Bill Pronzini: The Other Side of Silence (USA 2015)

From the Publisher:
The sunbaked expanse of Death Valley is a great place to visit but a bad place to die in this breathtaking thriller from acclaimed master of suspense fiction Bill Pronzini

Rick Fallon has reached the breaking point. His wife left after their son's tragic death, and Rick finds himself without purpose. He seeks out the peace and tranquility of the desert, setting up camp in Death Valley. On his fourth day there, Rick comes across an abandoned car. Inside is a woman on the brink of death, beaten and blistered by the sun.

Her name is Casey, and her young son has been kidnapped by her ex-husband. After fruitlessly searching for him for months, Casey has decided to end it all. But Rick is determined to make her mission his own, even if it means risking his life. He's been given a chance to atone for one of his greatest regrets; no amount of danger can stop him now.

Bill Pronzini: The Other Side of Silence. A Novel. Open Road Media, ISBN 9781504011099 (May, 2015), eBook, 1 MB (ca. 215 p.), $9.99.

Bill Pronzini: The Other Side of Silence (USA 2008)

From the Publisher:
A scintillating new thriller by one of the masters of the genre, following his Grand Master Award from the Mystery Writers of America.
When Geena finally left him and filed for divorce, Fallon put the Encino house up for sale and took the last two weeks of his vacation from Unidyne. Then he loaded the Jeep Liberty and drove straight to Death Valley. The desert country had a way of simplifying things. It cleansed your mind, allowed you to think clearly. Allowed you to breathe. The one place he truly belonged.

So opens Bill Pronzini's exciting new thriller. On his third day in the Valley, Rick Fallon comes upon a deserted Toyota Camry, and soon thereafter, the almost-dead body of Casey Dunbar. Having rescued her, Fallon soon learns what had driven her to give up on life... and, his own life on hold, he resolves to unravel the twisted and dangerous strands of hers, a quest that leads him to the glitter-dome of Las Vegas among other locales. The result is a story as dramatic and memorable as anything Pronzini has written, reminiscent of his classics Blue Lonesome and A Wasteland of Strangers. In The Other Side of Silence, Bill Pronzini is indeed a Grand Master.

Bill Pronzini: The Other Side of Silence. A Novel. Walker & Co.; ISBN 9781504011099 (September, 2008), 216 p., $24.00.