Denver-based detective C. J. Floyd discovers a government conspiracy when a Vietnam vet who went missing in action reappears after thirty-four years. For decades, Carmen Nguyen, an Amerasian emergency-room doctor in a Denver hospital, thought her father, Langston Blue, was dead after vanishing in Vietnam. Now she knows he's alive, and she's hired bail bondsman C. J. Floyd to find him. But what C. J. and his assistant, former Marine intelligence sergeant Flora Jean Benson, discover is nothing short of criminal. An elite assassin, Langston was witness to a clandestine US-sanctioned war atrocity so dishonorable that he abandoned the rogue operation and went running for his life. Ever since, he's been MIA, considered an expendable threat to military top brass. Resurfacing in Denver from self-imposed exile in the backwoods of West Virginia, he plans to locate the daughter he never knew and expose a truth more horrifying than anyone could imagine. But...

Review"Greer takes a new direction from his popular series character, CJ Floyd (Blackbird, Farewell), and I hope [new characters] Bernadette and Cozy will be back soon. The refreshingly eccentric cast and elaborately structured plot make for an engrossing tale. Think Elmore Leonard, Brad Parks, and Craig Johnson."-Library Journal“Greer’s writing style is relaxed and redolent of experience, spinning a tale of opportunities lost, delayed revenge, and unexpected life-changing events that breathe life into the characters without overwhelming their personalities. The twists and turns of the investigation are deftly handled; nothing feels out of place or illogical in the scenes or the transitions from one character's viewpoint to another. ... Lovers of mystery (in particular, the evocation of place that Tony Hillerman achieved in his novels set in the Southwest) will find Astride a Pink Horse well worth their time.”—ForeWord magazine "Greer, best known for his always engaging CJ Floyd mysteries, steps outside his comfort zone here. Time will tell if his three protagonists make another appearance-that would be a good thing, and Greer leaves the door open-but the tone is different here from the sometimes dour Floyd novels. The banter among the trio is light; sly humor abounds; and though the crime is awful and the motives dark, the reader will enjoy the journey to a satisfying resolution."-Booklist"This book is a must-read for action fans."-LibraryThingProduct DescriptionThe Cold War ended years ago, or did it? For Thurmond Giles, a decorated African American Air Force veteran found naked, dead, and dangling by his ankles inside a deactivated minuteman missile silo in desolate southeastern Wyoming, the answer is no. The labyrinthine investigation that follows his death—led by former fighter pilot Major Bernadette Cameron and ex-college baseball phenom-turned-reporter Elgin “Cozy” Coseia—reveals how the atomic era’s legacy has continued to destroy both minds and lives.Astride a Pink Horse follows Bernadette, Cozy, and Cozy’s boss Freddie Dames match wits with a gallery of unforgettable murder suspects: a powerful, right-wing-leaning cattle rancher; a declining seventy-six-year-old WWII-era Japanese internment camp victim and her unstable math professor cousin; an idealistic lifelong nuclear arms protestor; and a civilian Air Force contractor with a twenty-year grudge against the murder victim. Do three amateur detectives stand a chance against these characters and the conspiracy that may be behind it all? Robert Greer’s trademark mix of vivid eccentrics, surprising plot twists, and political edge makes this one of his most memorable thrillers.From the Hardcover edition.

Shandell "Blackbird" Bird has everything going for him, or so he thinks. Recently selected number two overall in the NBA draft, the 6'8", 250-pound superstar has a gleaming new ride and a salary and athletic shoe contract that make him an instant millionaire. What he doesn't have is the ability to bury secrets from his past. When Shandell is found shot to death at mid-court, his best friend and college teammate Damion Madrid sets out to find the killer. Damion is well meaning but naïve; luckily his godfather is gumshoe CJ Floyd. Floyd and his partner, Flora Jean Benson, are there to watch his back as Damion stumbles down a shadowy trail that leads to Shandell's purported peddling of steroids and big-game point shaving. When he discovers a "Blackbird" he never knew and is able to put a face on Shandell's killer, Damion finds himself in over his head. Will CJ be there in time to prevent his godson from joining Shandell? Featuring the vivid characters and streetwise dialogue...

A Creole woman's secrets about the Kennedy assassination lure a detective from Colorado to the Louisiana swamps in search of the truth. In the wake of an earthquake, the mummified body of Antoine Ducane, a Creole member of the Louisiana underworld, is exhumed from the rubble of the Eisenhower Memorial Tunnel. Before he disappeared decades ago, Ducane claimed to know the truth of JFK's assassination—and its link to the president's own covert anti-Castro mission: Operation Mongoose. Now that an acquaintance of Ducane's has been murdered, curiosity draws bail bondsman–turned–antiques dealer C. J. Floyd to the mystery. It doesn't help that his close friend, an ex-Mafia don with a passion for western collectibles, has his own connection to Ducane that could prove just as lethal. No sooner does C. J. begin investigating than he's dodging mob assassins, con men, Cuban rebels, JKF conspiracy theorists, and the CIA. And he can't be sure who...

Ex-Vietnam gunner C. J. Floyd discovers his knack for detection when he traces a Denver flea-market treasure back to the murder of a World War II veteran. After leaving Vietnam as a decorated gunner, Calvin Jefferson "C. J" Floyd returned to the Victorian home on Denver's famed Bail Bondsman's Row where he'd been raised by his uncle. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, he found a fast friend and kindred soul in Wiley Ames, a resilient World War II vet, former Skid Row derelict, and manager of a pawnshop in the city's Five Points neighborhood. But Wiley and C. J. shared more than the scars of war: They both had an appreciation for rare memorabilia, and Wiley came across a lot of it at his shop in downtown Denver. So when Wiley is gunned down in an alley, C. J.'s already fragile world threatens to collapse. But with no leads and the sad case gone cold, C. J. forges ahead in a new direction as a bail bondsman and bounty hunter in his...

A rare antique draws Denver detective C. J. Floyd into a plot of murder, greed, and a mystery rooted in nineteenth-century Utah. The owner of a Denver antique shop specializing in western collectibles, C. J. Floyd stumbles upon a unique find in the form of a book from post–Civil War America. It's evidence of the near-mythic existence of a fourth daguerreotype, alleged to have been taken during the 1869 Golden Spike Ceremony at Promontory Summit, Utah, upon the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The existing three photos are museum artifacts. If C. J. is reading the clues right, he's close to locating the fourth piece of an irreplaceable historical puzzle that at least one person has already died for. When the book thief who sold him the stolen vintage tome is shot to death in an alley behind the store, C. J. is pegged as a suspect. Unfortunately, his angle on the crime isn't easy to prove. Soliciting help from his...