I shrugged off the query with I got serious around the time my daughter was born. ĭuring a recent book talk, I was asked when I began writing fiction.

Either that or the drivers recognized me and figured: Bout time that Burton boy got chopped to kindling. All motorists knew they were being pranked. No vehicles swerved to the side of the road, no foot chase ensued, and no squad cars were summoned. Though we staged a half dozen additional performances before becoming bored, it became apparent we’d failed miserably in the Suspension of Disbelief department. I was a bit tall for my age, but my friend was way tall for fourteen, ergo he got to play potato-mask killer for the scene we’d put on for the benefit of the oncoming vehicle. Of course, I didn’t want to lose him as the man in the potato-sack mask wielding an axe that appeared stolen from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre was my best friend. I saw no way to lose potato-sack or shake him off my trail. The man in the potato-sack mask sprinted after me, axe held high above his head as he flew past the car I’d tried to flag down. There’d be no time for help from a passing motorist. I glanced back from whence I’d fled from the lakeside-from his lair-and saw the madman gaining on me.

I held up both palms as though to wave the driver down, a look of terror smeared across my features. The car’s headlights were forty maybe fifty yards away. Mace takes some dangerous risks and learns too much, soon finding that the killer is on his trail, determined to take out the “Dog Man” and his meddling animals.I dodged into the middle of the road. He has a mentor with a much more extensive track record. Turns out the velvet choker killer is not acting alone. The trail leads to a home with a hidden basement room, and, well, you can guess the rest. Vira had no clues to this man’s involvement, no scent on the remains, but incredibly she picks him out of the curious crowd of onlookers at the crime scene. When a rescued golden retriever named Vira suddenly lands in his lap, he starts to take an interest in the new team member and in the female cop, Kippy, who saved the dog from a grim fate and delivered her to his door.Īfter Vira performs a near-miracle at the next crime scene, Mace helps track down a serial operative who kidnaps girls and keeps them until he tires of them, killing them and tying a velvet choker around their necks. His recent divorce still haunts him, and he lost his favorite dog. As a human remains recovery specialist, he helps out at crime scenes with his team of cadaver dogs - who, as any dog lover knows, has become his family.

The finders by jeffrey b burton