Shoot to Thrill

Prologue
From top to bottom and everywhere in between, Minnesota was a bleak and frigid place in January, whether you were shivering on a blizzard- swept western prairie or paralyzed under a foot of snow smack in the middle of Minneapolis. But there was no greater sense of winter desolation than on the north shore of Lake Superior, where the big water that looked like an ocean was forever pushing enormous blocks of sharded ice against one shore or another.

The past two weeks had been particularly cruel to the lake. A parade of low- pressure systems had stalled, battling each other for command of the winds, freezing the great body of water almost to the horizon line. It was profoundly disturbing to see something so powerful completely subdued, like King Kong in chains on a Broadwaystage.

Randy Coulter had a lot of empathy for the lake, because he knewwhat it felt like to be the helpless victim of a greater force, trappedby circumstances he was powerless to change. But that was the oldRandy- the new, improved Randy finally had the power to makethings happen. And if he could muster the guts, he'd make somethinghappen today.

The trail on the edge of the cliff provided spectacular winterscapeviews for the snowshoers and cross- country skiers who frequentedthe winter resorts along the shore, and their numbers were legion inthe week between Christmas and New Year's. City dwellers accustomedto the protective environment of crosswalks and guardrailsflocked to the north in a foolish fit of adventure, where you actuallyhad to rely on your own good sense instead of the nanny state tokeep you safe.

Randy slipped out of his snowshoes and off the groomed trail,testing each step toward the edge of the cliff with a pole to makesure there was frozen earth beneath the windswept snow. Thecloser he got to the lip of eternity, the colder the wind that blewon his face. He began to despair, thinking that no would- be athletewould venture out on such a day, when the barometer

'P.J. Tracy' ist das Pseudonym eines Autorenteams aus Mutter und Tochter. Sie haben als Drehbuchautorinnen begonnen und mit ihrem Krimidebüt "Spiel unter Freunden" einen internationalen Überraschungserfolg erzielt, der von Lesern und Kritikern mit Lob überhäuft wurde.