Showing results by author "Nick Russell" in All Categories

Winter is a special time in the charming little mountain town of Big Lake, Arizona. Fireplace smoke rises from chimneys as kids build snowmen or skate on the frozen surface of Miller’s Pond, neighbors help neighbors shovel sidewalks and driveways, and there’s nothing like enjoying a hot toddy or a mug of cocoa to warm up after a busy day. But when a shocking act of violence leaves a family man dead and a suspect on the run, Sheriff Jim Weber and his deputies launch a manhunt that is hampered by the rough mountain landscape, back-to-back snowstorms, reluctant witnesses, lies, and even a ...

When an armored car hijacking leaves two men dead, Arizona Sheriff Jim Weber takes the crime personally, because one of the dead men is his brother-in-law. His hunt for the killers leads him into a world of sordid sex, deceit, and violence, with a suspect list that includes jilted women, a family of anti-government survivalists, and the beautiful wife of the richest man in town. With a plot that has more twists and turns than an Arizona mountain road, a cast of characters you won't soon forget.

When the father he never knew shows up at his house in the middle of the night, beaten and his body mutilated, with only a vague explanation of what happened to him, Somerton County Deputy John Lee Quarrels suspects there's more to the story than he is being told. And when his father just as mysteriously disappears two days later, John Lee knows there is trouble in store for him.

When the richest man in Big Lake is murdered on the night he announces his bid for state senator, the list of suspects stretches all the way from the small mountain town to the governor's office. Sheriff Jim Weber's investigation reveals a web of secrets, illicit sex, and shattered lives that teaches him that nothing is what it appears to be and that sometimes the people we think we know are not at all what we believe them to be.

Life is already complicated enough for John Lee Quarrels, what with his estranged wife dropping in for unannounced sleepovers, her oversexed sister tempting him, his pot smoking ponytailed grandfather growing his own stash, his Elvis obsessed grandmother, and being caught smack dab in the middle of a power struggle between the Sheriff and Chief Deputy. But when a road construction crew unearths the skeletons of three murder victims, John Lee suddenly finds himself on the trail of a killer who may well have died long before the deputy was even born.

Life may seem idyllic in the small mountain town of Big Lake, but there are dark secrets here. When a small child goes missing from his dysfunctional home the clues are few, and the ones Sheriff Jim Weber and his deputies do have are confusing. The boy's playmates describe a giant with an orange head and someone else claims to have seen a spaceship. Could something that bizarre be true, or is the culprit closer to home? Is the missing boy's mother really who she says she is? And what about her live-in boyfriend, a loser with a reputation for violence? Weber calls in a crack FBI team that ...

When a young woman is brutally assaulted at the Cat Mountain Ski Resort, two of the three suspects Sheriff Jim Weber arrests come from wealthy families whose roots go deep into Arizona's history, and the third has a past shrouded in mystery. The sheriff soon finds himself involved in a sordid case that stretches from the White Mountains all the way to the governor's office and beyond. Pressured by local and state officials as well as representatives of the FBI and U.S. Marshal's Service, all with their own agenda, Weber must stand firm to see justice done and send a message that in Big Lake...

It's deer season and the mountains around Big Lake are filled with trophy hunters. But deer aren't the only things being stalked. When Emma Moyer, Big Lake's resident environmental activist, disrupts a guided hunt, it leads to a deadly confrontation. Now Sheriff Jim Weber has to find a killer from a list of suspects that include angry hunters, land developers, business owners, estranged family members, and others that Emma has crossed over the years. And all the while, a perilous winter storm is sweeping across the mountains, hampering his investigation and hiding secrets.

When a young Apache man is found hanging from a tree on Cat Mountain, Sheriff Jim Weber and FBI agent Larry Parks go on the hunt for the killers and by the time their investigation is over, the idealistic cover is ripped from the little mountain town of Big Lake, revealing old prejudices, resentments, and hatred. In their search for justice, Sheriff Weber and Parks encounter Native American activists, a kinky couple whose passion burns as hot as their tempers, a teenager with excess baggage, and a father and son team of small town bullies, to name just a few.

Everybody seems to have gone crazy in the little mountain community of Big Lake, Arizona. Neighbors are threatening violence, eco-protestors are on the march, flower children are camping in the nearby forest, two of Sheriff Jim Weber's deputies have gotten into a fistfight in the ButterCup Café, the grocery store manager has locked himself in his office and won't come out, bears are chasing dogs into houses, and somebody has stolen the town's mascot.

The busy summer season is drawing to a close in the little mountain town of Big Lake, Arizona, and the locals are looking forward to a relaxing interlude before the first snowfall brings carloads of skiers to the high country. That all changes when a nearly nude woman rushes into a convenience store in the middle of the night begging for help. She tells Sheriff Jim Weber that her new husband has been murdered and she was taken captive by the mysterious killer, who seems to have disappeared into the thick forests of the White Mountains.

Sheriff Jim Weber always said it was just a matter of time before somebody shot Bureau of Indian Affairs Agent Gordon Hahn. The man was a loud, crude, misogynist drunk who treated women with disrespect, and was a racist who rode roughshod over the people of the White Mountain Apache Reservation. So Weber wasn't surprised when somebody finally did put an end to all of it with a bullet. He just didn't appreciate Hahn getting himself killed in the middle of Big Lake's annual Pioneers Days fireworks display. With more people who wanted the victim dead than alive, Weber and his deputies have ...

When mysterious fires begin plaguing the little mountain town of Big Lake, Arizona, it doesn't take Sheriff Jim Weber long to realize that a serial arsonist is on the loose and has to be stopped before somebody dies or the entire forest goes up in flames. With the help of C.C. Callahan, a beautiful Deputy Fire Marshal, the sheriff begins the hunt while dealing with an upstart newspaper publisher hell-bent on smearing his good name and ruining his reputation. As the fires continue, fingers of blame are pointed and everybody in Big Lake wonders whose home or business will be the next.

When summoned to George Duncan's farm in response to a tragic accident, Sheriff Jim Weber and his deputies had no idea just how bad it was going to be. Everybody in Big Lake knew and respected Duncan. The easy-going hog farmer was a successful businessman who had made a fortune supplying restaurants from Show Low to Springerville, and all the way to Gallup, New Mexico with pork chops, hams, and sausage. Duncan always carried a big wad of bills wrapped in a rubber band in the pocket of his bib overalls, and never hesitated to help out someone in trouble. There wasn't a church social, a Boy ...

When Somerton County "bad girl" Leona Darling goes missing, Deputy John Lee Quarrels is ordered to find her. How hard could it be? Just look in the nearest gin mill, right? But Leona was nowhere to be found. As he begins asking questions, John Lee discovers that Leona was a badge bunny, a cop groupie who was well-known on a less than professional basis by many of his fellow lawmen. He also discovers that asking questions can get you into trouble, especially when the people you are asking wear badges, carry guns for a living, and have something to lose.

It’s Fall, the special time of year the locals in the little Arizona mountain town of Big Lake call the sweet season between when the summer visitors have gone back to their homes in the crowded desert cities and when the snow has accumulated enough to draw the ski crowd. Things are moving at a slower pace for now as people draw a deep breath and recoup their energy and sanity from the hectic summer just behind them. But when three mischievous teenagers looking for adventure find the body of a murdered Forest Ranger, they get much more than they bargained for. Soon Sheriff Jim Weber and ...

With only two weeks to go before their wedding, Big Lake Sheriff Jim Weber and his fiancée, Deputy Robyn Fuchette are busy managing all of the last-minute details before the big day while dealing with Robyn’s often-difficult mother, whose demands have already lost them the florist and the limousine. But when compromising photographs of the bride to be begin surfacing, they become the talk of the town. Suddenly Robyn has gone from being a well-respected deputy and member of the community to a pariah, shunned by people she thought were her friends and whispered about over back fences and ...

When someone dressed in a ninja costume was first seen lurking around homes in Big Lake, everyone assumed it was some kind of teenage mischief. Things escalated when the ninja was spotted peeking in people’s windows. Sheriff Weber and his deputies are on the lookout for the mysterious prankster, and more sightings seem to come in every day. Things take a deadly turn when the ninja singles out a respected local businessman and attacks him with a sword. More attacks follow and soon the whole town is on edge, locking their doors and loading their guns. Who would want to hurt the nicest man ...

The opening of Big Lake’s new medical marijuana dispensary caused quite a stir in the little mountain town, drawing debates before the Town Council and protesters to the site even as the building was being remodeled. With the doors now open and business flourishing, a crew of diehard protesters led by a big man who is used to getting his way continues to picket the business, harassing both employees and customers. But nobody expected the carnage that would happen on a rainy night when a call at home informs Sheriff Jim Weber of a robbery gone wrong at the dispensary that leaves five ...

Willie Chandler didn’t even want to go fishing that dreary, rainy spring morning, and he darned sure didn’t want to spend any time with his rude, crude mooch of a brother-in-law, Larry Munson. But yet he found himself standing on the edge of the lake in the early morning drizzle, listening to Larry brag about how many women he had bedded and how many fish he had caught. It was enough to tick off even the most affable person, and when Willie finally had enough of Larry’s braggadocio, he stalked off, intending to climb up the steep mountainside to the road and walk home. Instead, he ...