Switchback

by Clair M. Poulson

With warm sand between his toes, private investigator Rocky Revada is finally taking a well-deserved vacation. But the emotional pleas of a pretty woman have some how lodged inside the usually practical investigator’s head. Ashe mulls it over, probing the theft of an expensive roping horse seems much more interesting than the mundane pleasures of sun, surf, and dinners alone. However, when Rocky arrives at Glenn Gridley’s northern Utah ranch, he unearths far more trouble than he bargained for. Multiple horses have been stolen from the cantankerous rancher and have been mysteriously replaced with worthless look-alikes. Then Gridley’s attractive and persuasive daughter, Shanice, finds someone from her past on the family property—very much dead. What started as a simple investigation of theft has escalated into a murder investigation, and as Rocky edges closer to the truth, he is targeted as the next victim. Tensions peak, and Rocky realizes he must shield Shanice and her daughter from an unknown enemy. It seems someone wants to destroy the entire Gridley family. Now Rocky must summon every bit of his faith and courage to protect the woman he has come to love as he is tested in the fires of his most dangerous case to date.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Mystery, Lds, Fiction, Audiobook, Suspense, Romance

304 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2012

About the author

Clair M. Poulson was born and raised in Duchesne, Utah. His father was a rancher and farmer, his mother a librarian. Clair has always been an avid reader, having found his love for books as a very young boy.

He has served for forty years in the criminal justice system. Twenty years were spent in law enforcement, ending his police career with eight years as the Duchesne County Sheriff. For the past twenty years Clair has worked as a justice court judge for Duchesne County. Clair is also a veteran of the US Army where he was a military policeman. He has served on various boards and councils during his professional career, including the Justice Court Board of Judges, Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Utah Judicial Council, Utah Peace Officer Standards and Training Council, an FBI advisory board and others.

In addition to his criminal justice work, Clair has farmed and ranched all of his life. He has raised many kinds of animals, but his greatest interest is horses.

Clair has served in many capacities in the LDS church, including fulltime missionary (California Mission) bishop, counselor to bishop, young men president, high councilor, stake mission president, scoutmaster, High Priest group leader, etc. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher.

Clair is married to Ruth, and together, they have five children, all of whom are married: Alan (Vicena) Poulson, Kelly Ann (Wade) Hatch, Amanda (Ben) Semadeni, Wade (Brooke) Poulson, and Mary (Tyler) Hicken. Between them they have twenty-three children. Clair and Ruth met while both were students at Snow College and were married in the Manti temple.

Clair has always loved telling his children, and later his grandchildren, make-up stories. His vast experience in life and his love of literature has always contributed to both his telling stories to children and his writing of adventure and suspense novels.

Reviews

[Gail · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Clair Poulson's writings - this one is about a rugged private detective cowboy and the stealing of horses turns into multiple murders and of course, a love story.

[Kandi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't care what the ratings are this was a good book. Not as exciting as his other books, but still a good mystery book. A little country, romance, and mystery and I couldn't figure out for the death of me who was the criminal. Kept you guessing til the end.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best he has written. Keeped me guessing through out for the most part.

[Michael-Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rocky is a fun, likeable main character. Good suspense and action.

[Nadine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really fun book that kept me guessing plus had romance with no sex or bad language

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

About a detective hired for the family of his secret lover to discover the mystery of this family's' missing horses. Turns into a murder crime.

[Krista Rowley · Rating 4 out of 5]

10. Switchback, by Clair M. Poulson is a thriller and mystery novel. Rocky is on a very nice vacation and then suddenly his phone goes off. Glenn Gridley a former employee was calling about a horse thief .Throughout the investigation Rocky and Shanice Gridley (Glenn’s daughter) fall in love and create a relationship. Together they try to find the horse thief. But it gets hard when one of the people that killed Alden is looking for Rocky also. I liked this book but sometimes it would just drag on and I got bored with it. I really like romance books, but sometimes when Shanice and Rocky were talking I just thought that the author was trying to hard to make it romantic. Shanice has an ex husband Alden and he gets murdered and when he does Shanice and Pam (Alden's new wife) are friends. I just thought that that was a little weird. But then I guess it was okay because it was when they found out that Alden had been murdered. I really liked how Rocky and Tyra (Shanice’s daughter) were really close. She would always want to play with him, or have him help her with her homework. My least favorite character in this book was probably Glenn Gridley, he was nice and all he was just really mean to Rocky at the beginning of the book and I didn’t really like that. I wasn’t really interested in this book when I saw it but when I started reading it, it was better. Because, i’m not really interested in horses and this book is all about horses. I think the theme of this book is family because, when Shanice was going through a hard time her family was always there for her. They never let her down.

[Justin Marsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

The protagonist Rocky changes throughout the book. He goes from just doing another job to caring about Shanice and her daughter. One theme of this book is nothing is ever what you think it is. What starts out as a simple investigation into a missing horse turns and goes really deep and dark with a murder. Rocky also goes from having a dislike of Glenn to being able to care for him. Rocky also gets reminded about how he loved Shanice when he worked on the ranch. I really like this book because of the way that the story is told. I like how it is told from the perspective of Rocky and has all of his takes on what is going on around him. I also appreciate that it uses words so really anyone can ready this book. The story does get complicated at times but I really love the simplicity of the words he uses. I am not really one for ready but I got this book and I could not stop myself from reading it. It is also very rare for me to find a book I like but this book is one that I absolutely love. I always have liked mystery books but this one I really liked because it was a modern west mystery. I also love the way this author uses plot twists to his advantage with some of the events in this book.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way that religion informed the characters lives, especially since there aren't many Latter Day Saints out here so it's interesting to see something. And the setting was great -- Rocky spends his time driving around between Ogden and Tremonton and I've spent a lot of time there. But the mystery was lacking in that the characters were all kind of dumb. It took about 250 pages for anyone to mention that a big suspect when a woman in the midst of a bitter custody fight finds the murdered body of her ex-husband on her ranch, is of course that woman. And the reaction of the PI and the POLICE OFFICER hearing this speculation is to suspect the ranch hands who reluctantly offer it up of probably being guilty and trying to throw smoke around.

Uh huh.

But it was all very earnest and the characters seemed drawn sincerely if not very skillfully.

[Kevin Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really a horse person but this was an interesting book. It's about a PI who is hired to find a couple of expensive roping horses. He has worked for the family in his youth and had a built a friendship with one of the daughters. This friendship grew into something more as the book went along. There was a couple of murders and danger to several families and the PI himself. That's all I going to tell you, you'll just have to read the book.

[Hanni · Rating 5 out of 5]

As with most books from covenant communications you alreay know the ending. But I like how the author takes his experience from the field and makes it into a story. And living in the area this book takes place in. Help me see ceratin things better. As I pictured certain areas in my head of where it was taking place.

[Ranee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in familiar territory for me, it was a good, clean whodunnit. Listened to done on audiobook and read the rest via ebook - liked the ebook way better to imagine the voices differently and i read faster but audiobook is good for car rides

[Angieluila Bradley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wouldn't call this one a mystery. It was obvious who did it from the beginning then it was just a long drawn our quandary. And who on earth survives being shot that many times? A bullet proof vest can only do so much.

[Mary-theresa Dameron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good summer reading

The book is a little slow in parts, but overall it develops into a complex mystery with some romance thrown in

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. Well written with well developed characters and plenty of action. A good clean whodunnit. I listened to the audiobook which is well done.

[Kathy]

Another good mystery from Clair

[Debra L · Rating 5 out of 5]

fun book to read

I loved how you get right into the story and not alot of fluff. The story keeps me coming back till I finished.

[Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

So many twists and turns. Definitely recommend! I do love that this author has a little romance in the book. But just enough to make you smile. 😊

[Cass · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book!!! With warm sand between his toes, private investigator Rocky Revada is finally taking a well-deserved vacation. But the emotional pleas of a pretty woman have some how lodged inside the usually practical investigator’s head. Ashe mulls it over, probing the theft of an expensive roping horse seems much more interesting than the mundane pleasures of sun, surf, and dinners alone. However, when Rocky arrives at Glenn Gridley’s northern Utah ranch, he unearths far more trouble than he bargained for. Multiple horses have been stolen from the cantankerous rancher and have been mysteriously replaced with worthless look-alikes. Then Gridley’s attractive and persuasive daughter, Shanice, finds someone from her past on the family property—very much dead. What started as a simple investigation of theft has escalated into a murder investigation, and as Rocky edges closer to the truth, he is targeted as the next victim. Tensions peak, and Rocky realizes he must shield Shanice and her daughter from an unknown enemy. It seems someone wants to destroy the entire Gridley family. Now Rocky must summon every bit of his faith and courage to protect the woman he has come to love as he is tested in the fires of his most dangerous case to date.

[LAWonder10 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Private Investigator, Rocky Revada, takes on a missing horse case which ends up to be a deadly one...the most deadly he had ever encountered.

A fast-paced story which includes not only a lot of action but also a little romance. Former acquaintances, Glen and Sharise Grisley, interrupts Rocky's much needed vacation wish urgent pleas to save their ranch from ruination by finding their stolen horses. After much debate he gave into the delicate pleadings of a beautiful woman he once cared for. Soon he discovered it wasn't simply theft but murder as well...a murder which led to other threats- including his own possible demise .

The plot is slightly stretched out, yet through Clair Poulson's talents, the reader's interest is always kept alive. The characters seem real and the background scenes are clear. It is especially entertaining for Christians and others who do not approve of bad language and sexual situations. Totally "clean"!

The title is okay but not totally fitting to the "meat" of the tale. The book cover fits the title well and is eye-catching but not totally.

The voice of Jason Tatom was effective in reading the book on CD. His narrative talent in made it sound more real.

My Review of this Book on CD offers a Four Stars rating.

[R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a horse lover, this had an interesting dimension for me with the mystery connection, horses, and LDS threads through it. Rocky is an very personable character that is fun to follow throughout the investigation. His connection to Shanice seems a little too convenient overall, but I guess it couldn't be helped between their past connection and how likable the main character is. The mystery aspect was certainly confusing enough. There were enough facets to the case that every time you thought some progress was being made, something else turned up. Readers who don't know anything about the horse/rodeo world may not believe that a switch could be so detrimental to a ranch, but between that and the embezzlement (before even taking the murders into account), there was definitely a world of hurt going around for the family. Of course it seems all the players are accounted for by the end of the tale and the horses are successfully recovered. Wonder what their doing with "Switch One" and "Switch Two" since it appears they belonged to the thieves who are now all in jail.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable,fast-paced mystery with a touch of a love connection. I've always enjoyed Poulson's books and wasn't disappointed this time. The characters were very real, I especially liked Rocky Revada, the private detective and hero of the story. He was smart, tough, but willing to do what needed to get the job done.

Rocky was on vacation when he got a job to find some very valuable roping horses for a former client, Glenn Gridley. Rocky at first didn't accept the job, not only because he was on vacation but because prior history proved that Gridley was anything but hard to work with with his temper. His daughter, Shanice was another story. He'd always had a connection with her, but she got married while he was on his mission and that was the end of that. Now she is divorced with an adorable daughter, Tyra, and needing help.
The mysterious "switch" of their two priced roping horses turns into more...murder, embezzelment, kidnapping. This book has it all and is good till the end.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much bothered me about this book. It was bothersome from the names of the main characters (I hated the names), cheesy lines and especially the narrator. Ugh I think the narrator ruined it for me. The story line itself had potential, I didn't mind the main theme but the dialogue of the romantic interests and such bugged big time.

Rocky a P.I. is hired to help a big rancher find out what's wrong with his prized roping horses. Turns out someone has stolen the horses and switched them for horses with like markings. The mannerisms of the horses let them know they are not the correct horses and now Rocky must find out who stole the horses and where they might be...along the way to that conclusion however two murders take place and Rocky is threatened with his own life. He won't give up however because he's just super awesome and he's blindly in love with the Rancher's daughter.

I just felt un-thrilled about much of the book and was fine when it was over.

[Verona · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listening to audio books really helps pass the time in our trips back and forth from our home in Snowflake, AZ to see our family in Mesa, AZ. We have listened to lots of books by Clair Poulsen, and we have enjoyed them all. They are mysteries with some interesting twists and turns. We like the characters he develops in his books, and this one was no exception. Rocky Revada, the central character, is a man worthy of admiration for his thoroughness as a detective, for his manners as a gentleman, for his opinions on women, for his honesty, integrity, and other character traits. Though rather predictable, it made for great listening on our trip this week.

[Shauna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rocky, a private investigator, is on a much needed vacation...that is...until Glenn calls and asks for Rocky's help in finding a missing horse.
But this case turns out to be more than anyone could have ever suspected...
Along the way deception will be revealed, murders and kidnappings will take place, embezzlement will happen, and even Rocky's life will be put on the line.
Can Rocky find the ones responsible before they close the case on him?
An amazing read!

[Katie (hiding in the pages) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rocky is a PI from Logan, UT and is asked to investigate the disappearance of two horses, worth a lot of money. They've been switched for inferior, but similar, horses. The investigation leads him on a wild goose chase that involves murder, stealing, cheating, and lies. I was guessing to the end, but I didn't feel as connected to the characters as I have in some of the other stories. A good mystery with a little bit of romance and adventure.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clair Poulson has done it again! This is another great book written by him. A private investigator is asked to help with a case involving some missing roping horses. He discovers that the horses that were thought to be missing have actually been switched for look-a-like horses. There are also several murders and attempted murders committed, including an attempt on the private investigator and the owners of the missing horses. I really liked this book.

[Alyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second book that my mom lent me at Christmas time. I tend to be a bit reluctant to read Clair Poulson's books. He has interesting plots but something is missing FOR ME in his books. The book doesn't flow as much as I'd prefer and the romance was flat. Why would you call someone "my dear" when you are obviously interested in someone else. How dense can one guy be? I was able to see who was guilty early on. There were some good things in the book, but it just wasn't a favorite.

[Aimee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story. I loved that the setting was on my turf here in Tremonton and surrounding areas. :) That's kinda fun. The book was interesting but not too intense or anything. The romance was sort of dull but I don't think this book would classify as a romance anyway. Clair Poulson is a good go to for an easy reading mystery.

LDS Fiction

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't been able to connect with Poulson's last few novels, but I really enjoyed this one. The mystery, suspense and romance are well balanced. I read it all in one sitting because I wanted to find out who the bad guy was!