One Mile Under

At the outset of bestseller Gross’s engrossing fourth thriller featuring ex-cop Ty Hauck (after 2010’s Reckless), white-water guide Dani Whalen is leading a group down Colorado’s Roaring Fork River in a raft. To her horror, she discovers the body of Trey Watkins, an experienced outdoorsman and her good friend, in an overturned kayak. A witness claims Trey wasn’t alone on the river that day, but Sheriff Wade Dunn, Dani’s ex-stepfather, won’t listen to her claims of foul play, even when the witness turns up dead, and he throws her in jail for her own good. On hearing she’s in trouble, Hauck, Dani’s godfather, comes to the rescue. What he finds is a shadowy cover-up and a drilling company, RMM, which has anything but the town’s best interests at heart. Large corporations putting environmental (and human) concerns far behind profits is a familiar, but timely, scenario, and RMM is chock full of menacing characters willing to do the dirtiest of work. This David and Goliath story will thrill series fans and newcomers alike. Agent: Simon Lipskar, Writers House. (Apr.)