As the Crow Dies

Vietnam took his legs. A murderer took his father. Somehow, Jason Crow has to take a stand.

"My father had no reason to kill himself," I said. "On the contrary, he had every reason to live. I was coming home. We had plans to do things together. Plus, there's no way he'd kill himself using my gun."

Burker picked up a screw driver, went through the motions of examining it. "Look, Jason, we're not friends. Never have been. Probably never will be, but I've always respected your talent on the football field and your intelligence. You were good. Damn good. What's happened . . . well, it's a shame."

"I don't want your pity, Burker."

"Good, because you won't get any from me, but I will tell you I'm disappointed in you. You're smart. That's why I expected you to be more objective about what's happened. Let me give you another tidbit of information, another fact for you to consider. There were powder marks on your father's right hand. He pulled the trigger."

Jason Crow comes home to Texas on clumsy, prosthetic legs--a double amputee, struggling with his lost dreams and the pitying curiosity of friends and strangers. But there's no time for him to brood, because his father has just been shot to death . .

Unable to convince the police that his father was murdered, Jason begins his own investigation. In the process he uncovers family secrets that shake him to his core and make him question everyone and everything around him, including the love of Michiko, the beautiful Eurasian-American nurse he met in Japan.

While fighting his own insecurity as a double amputee, Jason must challenge forces capable of destroying him and those he loves to pursue the person who robbed him of his greatest hero: His father.

This debut book in Ken Casper's Jason Crow series treats readers to a powerful new voice in mystery fiction.

Ken Casper, aka K. N. Casper, author of more than 25 novels, short stories and articles, figures his writing career started back in the sixth grade when a teacher ordered him to write a "theme" explaining his misbehavior over the previous semester. To his teacher's chagrin, he enjoyed stringing just the right words together to justify his less-than-stellar performance. That's not to say he's been telling tall tales to get out of scrapes ever since, but...

Born and raised in New York City, Ken is now a transplanted Texan. He and Mary, his wife of thirty-five-plus years, own a horse farm in San Angelo. Along with their two dogs, six cats, and eight horses-at last count!-they board and breed horses and Mary teaches English riding. She's a therapeutic riding instructor for the handicapped, as well.

Life is never dull. Their two granddaughters visit several times a year and feel right at home with the Casper menagerie. Grandpa and Mimi do everything they can to make sure their visits will be lifelong fond memories. After all, isn't that what grandparents are for?