Even James Becker Needed Lots of Help on This One! Fun Mystery Thriller! Check out John Betcher's Latest!

All that remained was for the agent
 to package the biologic for maximum
 dispersal and to add the explosive –
 Chinese fireworks known as M-80s
 would work just fine.

Rodney had no idea that, as a point of law, the dollar was neither necessary, nor in and of itself, sufficient, to establish a confidential relationship between us. That required a combination of expectation and intent. I leaned forward and flattened the wrinkled dollar on my desk blotter, taking time to repair each dog-eared corner. If I agreed to listen to Rodney, and maybe to help him with his concerns, it was unlikely I would be paid for my trouble. Then again, how often does a client pop into a lawyer’s office with a “big discovery?” He had captured my interest. After fixing the bill to my satisfaction, I folded it in half and tucked it in a shirt pocket. 
“You just hired yourself a lawyer,” I said. “You’ve got your confidentiality. But all I’m agreeing to do at this point is hear you out. I can’t guarantee I can be of any help until I know more. Understand?” 
“Yeah.” 
“Good,” I said. 
“Then let’s hear all about it, starting at the beginning if you don’t mind.” Rodney slid back in the chair, his hands gripping the armrests. He cracked his neck to both sides before beginning his tale. “It was yesterday afternoon,” he said. “Sunday . . . and I was out on the John Deere checking my fields, you know . . . and all of a sudden I hear this sound. It was a kinda weird sound, you know?” 
“Not really. Can you be more specific?” I had heard a lot of weird sounds in my day. Rodney thought for a moment. “It was kinda like whoosh-thud . . . tumble, tumble, tumble,” he said. He could have stuck with “weird” if that was the best he could do.

Bear Wave (Photo credits: Giphy)

 “Go on,” I said. “So I stood up and looked toward the sound.” He raised a hand to his brow and craned his neck, as though searching the horizon. “And something was knocking down my corn, like a big animal or something . . . not like a deer, more clumsy than that . . . maybe like a bear.” He looked to me for understanding. 
“A bear,” I said, nodding. It wasn’t a total impossibility that Rodney had encountered a bear in Ottawa County. There had been two or three confirmed sightings of black bear in the area over the past ten years. But his hypothesis wasn’t particularly likely either. I don’t remember anyone saying the other bears made a whoosh-thud, tumble sound. Then again, many interpretations are possible in the mind of an eyewitness . . . or in this case, ear-witness.
 “This thing, whatever it was, knocked down maybe thirty or forty feet of head-high corn stalks, in a straight line,” he continued. “I saw the last ones go down.” He clapped one flattened hand downward onto the other. “Then all was quiet,” he said, passing a benediction over the serenity in my office. He checked to make sure I was tracking. I gave him two thumbs up. “Anyway,” he went on, “this thing’s trail was pretty obvious in the corn. But not knowing what in the heck it was, I was a little . . . you know . . . reluctant to investigate.” Yeah. He was afraid it was a bear. “But I found a good size wrench in a fender box and decided to take a chance.” He made a hammering motion as he wielded the imaginary wrench. “So I got off the tractor and slipped into the corn field, nice and quiet like.” Rodney’s story-telling momentum was gaining steam as he worked his way along. This was probably a first rendition of the “big discovery” story. He would no doubt smooth out earlier scenes on future iterations. I stroked my chin as if contemplating the implications of Rodney’s tale thus far.
In truth, he hadn’t said much of consequence yet, at least as far as I was concerned.

~~~

 The largest FMD epidemic in U.S. history occurred in 1914 when diseased animals were transported to the stock yards in Chicago. Stock yards. 

Of course, we have no idea how many have tried to "create" it...

The Critical Element

Book 5: James Beck Series

John L. Betcher

If you've read the James Beck Series you already know what this latest exudes... His back-handed witty and/or facetious comments that may or may not be received well by the police officials with whom he gets involved! I enjoy them in the books--I don't know how I would accept them if I were the receiver of this wit...LOL 

James Beck has a high security clearance, higher than most of us even understand--and his wife's may be just as high... And they are both definitely higher than any local police have, much to their irritation. Intelligence for each? Different but generally, they communicate quite effectively and work so well together than it is almost like they are making love... In other words, I very much enjoy this couple...They are both loving, trustworthy, and dedicated to keeping America safe and secure. In this story, James is on the frontline, his wife in the background and he doesn't even share her name or reference her when she gets more information faster that any of the FBI specialists... Most of you will easily guess why...

Now you may quickly wonder what the opening excerpts are today--cows, a bear, and what looks like a bowling ball... Well, that's exactly right...That's what James was faced with as he began his $1 dollar discussion with Rodney Holton. (BTW, did you know that you weren't buying confidentiality with $1? I always did believe that, so we learned something from our lawyer series!)

Now Holton was a bit of a shyster and everybody knew it, but he would tell such stories, that some people would always listen... Beck did for a dollar's worth... But the story made him curious enough that he later went out to the farm to see it himself--and paid $39 more than he'd been paid! Boy, this guy is good!

Or Was...

Because Rodney wasn't far wrong in describing what he'd found on his farm as a meteorite. But when Beck saw it, he decided while it might have come out of the air, that it was probably man-made--and looked like a burnt bowling ball, maybe. Rodney had it all rigged out in his yard, even though it had not landed there and was selling views for $20/head...

Wonder how that compared to the money he lost on all the heads of cows he lost...

Confused? Everybody was! Because before long, Rodney's discovery had been stolen!

And his cattle became ill about the same time...

Soon many were concluding that the cattle had become ill from the meteorite, and it wasn't very long before the government had come, killed all his cattle and burned down his barn. That was bad enough, but it didn't seem that they were concerned about the theft of his, hopefully, very valuable prize from the sky! Now, the book doesn't say, but I can just imagine that Rodney immediately started negotiating with the loss of his cattle, his livelihood and his valuable meteorite and was soon somewhere in a very warm climate, living in luxury for the rest of his life...

In the meantime, Beck had been the only one who listened to a neighbor of Rodney. Blastus looked bad, smelled terribly and seemed a little "off" but really had PTSD from his horrible time in Vietnam and no help since then. Beck immediately realized what shape he was in and started to wade through what he was telling that he'd seen. He'd gone to the Sheriff to explain that he thought that his neighbor was selling drugs because of the activity he'd seen at off hours... But working with him, Beck soon was picking up clues that only he was using... and, in essence, he had concluded that there were two different events--possibly terrorist attacks--from two different sources. But nobody was really willing to accept what he was suggesting.

So, like Beck is prone to do, he called in his own help--Bull! And if you don't know this character, then it's worth reading at least one of the books to meet him! So with Beth and Bull's help, Beck soon had a handle on what and who was doing what. Beth was getting worried, but she continued to feed both Beck and Bull additional information even while they were separately trying to tackle what they believed was taking place--at exactly the same time. Fortunately, they got help just "in the nick of time..." LOL but it certainly made for an exciting, fascinating ending! I loved it!

Each of the books is free-standing, even though the series characters are basically the same for each book. So, this is a perfect time to discover why Betcher's series has steadily gained a following that moved this relatively new author quickly into a best-selling status... Adding an Epilogue to spotlight what had later happened to Blastus is a perfect illustration why this writer brings in more and more readers (See Below!)

If you don't like this series, I will be totally amazed... If you enjoy mystery, thrills, and humorous main characters...hey, this is an unusual group of wonderfully heart-warming characters! Highly recommended.


GABixlerReviews

When I told the receptionist I was there to meet Benny Volnscheid, she recognized the name immediately. “You mean Blastus,” she said with a smile. “He’s in the PT area right now. Just follow the signs.” She pointed me in the right direction. “And keep your ears peeled.” 
I had no idea what that meant, but took her advice concerning the signs. As I approached the doorway labeled “Physical Therapy,” I could hear the sounds of an acoustic guitar strumming and a ragged chorus of male voices belting out the chorus to Old Stewball Was a Race Horse emanating from within. I opened the door and stepped inside. On the far side of the room, adjacent to a wall of cloudy windows, a guitarist sat astride a black vinyl exercise bench, one hand banging the guitar strings, and singing for all he was worth – the obvious leader of this tone deaf glee club. A group of maybe twenty young men, mostly amputees, sat gathered around him and were obviously responsible for a majority of the racket. My eyes left the musician momentarily then darted back for a second look. He was almost unrecognizable owing to the short haircut, the clean shaven face, and the bright plaid flannel shirt. But I had no doubt, the guitarist was my formerly reeking and dissolute buddy, Benny Volnscheid. 
When Benny noticed my presence, he lifted his chin in acknowledgment, but didn’t interrupt the song. I leaned on the wall and listened, a smile glued to my face. . . . 

Oh the fairgrounds were crowded, and Stewball was thereBut the betting was heavy on the bay and the mare. And a-way up yonder, ahead of them all, Came a-prancin' and a-dancin' my noble Stewball.I bet on the grey mare, I bet on the bay. If I'd have bet on ol' Stewball, I'd be a free man today. Oh the hoot owl, she hollers, and the turtle dove moans. I'm a poor boy in trouble, and I'm a long way from home. Ol’ Stewball was a racehorse, and I wish he were mine. He never drank water, he always drank wine.

When the song was over, the singers erupted in cheers and applause for ol’ Blastus.

~~~

Amazon TOP 100 Bestselling Author, John L. Betcher, holds a Bachelor's Degree, cum laude, in English from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis. He has practiced law for more than twenty-five years in the Mississippi River community of Red Wing, Minnesota. Mr. Betcher has published an award-winning series of "Becker" suspense/thriller novels. The first five are THE 19TH ELEMENT, THE MISSING ELEMENT, THE COVERT ELEMENT, THE EXILED ELEMENT and THE CRITICAL ELEMENT. He has also authored the award-winning spiritual phenomenon, A HIGHER COURT.

4th in John Betcher Series My Favorite!

The Exiled Element
 Book 4: James Becker Series


By John L. Betcher




I've been a fan from the start of this series--loved every one of them...but...

His latest is exceptionally exciting and is my favorite so far!

Why? Simply because Beth had, what you might call, a starring role...

Oh sure, Beck is activity involved as well and, particularly, at the end when it's important. But Beth has been called back into active CIA service as a consultant and must travel to Egypt in order to complete this assignment.

Beth had been stationed in Egypt many years ago, but because of the woman that she was, one young Egyptian girl had remembered her. Now she had discovered important information and would talk to nobody but Beth, whose name for the CIA was Elizabeth Weston

Back home, James has gotten involved with the upcoming visit of a government official, who has not yet been identified. The banter between Gunner, Bull and Beck is characteristically, short, blunt, sarcastic...and funny...

And, although there was an excellent plan drawn up for security by Gunner, the Chief Deputy Sheriff, with their help, when the Senator actually arrived, spoke and then in leaving, decided to break the plan--well, he was dead soon thereafter. Killed by a professional hit.

Too late to help, the message that the young girl, Rasha, was delivering to Elizabeth was that there were plans to kill a congressional member. But since it had already happened, a decision was made to not only try to capture the assassin, but to determine who was behind hiring him.

One of the things I enjoy most from John Betcher is his character development, especially of those in the government. So it wasn't surprising that it was Elizabeth's bosses that had changed plans for her project in the middle and she had been captured! Because everything that had happened evolved from a theft of plans for an airplane like no other--but nobody wanted to admit that the theft had actually occurred!

Let me just say that when Beck did not receive his normal check-in from Beth, there was nothing that would stop him from finding her...Whew! It was great to watch the action!

Beck was too involved with righting wrongs this time to deliver too many of his zingers, but I do enjoy the byplay between he and Gunner or Bull... What do I mean? Well, check out my reviews of the first three books and you'll learn more, but especially that Betcher uses a Robert B. Parker approach to much of his dialogue. Kudos to him for keeping that style of dialogue writing alive, but for also developing a set of characters who are so naturally prone to say the things they do, that we love them more each time we meet them...

And, just a personal note to the author...anybody who makes Bull smile like he did "once" in this novel should be considered as a prime character to move to Red Wing in the future...Here's one reader who'd like to see Bull smiling more often!

Much more action and thrills in this latest, spotlighting issues that occur often in the governmental offices around the world, but it's the characters that keep me coming back wanting more. Beck is something else! I tip my "bonnet" to him! Highly recommended for great humorous dialogue, political intrigue and so much more...


GABixlerReviews

 John L. Betcher is a Minnesota author of fiction. His suspense/thrillers bring international intrigue to a unique setting in the Midwest. With more than 100,000 copies in print, his books have been welcomed with stellar reviews across the Web and in print media, and have held best seller slots in multiple categories on Amazon.










Check out my Reviews for Series!
Plus 1...
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/05/review-james-becker-mystery-might-be.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2010/07/review-19th-element-sets-james-becker.html
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/02/review-one-mans-searchcould-also-be.html
 (Not a James Becker Series book)
http://gabixlerreviews-bookreadersheaven.blogspot.com/2011/07/james-becker-series-includes-funny.html

James Becker Series Includes Funny, Talented Husband/Wife Team!

Image via Wikipedia

"Though he was an American soldier, 

Fuentes considered his Ranger team

 a covert element in the larger conflict

 between the Mexican people and the cartels.

 This was a war he knew

 he would be fighting for a long time,

 whether under the American flag or not."

The Covert Element:


A James Becker Thriller




By John L. Betcher




I continue to so much enjoy John Betcher's  Series, especially when Beth, his wife, takes part in solving the crime. James and Beth are fun to get to know through scenes such as this: 


"What have you been doing while I was at work anyway?" Beth asked, assuming a defensive posture."
"Pretty much rolling around in the neighbor's sand box. Why? Is there something unsavory about me?"
"I'd say you're pretty much out of savor. Now go get cleaned up so I can show you what I found."
With a bow and a doff of my imaginary cap, I was off to the shower. I knew Beth thought the cap thing was stupid. But hey...as far as vices go, a quirky doff isn't so bad.

Beth's background is CIA and has extensive computer skills that were very much needed.  Beck had been called by Doug Gunderson (Gunner), Ottawa County Chief Deputy Sheriff, to meet him at the site where a meth lab had been destroyed. More importantly, the "twenty-odd murder victims lined up outside" appeared to be execution style, perhaps gang related...

Information about what might be happening comes through Beck's friend and sometimes investigative assistant, Bull. His former sarge in the Rangers, had called, asking for help. He had told Bull there had been a massacre and that he was sure the Mexican Drug Cartel was involved. Beck knew that the police had not released any information about the meth lab deaths and immediately was suspicious how Bull's friend could know. 

When Bull asked Beck to be in on the meeting with Fuentes, he agreed, hoping to gain further information. 

Meth labs could be built/maintained within the US borders, thus improving quantity and saving both transportation and patrol problems. The head of the Mexican cartel had moved into the Minnesota area without anybody knowing it. Mexicans had been in the state for many years and were accepted by the people in the small surrounding towns. Now one lab had been destroyed--perhaps by another cartel? But there was also a major lab, ingeniously hidden within another organization--but where was it? At least one individual knew, was it the same one who had murdered those near the lab that had already been destroyed?

Tackling a major, known problem within the United States is just what James Becker would have done had he still be working, wherever he had worked...So even if he was now retired, Beck was still in there, doing what he does best to support the USA.

Influence of the Mexican Drug Cartel
http://www.flickr.com/photos/truthout/4037933538/sizes/m/in/photostream/

Follow the potential life of one Mexican-American individual who dedicated his life to eliminating the Drug Cartels. John Betcher's choice to use this character is intriguing, allowing us to see into the heart of many Mexicans who are just as concerned, or maybe even more so, about the influence of drugs in the United States and throughout the world. I commend John for this effort and look forward to future important books in this series. Highly recommended.


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Review: One Man's Search...Could Also Be Yours...

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Religion - No Religion in US

A Higher Court:


One Man's Search for the Truth of God's Existence


By John L. Betcher












As a reader, I always chose books I wanted to read; as a reviewer, however, I began to read books that I might not ever have considered. At another time, I will write about some of those. For now, I would admit that if I had not been asked, I would not have bought A Higher Court.


Why? Just because I had already read so many and I already had the answer:

I know that I know that I know God's Lives. Note that I don't say that He exists. I knew that as a child. But then life begins and you learn and experience and for some, we used the words, we are born again. John L. Betcher did, however, create a superbly imaginative approach to this ages old question. He introduces us to William Kensey.

Perhaps Kensey is a peer of the author, who is also an attorney. Or perhaps they went to the same church or worked on some of the same cases, as opposing counsel. It might even be possible that William Kensey is a fictitious name by which the author is sharing his own story. It really doesn't matter.

If you are still asking the question, does God Exist, as millions today are still asking, then A Higher Court is an exciting, innovative story that I highly recommend to you.

Perhaps, however, you do accept God exists, but you've never been able to understand the "why" of things--why is there so much pain, why so many natural disasters, why this person or that person died so young, why do people do such hurtful things if they believe in God... In my opinion there is also much to learn from this book.

Or, you may be devout and very active in your church--committed to the beliefs taught only in that institution and you have no interest in interacting or reading about the beliefs of others. To you, I would encourage the book as a must-read.

For, you see, William Kensey, a successful trial attorney, has been asked to serve on a jury. A jury that will finally decide whether God exists. By the time he begins to really accept that he will be on the other side of the jury box, he is there, watching a case handled like no other. Rules that are normally followed are totally ignored--the jury is larger for one thing. And they seem to have been preselected. Even more interesting is the environment--most of the trial is conducted in the dark, with spotlights used only to designate the lawyer and his witness, the judge; sometimes there is an entire scene, such as when a woman is giving birth, to which the jury has become a witness to the births (twins).

The main thing that is different, though, is that the jury is sent into deliberation during the trial and so the individual jurists are encourage to meet and discuss the evidence being presented.

As you would expect, one advantage of the book is that both sides of the argument are presented. Many of the books I have read present only one side so that you are forced to either agree or disagree with the author. Here, expert witnesses are provided as are witnesses that have personal opinions about the question. Actually, you might find yourself as one of the characters--or, like me, you will see that you have "slices" of those thoughts that you can remember from your own life. In fact, William Kensey found that he was perhaps more on the fence than he had realized...

And, if you read my review carefully, you will note that I somewhat contradict my own position. I believe, but I still have those questions that so many have: Why was my father killed before I was born, Why would men within a religious institution become abusive to children and others...and so on. God gave us an intellect to seek information, and we perhaps will always ask why. But William Kensey? Well, let's just say that the ending was something that was different from what I expected--quite different. So different that it is that which will remain with me. And it is for that ending, I thank John L. Betcher.

There are not many in the United States that openly state that they are not religious (according to the above map). But, many of us know, being religious, is not necessarily the answer we are searching for. If you have a small percentage, a slice of doubt or much that bothers you about accepting God exists, then I believe A Higher Court could be a challenge for you. Are you willing to serve on the jury?

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Review: The 19th Element Sets James Becker Up for the Long Run!

The 19th Element:

 

A James Becker Thriller

By John L. Betcher

ISBN: 1451521014
316 Pages

Image via Wikipedia   Robert B. Parker

It was just luck that I happened to read The Missing Element first, because it quickly pulled me in as a fan of this series. One of the reasons why I wanted to read the book is that he advertised it as somewhat like the writing of Robert B. Parker, who was one of my favorite authors

And I was pleased to see similar dialogue and a wonderful threesome fighting crime as was displayed in the Spenser series...John L. Betcher had my attention!

But it was The 19th Element that won John L. Betcher his own place on my list of favorite authors. This novel firmly sets the character, Beck, in a solid role of hero in my book! Not willing to give away anything, I can only say that the climactic plane scene is really amazing!

James L. Becker is an attorney-at-law who went back to his childhood hometown of Red Wing, Minnesota, to begin his retirement after 20+ years of hush-hush military intelligence operations. His wife, Elizabeth, also has quite a background, but she's a minor character in The 19th Element and I did mention to the author that I missed their lively, fun dialogue this time! To which I got an "Understood." (Well, if you don't ask...LOL)

Beck could keep busy with his law practice, but whenever something happens in or around Red Wing, he tends to look at it from all angles...and if it doesn't "feel" right to him, he'll start to asking questions.  So of course when a dead body is found on the Mississippi River shoreline north of his town, he immediately wanted to know more--who was he, first of all.

Gunner (Doug Gunderson) is Ottawa County's Chief Deputy Sheriff. Normally, he wouldn't be interested in having a "civilian" involved in his business, but he has already discovered that Beck always seems to make sense and usually is of help, even if he's somewhat pushy about knowing everything! Actually, they are old school friends and Gunner is one of the few individuals who was persistent enough to be told a little of Beck's background. Besides, while Gunner operates strictly by the book, he knows that Beck...has his own rules. I love the dialogue between the two men...

After the usual press by Beck to be told all, he learned that the dead man had been a professor of Agriculture at the university. He had been stabbed. And his lab assistant, Farris Ahmed, was also missing. Beck was already profiling and wanting to know the international activities, etc. Of course, Gunner's response was strictly stated: "No racial profiling..."

But Beck was already thinking! Was there any ties to Al Qaeda? What was in the area that might be of interest to terrorists? And to be more specific--what had the professor been working on in his lab? Was there anything missing?

When you ask the right questions as Beck did, you start getting a handle on the possibilities! The professor had been involved with studying the use of potassium and had invented a "potassium electrolysis separator." With the device, it was possible to extract pure potassium from potassium chloride, transforming it from a solid to a gas, which would then convert to solid potassium metal... What readers will learn is that it can be a very dangerous explosive!

And the potential interest in the area? Oh, that would be the...nuclear plant, specifically, the Minnesota's Prairie River Nuclear Power Plant--See front cover!

The thrilling suspense comes in as Beck uses one clue after another to arrive at what the plans will be. His knowledge and experience, plus his inborn wisdom allows an empathy that reflects not only the overall plan but the details that must be considered and countered.

Especially, when nobody supports his announced theory of a major threat and only his friend Bull will work with him... that is, until it is almost too late!

Wow! I loved it! John L. Betcher has written a thriller that will keep you turning pages and reading until you finish, especially once you arrive on the scheduled day! The choice of potassium as the explosive is very risky; events leading to its use, in themselves, are dangerous. The characters created to support the incident lead to the terror in many ways...only in America...right? Don't know what I mean, well, you're just going to have to read the book! You won't be sorry...

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by Author

G. A. Bixler

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• Book Review: The Missing Element by John L. Betcher (blogcritics.org)

Review: A James Becker Mystery Might Be First Book In Your New Favorite Series!

The Missing Element:



A James Becker Mystery

By John L. Betcher

ISBN: 14515127162
288 Pages

 
 
 
 
 
 
There are various reasons why I may "love" a book--most times it's because it has made an overall impact! But there are sometimes specific things in the book that attracts me--that I applaud. Just because! That's what happened for me with the new novel by John L. Betcher

The Missing Element: A James Becker Mystery has a married couple somewhere in their 40's who have already had a full career and are semi-retired. Yes! Beck's thoughts regarding a receptionist, for instance, who continued to interrupt him to answer the phone and help that individual frankly endeared him immediately to this reader. I guess that means that the main character Beck and I think a lot alike! Ha!

What's more, this couple is obviously still very much in love and fun to know. They allow you to enter into their close, friendly and intimate relationship without ever involving that three-lettered word beginning with "S"! Yes!

Added to that is the dialogue exchanged between them and a third character by the name of Bull and you have a trio that are magically familiar. The author acknowledges that it is a Robert B. Parker style novel. For me, that was part of the attraction. However the characters are significantly different in so many ways that readers have an opportunity to feel the deja vu, while entering the home of and meeting new friends--James Becker and his wife Elizabeth. By the way, Bull, a Dakota Indian, covers James' back when needed... and the relationship with the local police was also fun to watch!

James Becker now has a law firm in childhood home Red Wing, Minnesota, while Katherine, a former CIA operative, is enjoying her retirement devoting her time to artistic endeavors. Because of Beck's former government activities, when the Ottawa County Sheriff's Deputy asks for help, especially in support of a request from his wife, Beck is pulled into a missing person case.

Readers already know that someone had taken her--and that she had known one of them very well! But that individual made one mistake, he forced her to write a note, saying that she was leaving her husband, but there was also a hidden message if anybody would study it enough to find it!
What Beck thought would be a simple search and rescue soon turned out to really be a kidnapping, only no request for money was sent...the price was much more than that!

Sure this was a great mystery and it was complex and diverse enough to keep me totally interested while both Beck and his wife must get involved in order to stop what would have been a world-wide "information" disaster. So if mysteries are your interest, The Missing Element by John L. Betcher is excellent reading.

But if you are also a fan of the late Robert B. Parker and/or fun snappy dialogue, then I move this into the must-read category for you! For myself, you might have already realized that I thoroughly enjoyed the time spent with James Becker, et. al., and look forward to meeting them again in their next mystery!

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G. A. Bixler

John L. Betcher Announces First James Becker Mystery! Review Coming Soon

After decades of clandestine government operations, James “Beck” Becker and his wife Elizabeth return to “Beck’s” childhood home to enjoy a settled retirement in the small Mississippi river town of Red Wing, Minnesota. But “settled” is a relative term and no matter where Beck goes, intrigue follows.

When Minneapolis computer genius, Katherine Whitson, disappears under peculiar circumstances, her husband exploits a sympathetic Red Wing acquaintance to enlist Beck’s aid in finding her. As it turns out, Katherine’s kidnapping is more complicated than the typical abduction, and the case taxes the Beckers’ considerable skills to their limits.

After dispensing with the “usual” suspects – the unfaithful husband, his same-sex lover, an overly-ambitious co-worker and a cadre of beleaguered managers – Beck homes in on Katherine’s boss at ComDyne Computer Systems as the likely mastermind behind her abduction.

Under cover of darkness, Beck and his word-miserly American Indian cohort, Bull, follow the kidnappers on a visit to their remote “hidey hole” in an abandoned artillery installation. With the aid of law enforcement, the two guys in the white hat and headdress free Katherine from her dungeon imprisonment. But she’s not safe until her boss is behind bars.

Now it will take all of the Beckers’ collective experience – his as a military intelligence specialist and hers as a CIA code-cracker – to bring Katherine's captors to justice, and to neutralize an international cyber-espionage threat that has been at the root of the kidnapping all along.

Katherine herself proves instrumental in orchestrating an FBI raid on her employer’s--ComDyne Systems, Inc.’s--headquarters and in exposing the nefarious potential of ComDyne’s new network hardware.

In the end, Homeland Security halts the release of ComDyne’s spy components. And the would be pooks/kidnappers receive their due.

Some of the book’s more unique characteristics are its Minnesota setting, its likeable main characters and its high-technology-made-understandable. Not to be forgotten is Beck’s American Indian cohort, “Bull,” who presents a stoic, formidable and good-humored persona.

The characters are reminiscent of those in the Robert B. Parker’s Spenser series. The book also features a good deal of law enforcement tactics and technology throughout.

WHAT MAKES THIS BOOK UNIQUE?


The Missing Element delivers high-stakes action in a Midwest setting. The book’s likeable characters, intelligent dialogue and traditional mystery plot line will appeal all readers of commercial mysteries. Along with the mystery comes a good deal of hightechnology-made-understandable, as the main character, James “Beck” Becker delves into the mind-bending world inside computer micro-processors.

Written in the style of Robert B. Parker’s Spenser novels, The Missing Element's action takes place at various venues in and around the Twin Cities area. So readers who are looking for a Minneapolis, or even a Minnesota, connection will appreciate the book’s authentic local color.

According to computer experts with whom the author has consulted, the book’s cyber-espionage premise is not only plausible, but likely. Reviewers agree.

And finally, readers who are concerned about the Orwellian aspects of the ‘black box’ that computer high-technology has become, will enjoy the philosophical questions Beck raises as he contemplates the reality that ‘man’ is fast becoming the ‘missing element’ in the cyber-equation

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY


The author holds a Bachelor’s Degree, cum laude, in English from St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Minnesota Law School in Minneapolis. He has practiced law for more than twenty-five years in the Mississippi River community of Red Wing, Minnesota. He has also been a long-time supporter and coach of youth volleyball there.

Mr. Betcher has published three feature articles in COACHING VOLLEYBALL, the Journal of the American Volleyball Coaches Association. His most recent article was the cover story for the April/May, 2009 Issue.

His book on volleyball coaching philosophies entitled The Little Black Book of Volleyball Coaching has been selling nationwide and is currently available at Amazon.com.

His mystery novel, The Missing Element, was featured on the Reading Minnesota Blog on April 5, 2010, Reader’s Choice Review on April 25, 2010 and in the Red Wing Republican Eagle newspaper on May 1, 2010. He is also an active member and writing peer coach at the Agent Query Connect writer's forum.


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