Sunny's bookshelf
Sunny's bookshelf photo by Judy Solomon

Online book reviews since 2011, the very best in reviewing – connecting good readers with equally good writers

Tahoe Ghost Boat

Sign up to receive our latest reviews by email

Tahoe Ghost Boat: An Owen McKenna Mystery

Driving down Spooner Summit on my way to South Lake Tahoe from Reno, I had no trouble staying below the speed limit because around almost every bend in the road was a scene from Tahoe Ghost Boat or an earlier Borg mystery. I happily remained in the slow lane so I wouldn’t miss anything.

At Tahoe Keys I unpacked, relaxed and read the last thirty pages of the book, although “relaxed”  is not the state I was in when I finished. The contrast between the heavy winter snows in Tahoe Ghost Boat and the frighteningly dry Sierra of this August day gave me pause and reason to think about changes. Tahoe Ghost Boat  is more than a bit of a change for Borg’s low-key, but heroic ex-San Francisco cop Owen McKenna, and all who know Tahoe well can expect climate changes will leave their mark on the next Tahoe adventure.

What Borg does best is write a fast paced, intelligent mystery, keeping his readers on their toes before being swept away in an avalanche of a finale ending. Sort of like the last three minutes of a really good fireworks display. Tahoe Ghost Boat begins with a mysterious boat accident that is followed by the introduction of McKenna’s next client, the boat captain’s not-so-grieving widow. She is vain, shallow and not McKenna’s favorite client, but typical of the genre, our private detective is in a bit of a dry spell and will take what he can get.

It’s the client’s fifteen year old daughter, Gertie, who takes the mystery to the next level. She is estranged from her once divorced and now widowed mother and lives with an ambivalent father in Sacramento. Vain mom is threatened with blackmail in connection with her husband’s death. The threat is pay up or die and the death threat extends to Gertie. In spite of McKenna’s warning when he meets Gertie in Sacramento, just days later she is kidnapped and Tahoe Ghost Boat shifts into high gear.

Action-packed is putting it mildly. Enough to say that Gertie, a truly neat softball-loving teen, has found a place in McKenna’s heart and he will do anything to find her. Once found, he again will do anything to keep her out of the hands of the men behind the kidnapping and all the while the reader is learning more about some fabulous lakefront homes, explosive technology, a bit about kayaking, Sierra Nevada College, and how to make an object of any size fall to topple a prey (with a nod to Paiute lore).

Who are the bad guys? What do they want and why? It takes McKenna and all his law enforcement cohorts to identify them (and a few surprises). Spot the Great Dane and Street who loves bugs as much as she loves McKenna don’t hurt, either. Todd Borg has written McKenna into some pretty tight cases, but this one comes down to the very last moments, with some amazing and unexpected help from Gertie.  Prepare for fireworks!    – Sunny Solomon      (First published in the Clayton Pioneer 8/29/14)

Also available by Todd Borg: Tahoe Death Fall; Tahoe Blow Up; Tahoe Ice Grave; Tahoe Killshot; Tahoe Silence; Tahoe Avalanche; Tahoe Night; Tahoe Heat; Tahoe Hijack; Tahoe Trap; Tahoe Chase.

2 Responses

  1. Just finished this book. Was at the very end and just couldn’t put it down!!! Finally at midnight I finished it, but now wasn’t sure how I was going to get to sleep. Haven’t read a book this scary in quite awhile. I loved it and can’t wait to read more of his books.

Add your thoughts and comments...

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Share this Review
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn

Related Reviews

The Honey Jar

The Honey Jar

The Honey Jar, An Armenian’s Escape to Freedom, is Joan Schoettler’s captivating tale of a young boy’s 1920, escape from his war-torn home in Armenia.

Read More »
The Midnight Library

The Midnight Library

Matt Haig’s novel, The Midnight Library, describes the twenty-seven hours it takes Nora Seed to choose life or death. The Midnight Library, Chapter One begins, “Nineteen

Read More »

The God of  Endings

Jacqueline Hollands’s debut novel, The God of  Endings, reveals the loneliness of the life of an unwilling vampire. Jacqueline Holland’s debut novel, The God of Endings, follows

Read More »

About the Reviewer

Sign up for reviews by email

You’ll get email updates from Bookin’ with Sunny when we add a new review or blog post, and we never share your email with anyone else.

Shopping in-store Fun!

Support your local community’s economic growth by shopping for books at your independent bookstore in person, online at their website, or by phone.