Things are good for San Antonio middle-school teacher-cum-mystery author Rick Riordan--great, in fact. His first two outings featuring San Antonio PI and part-time English professor Tres Navarre (Big Red Tequila, The Widower's Two Step) scored Shamus, Anthony, and Edgar awards, and The Last King of Texas has been likened to the proverbial sliced bread. In The Devil Went Down to Austin, on the other hand, things stink for Tres Navarre. His paraplegic brother, Garrett, has surreptitiously mortgaged the brothers' Austin ranch to subsidize an Internet startup. One of Garrett's partners, Ruby McBride, has been making nice with a sleazy corporate-takeover maven, Matthew Peña, and Garrett's been violently feuding with his other partner and lifelong friend, Jimmy Doebler. As for Jimmy, his day started with his divorce from Ruby and ended with a shot to the head. Worse yet, Jimmy bought it in his Chevy pickup by his lakeside home, just feet away from a ranting, beach-sprawled Garrett.

All that remains for Tres to do is exonerate his brother, find the real killer (whose clue-laden e-mails alternate with Tres's narrative, delivering Texas-sized creepiness), save the ranch, and with the help of Maia Lee, a beautiful lawyer from his past, untangle a skein of Doebler family murder, misery, and hurt. Witty, sharp as glass, and plotted as well as it's written, The Devil Went Down to Austin paints a high-tech Texas laced with treachery and tequila before a cranked-up Jimmy Buffett backdrop. Expect great things, because Riordan delivers. --Michael Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
Powerful writing about a palpable evil distinguishes Edgar, Anthony and Shamus award-winner Riordan's fourth Tres Navarre novel. The tough, wisecracking PI and English professor moves himself and the action from his San Antonio base to Austin, where he expects simply to teach University of Texas students and visit with his brother, Garrett. But instead of tackling Beowulf he must tackle a different quest, a different monster. Garrett, software genius and free spirit, has launched a startup company called Techsan Security Software, with his friend Jimmy and Jimmy's wife as partners. Enter a truly nasty character who devours startup companies like Techsan, leaving a trail of ruined or dead owners in his wake. Techsan's brilliant beginnings lead to a takeover offer, while the offer's rejection leads to troubles that threaten to destroy the company and the Navarre family ranch, which Garrett has used as security. Soon one of Garrett's partners is dead, Garrett's the prime suspect and Tres is digging desperately for any foothold that will keep his brother from jail. An extremely skillful writer, Riordan manages a complicated plot without losing narrative force. Even the potentially distracting use of periodic asides, in the form of e-mails from the killer about his past crimes, serves to heighten tension and provide a focus for the reader. Then there's the spectacular, unforgettable description of a dive into a preserved pecan orchard at the bottom of a man-made lake. Some blatant misdirection may disgruntle certain readers, but this is a mere quibble with a book sure to enhance the author's solid reputation. (June 5)Forecast: Backed by blurbs from Dennis Lehane, Tami Hoag and Harlan Coben, this book is a dead cert for genre bestseller lists.Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Garrett, the wheelchair-bound brother of PI Tres Navarre (The Last King of Texas), has risked the family ranch on a promising start-up venture involving a software encryption product. Unfortunately for Garrett and his argumentative partners best friend Jimmy and Jimmy's now ex-wife the nasty, scuba-diving banker/entrepreneur interested in buying the product has sabotaged their test sites in order to force a cheap sale. When someone murders Jimmy, the police blame Garrett, which catapaults Navarre into action. Clipped prose speeds the action along as Navarre's old flame joins the fray. Sarcastic humor, memorable characters, and spectacular action scenes round out a spellbinding adventure. Highly recommended. Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Why Garrett Navarre apparently killed his best friend is a mystery. Why author Riordan has won the genre's "triple crown"--the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus awards--is not. In his acclaimed Tres Navarre series, Riordan combines all the elements of award-winning mystery fiction: unforgettable characters, intriguing plots, and delicious suspense. In his latest adventure, San Antonio PI Navarre is renovating his great-grandfather's ranch. When the family lawyer threatens to foreclose on the ranch, Tres discovers that his older brother, Garrett, has mortgaged the property to finance his rapidly failing startup software company. Outraged, Tres takes off for Austin to confront Garrett, a paraplegic for whom heaven is smoking a joint at a Jimmy Buffet concert. When Garrett's friend and business partner Jimmy Doebler is murdered--and Garrett is discovered at the scene--Tres realizes it will be a long time before he returns to San Antonio. To find the real killer, Tres must discover who has been sabotaging Garrett's company and what role Jimmy's wife, Ruby, the third partner and Garrett's former lover, played in the treachery. Complicating life even more for Tres is his former lover, sexy and savvy lawyer Maia Lee, who arrives to defend Garrett. Navarre just may have become the most appealing mystery hero in Texas. His latest is pure heaven for mystery fans. Jenny McLarin
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved


Review
"If not the king of texas crime writing, Rick Riordan is certainly among the princes!"
--The Denver Post

"A heady nightcap of sass and suspense with a twist of mayhem."
--The Austin Chronicle

"Sarcastic humor, memorable characters, and spectacular action scenes round out a spellbinding adventure."
--Library Journal



Review
"If not the king of texas crime writing, Rick Riordan is certainly among the princes!"
--The Denver Post

"A heady nightcap of sass and suspense with a twist of mayhem."
--The Austin Chronicle

"Sarcastic humor, memorable characters, and spectacular action scenes round out a spellbinding adventure."
--Library Journal



Book Description
Rick Riordan, triple-crown winner of the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus Awards, brings his fast-talking, hard-living, Texas-hip P.I. Tres Navarre to the heart of the Lone Star State--Austin--to unravel a case so dark, twisted, and deadly, it can only involve family....

Tres Navarre, the P.I. with a Ph.D. in literature, heads to Austin for a laid-back summer teaching gig. But he’s in store for a whole lot more. His big brother Garrett--computer whiz, Jimmy Buffett fanatic, and all-around eccentric--is hoping to retire a multimillionaire by the fall. He’s bet his career and the Navarre family ranch to do it.

Then Garrett’s oldest friend and business partner is murdered--and Garrett is the only suspect. As Tres delves into Garrett’s bizarre world to find the truth behind the murder, he comes face to face with the damaged relationships, violent lives, and billion-dollar schemes of a high-tech world gone haywire. Connecting them all is beautiful Lake Travis and the shocking secret that lies within its depths. Now, as Tres struggles with his own troubled family past and to clear his brother’s name, he finds himself stalked by a cold-blooded killer--one who could spell the death of both Navarres.


From the Inside Flap
Rick Riordan, triple-crown winner of the Edgar, Anthony, and Shamus Awards, brings his fast-talking, hard-living, Texas-hip P.I. Tres Navarre to the heart of the Lone Star State--Austin--to unravel a case so dark, twisted, and deadly, it can only involve family....

Tres Navarre, the P.I. with a Ph.D. in literature, heads to Austin for a laid-back summer teaching gig. But he’s in store for a whole lot more. His big brother Garrett--computer whiz, Jimmy Buffett fanatic, and all-around eccentric--is hoping to retire a multimillionaire by the fall. He’s bet his career and the Navarre family ranch to do it.

Then Garrett’s oldest friend and business partner is murdered--and Garrett is the only suspect. As Tres delves into Garrett’s bizarre world to find the truth behind the murder, he comes face to face with the damaged relationships, violent lives, and billion-dollar schemes of a high-tech world gone haywire. Connecting them all is beautiful Lake Travis and the shocking secret that lies within its depths. Now, as Tres struggles with his own troubled family past and to clear his brother’s name, he finds himself stalked by a cold-blooded killer--one who could spell the death of both Navarres.


From the Back Cover
"If not the king of texas crime writing, Rick Riordan is certainly among the princes!"
--The Denver Post

"A heady nightcap of sass and suspense with a twist of mayhem."
--The Austin Chronicle

"Sarcastic humor, memorable characters, and spectacular action scenes round out a spellbinding adventure."
--Library Journal



About the Author
Rick Riordan is the author of three previous Tres Navarre novels -- Big Red Tequila, winner of the Shamus and Anthony Awards; The Widower's Two-Step, winner of the Edgar Award; and The Last King of Texas. A middle-school English teacher by day, Riordan lives with his wife and family in San Antonio, Texas.


From the Hardcover edition.


Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
Date: Wed 07 June 2000 19:53:16 -0500

From:

X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01Gold (Macintosh; I; PPC)

To:

Subject: drowning

The first time I knew I would kill? I was six years old.

I’d snuck some things from the kitchen, vials of food coloring, Dixie cups, a pitcher of water. I was in my bedroom mixing potions, watching how the dyes curl in the water.

That doesn’t sound like much, I know. But I’d spilled a few cupfuls onto the carpet. My fingers were stained purple. It was enough to give the Old Man an excuse.

He came in so quietly I didn’t hear him, didn’t know he was standing over me until I caught his smell, like sweet smoked beef. He said something like, “Is this what we clean the house for? We clean the house so you can do this?”

Then I realized water was running in the bathroom. I remembered what my friend had said.

I tried to apologize, but the Old Man caught my wrists, dragged me backward, using my arms as a harness.

I kicked at the carpet and walls as he pulled me down the hallway. When we passed the bathroom doorjamb, I got one hand loose and grabbed at it, but the Old Man just yanked harder, ripping a nail off my finger.

The ceiling sparkled white. I remember bare avocado rings on the shower rod, plastic star-rivets holding up the mirror. The Old Man lifted me, squeezed me against his chest. I was clawing, grabbing at his clothes. Then he dumped me in. The cold stopped my blood. I floated, wet to my armpits, my clothes grafted to my chest, heavy.

I knew better than to try standing. I lay low, crying, the water nipping the backs of my ears. My mouth tasted salt. There was a comma of blood from my ripped nail on the Old Man’s shirt pocket, purple smudges from my dyed fingers on his chest.

He said, “What did you do wrong? Tell me what you were doing.”

His voice sounded kindly in the tiled acoustics of the bathroom, rich and deep.

I couldn’t answer. I cried.

“I don’t want to hear that,” he scolded. “Until you can tell me what you did, I don’t want any sound from you.”

I kept crying, knowing it was the wrong thing to do, but crying more because of that. So he leaned over me, pushed my chest, and the water closed over my head.

Sound turned to aluminum. I could hear my own struggling and splashing. Water lapped into the overflow drain, rushed through pipes in the walls like underground machinery.

The Old Man shimmered above me, his hand keeping a warm, constant clamp on the middle of my chest. I clawed at his wrist, but it might as well have been a mesquite branch.

I held my breath, which is hard when you’re facing up, the water flooding your nostrils, gagging you.

I tried to be still. I thought maybe if I were still, the Old Man would let go.

I studied the hazy balls of light above the sink.

My lungs burned.

And finally, the first clear decision I ever remember making, I gave up. I breathed in the water.

At that moment, as if he knew, the bastard lifted me out, rolled me onto the tiled floor.

I curled, cold and trembling, belching water, my throat on fire.

“Be grateful,” he said. “Be grateful for what you have.”

That was only the first time.

Over the years, he taught me that drowning a thing you hate, drowning it well and drowning it completely, is a slow process. It is an art only the patient can master.

And I learned to be patient. I’ll always credit the Old Man for that.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

"Tres Navarre, private eye and sometimes English professor, is hoping for a laid-back working vacation when he accepts a teaching gig at the University of Texas at Austin, even if it means shacking up for six weeks with his big brother Garrett, who calls Austin home." "Garrett Navarre - computer programmer extraordinaire, Jimmy Buffett fanatic, and all-around eccentric - is hoping to retire a multimillionaire thanks to a high-tech start-up company he and two buddies have launched. Garrett has bet everything from his career to the Navarre family ranch that the company will stay alive long enough to make a public stock offering, allowing him to ride the Austin high-tech boom right into the saddle of luxury." "Both Tres's and Garrett's hopes are shattered with a single gunshot. Garrett's oldest friend and business partner ends up murdered at his lakefront home - and Garrett is the only suspect." "As Tres delves into Garrett's bizarre world to find the truth behind the murder, he comes face-to-face with the damaged relationships, violent lives, and billion-dollar schemes of a brave new high-tech world." "Among the players: a corporate takeover artist with a trail of broken enemies in his wake and an overzealous desire to make Garrett's company his own; the victim's wife, a hard-edged beauty haunted by three generations of family failure; and the head of an oil-rich clan with more power than morals and enough skeletons in the closet to man a ghost ship. Connecting them all - the beautiful waters of Lake Travis and an unspeakable evil that lies within its depths."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Powerful writing about a palpable evil distinguishes Edgar, Anthony and Shamus award-winner Riordan's fourth Tres Navarre novel. The tough, wisecracking PI and English professor moves himself and the action from his San Antonio base to Austin, where he expects simply to teach University of Texas students and visit with his brother, Garrett. But instead of tackling Beowulf he must tackle a different quest, a different monster. Garrett, software genius and free spirit, has launched a startup company called Techsan Security Software, with his friend Jimmy and Jimmy's wife as partners. Enter a truly nasty character who devours startup companies like Techsan, leaving a trail of ruined or dead owners in his wake. Techsan's brilliant beginnings lead to a takeover offer, while the offer's rejection leads to troubles that threaten to destroy the company and the Navarre family ranch, which Garrett has used as security. Soon one of Garrett's partners is dead, Garrett's the prime suspect and Tres is digging desperately for any foothold that will keep his brother from jail. An extremely skillful writer, Riordan manages a complicated plot without losing narrative force. Even the potentially distracting use of periodic asides, in the form of e-mails from the killer about his past crimes, serves to heighten tension and provide a focus for the reader. Then there's the spectacular, unforgettable description of a dive into a preserved pecan orchard at the bottom of a man-made lake. Some blatant misdirection may disgruntle certain readers, but this is a mere quibble with a book sure to enhance the author's solid reputation. (June 5) Forecast: Backed by blurbs from Dennis Lehane, Tami Hoag and Harlan Coben, this book is a dead cert for genre bestseller lists. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal