HARDROCK STIFF

Zigal, Thomas

ISBN 10: 0385313144 / ISBN 13: 9780385313148

Published by Delacorte, 1996

About this Item

First printing. The second Kurt Muller mystery - it starts with the murder of a miner of the old school - a "hardrock stiff." Zigal's novels speak "to the issue at the heart of the contemporary American West. Who owns the land?" SIGNED on the title page by the author. 323 pp, Fine in a fine dust jacket (as new.). Seller Inventory # 76939

Bibliographic Details

Title: HARDROCK STIFF

Publisher: Delacorte

Publication Date: 1996

Binding: Hardcover

Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included

Signed: Signed by Author(s)

Edition: 1st Edition

About this title

Synopsis:

Ned Carr is a "hardrock stiff," a miner of the old school who for years has stubbornly held on to acres of prime real estate right in the middle of Aspen's most popular ski slope. Carr has a habit of feuding with everyone with whom he comes in contact--particularly the radical eco-warriers and their adversary, Skicorp, both of whom want to get their hands on Carr's land. Still Sheriff Kurt Muller (on sabbatical) has a soft spot for Carr. Following up a suspicious midnight phone call, Muller arrives the next morning at Carr's mine--just in time to witness the explosion that blows the old man to bits. Acting Sheriff Muffin Brown is convinced the explosion is an accident, but Muller's instincts tell him otherwise. Drawn into dangerous games of the militant "greenies" and the powerful corporate forces behind Skicorp Muller uncovers many a motive for murder. When Carr's mining associate is subsequently poisoned, his will disappears and with it any proof that Carr's young grandson is the heir to Carr's estate. Sheriff Kurt Muller once again finds his personal code of justice at odds with the limits of the law. Hardrock Stiff proves Thomas Zigal's talent for writing gritty, intricate suspense novels, and speaks to the issue at the heart of the contemporary American West: who owns the land?
From the Paperback edition.

Review:

Thomas Zigal's second book about Aspen sheriff Kurt Muller (the first was Into Thin Air) is a strong, sad, exciting, and involving story. Muller's marriage has already fallen apart under the pressure of his career; now he's wondering if the strain on his six-year-old son Lennon is worth it. Another six-year-old boy--Lennon's friend Hunter Carr--is at the center of a story that begins when Hunter's grandfather, an old hardrock miner named Ned Carr, is blown up in his apparently worthless silver mine. A dedicated troublemaker, Ned has irritated everyone in the area, from the violent environmental activists called the Green Briars to an even more dangerous (and better funded) right-wing group known as the Free West Rebellion. A violent story, softened by fine moments of fatherhood.