Publishers Association
“A TAUT MYSTERY... A SCREECHING CLIMAX”
- Karen Dini, Addison Public Library, Addison, Illinois
Titles by Todd Borg
TAHOE DEATHFALL
TAHOE BLOWUP
TAHOE ICE GRAVE
TAHOE KILLSHOT
TAHOE SILENCE
TAHOE AVALANCHE
TAHOE NIGHT
TAHOE HEAT
TAHOE HIJACK
TAHOE TRAP
Thriller Press First Edition, August 2012
TAHOE TRAP
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Thriller Press, a division of WRST, Inc.
This novel is a work of fiction. Any references to real locales, establishments, organizations, or events are intended only to give the fiction a sense of verisimilitude. All other names, places, characters and incidents portrayed in this book are the product of the author’s imagination.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission from Thriller Press, P.O. Box 551110, South Lake Tahoe, CA 96155.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012937739
ISBN: 978-1-931296-20-5
Cover design and map by Keith Carlson
Manufactured in the United States of America
This Book is for Kit
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
In the spring of 2011, I was contacted by The League To Save Lake Tahoe about participating in their big Oscar de la Renta fundraiser, the famous Tahoe fashion show sponsored by Saks Fifth Avenue. The show generates a great deal of money for The League To Save Lake Tahoe. With this annual show, Mr. de la Renta and Saks have done a great service to Lake Tahoe.
No, they didn’t want me to strut my stuff down the runway - bummer! - but they wondered if I would be willing to auction off character name rights to a character in my next novel.
Hey, if I can get some hang time with the guy who put gowns on everyone from Jackie Kennedy to Cameron Diaz, I’m in. The show is a great mix of good environmental causes and fashion.
Okay, so I didn’t get to meet Oscar, but my books were there at the estate on Tahoe’s West Shore.
The person who won the auction is Pam Sagan from the Bay Area. Thank you, Pam! Your contribution is hard at work funding efforts to keep Tahoe clear and beautiful.
Pam, and generous people like her, have been critical in the effort to protect Lake Tahoe.
For my part of the deal, this new novel features a character named Pam Sagan. I should point out that I have never met the real Pam Sagan, and I made no effort to shape the book’s fictional character in relation to her.
Thanks to Pam, and thanks to The League To Save Lake Tahoe! It was a fun project!
As for the other people who deserve my boundless gratitude, no book can shine without the assiduous efforts of its editors. I benefit from several, and I can’t thank them enough.
Liz Johnston, Eric Berglund, Christel Hall and my wife Kit. If this story pulls you in and gives you a good ride, it is in large degree to the spit and polish of these four stellar wordsmiths. They are experts in multiple arenas, and I’m a lucky guy to have such help.