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Red Rock Canyon Mysteries #1
The Slickrock Paradox
Silas Pearson is looking for answers. It's been more than three years since his wife, Penelope de Silva, disappeared while working on a conservation project in Utah's red rock wilderness. Law enforcement authorities have given up hope of finding the adventurous Penelope alive. And some suggest that she may not have vanished into the desert at all, but simply left Silas for another man. Silas moves to Moab, where his wife was last seen, with one finding his wife, dead or alive. His search takes him into a spectacular wilderness of red rock canyons, soaring mesas, and vertical earth, where he must confront his failures as a husband and his guilt over not being there when Penelope needed him most.
The Slickrock Paradox is the first book in the Red Rock Canyon Mysteries, a series of books that explores an iconic American landscape through an atypical anti-hero who is deeply flawed, reluctant, and yet familiar.
The Slickrock Paradox is the first book in the Red Rock Canyon Mysteries, a series of books that explores an iconic American landscape through an atypical anti-hero who is deeply flawed, reluctant, and yet familiar.
- GenresMystery
274 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
3 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Legault
19 books37 followersStephen Legault is the author of fourteen books, including most recently Where Rivers Meet: Photographs and Stories from the Bow Valley and Kananaskis and Earth and Sky: Photographs and Stories from Montana and Alberta.
He is a full-time conservation activist, writer, photographer, public speaker, and strategy consultant who lives in Canmore, Alberta with his wife Jenn, and two sons, Rio and Silas. He has been writing since 1988, and for nearly as long has been leading national and international conservation programs and organizations.
Stephen recently served as the program director (Crown, Alberta, NWT) of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). His writing includes nine murder mystery novels, books of essays on Buddhism and Taoism and a collection of works by 25 authors on the Bow Valley of Alberta.
Follow Stephen on Facebook, or visit www.stephenlegault.com.
He is a full-time conservation activist, writer, photographer, public speaker, and strategy consultant who lives in Canmore, Alberta with his wife Jenn, and two sons, Rio and Silas. He has been writing since 1988, and for nearly as long has been leading national and international conservation programs and organizations.
Stephen recently served as the program director (Crown, Alberta, NWT) of the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative (Y2Y). His writing includes nine murder mystery novels, books of essays on Buddhism and Taoism and a collection of works by 25 authors on the Bow Valley of Alberta.
Follow Stephen on Facebook, or visit www.stephenlegault.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
November 24, 2012
You hopefully already read the blurb so I'll cut to the chase; I liked this book for a number of reasons. Having lived in the southwest I feel Legault captured the flavor of lawlessness that pervades the area and went beyond that by enlarging the plot in an original way.
The importance of not only standing up for what you believe in but staying the course and not getting sidetracked is well done. I didn't like the main character at first; too one-dimensional male, but in the author's capable hands, I came to see him as a hero.
Absolutely no "telling" just showing so that the reader is invested.
My only criticism is the comma-itis; it slowed down the pace, especially in the beginning. Toward the end, though, it gets much better and the spiritual component subtly woven through the story is my fave part. The quote at the end is most apt and made me sigh, remembering that life is not a linear event divided into fits and starts but a journey.
How we enjoy (or not) the path is up to us.
The importance of not only standing up for what you believe in but staying the course and not getting sidetracked is well done. I didn't like the main character at first; too one-dimensional male, but in the author's capable hands, I came to see him as a hero.
Absolutely no "telling" just showing so that the reader is invested.
My only criticism is the comma-itis; it slowed down the pace, especially in the beginning. Toward the end, though, it gets much better and the spiritual component subtly woven through the story is my fave part. The quote at the end is most apt and made me sigh, remembering that life is not a linear event divided into fits and starts but a journey.
How we enjoy (or not) the path is up to us.
October 25, 2012
Silas, Used bookstore owner and retired professor is trying to find his activist/conservationist wife who went missing on a hike three and a half years ago near Moab, Utah. Out on a hike he stumbles upon a female skeleton, will this discovery lead him to his wife? Silas is always one step ahead of the FBI and local sheriff to find the killer with the help of mysterious dreams in which his wife guides him with clues to solve the murders.
Legault's work in conservation colour's his descriptions of the desert landscape. I finished this book enticed to re-read Edward Abbey's work and other non-fiction nature writing. Looking forward to reading more books in the fast paced, and well plotted Red Rock Canyon series.
Legault's work in conservation colour's his descriptions of the desert landscape. I finished this book enticed to re-read Edward Abbey's work and other non-fiction nature writing. Looking forward to reading more books in the fast paced, and well plotted Red Rock Canyon series.
July 27, 2020
good read by Alberta author...tells a mystery set in a backdrop of fascinating places and ruins...made me want to go explore those places myself
September 10, 2012
Stephen Legault’s first entry in his Red Rock Canyon mysteries strikes a double blow in the first pages with the murderous torpor of the desert and the fatal terrors of a flash flood. Silas Pearson is a man with one tough mission. His wife disappeared on a hiking trip near Moab, Utah, in one of the most rugged and unforgiving places in the US. He will not rest until he finds her, dead or alive. And if anyone’s to blame, God help them before he arrives.
Silas was a philosophical and enigmatic man, a lover of the Ivory Tower. His wife preferred the outdoors, and visited desert places threatened by the outside world before they were destroyed. Her disappearance not only left him heartbroken, but also a prime suspect. Believing that she was with friends, he waited a few days before reporting her missing. The FBI, involved because of the national park status, still regards him with suspicion. Perhaps on his travels, he will “discover” her body.
Leaving his soft life as a literature professor in Flagstaff, he holes up in the desert in an adobe hut. He also runs a broken-down bookstore in Moab as he tries to piece together the remains of his shattered life. Local gossip suggests that his wife left him for another man, but Silas can’t believe it. Methodically, he forages out nearly every day with little more than snacks and water, and often sleeps in his wreck of a car.
Back with his maps, he graphs his progress square inch by square inch as he combs the desert, up a draw here, across a mesa there, squeezing through a defile in the brutal heat.
“Despondent, he pulled up the total for his three and a half years of journeying: 4212 miles….he could have strode from San Diego, California, to Bangor, Maine…He did the calculation for elevation: just over three hundred thousand feet....He could have climbed Mount Everest ten times.” To Silas it’s worth every blister and broken bone to bring her home as he teeters on the edge of madness.
“Penny” is “not here,” and “not here.” Even helicopters and search parties couldn’t help. The red rock canyon country hides many secrets, often behind a scrabble of fallen rock or a shadow of scree. The land last mapped in the US has no pity. No water, no cell coverage, 112F temperatures, and a rattler around every corner.
Legault’s impeccable research paces Silas on every foot of his journey. Like his character, he knows its curves, planes, and shadows like a lover. Guided by the lines of her favourite book, Abbey’s DESERT SOLITAIRE, a popular memoir that as an academic he once scorned, Silas homes in on sentences which haunt him in the night and lead him to places like Courthouse Wash, where the flood envelops him. He’s alive and battered, but he discovers a skeleton lodged under a cottonwood in the mid. Has he found Penny at last? The law is both mystified and annoyed at this joyless hermit.
This may be no man’s land, but there is money to be made, not only from wealthy tourists ready to shell out for views to die for, Puebloan artifacts worth hundreds of thousands on the world markets, but from valuable mineral and gas/oil resources that lie beneath the rough skin of this country. As he turns over rocks in more ways than one, Silas makes himself an unwanted guest at an expensive party. Nature is amoral, but there will be no helping hand for a misstep.
Silas was a philosophical and enigmatic man, a lover of the Ivory Tower. His wife preferred the outdoors, and visited desert places threatened by the outside world before they were destroyed. Her disappearance not only left him heartbroken, but also a prime suspect. Believing that she was with friends, he waited a few days before reporting her missing. The FBI, involved because of the national park status, still regards him with suspicion. Perhaps on his travels, he will “discover” her body.
Leaving his soft life as a literature professor in Flagstaff, he holes up in the desert in an adobe hut. He also runs a broken-down bookstore in Moab as he tries to piece together the remains of his shattered life. Local gossip suggests that his wife left him for another man, but Silas can’t believe it. Methodically, he forages out nearly every day with little more than snacks and water, and often sleeps in his wreck of a car.
Back with his maps, he graphs his progress square inch by square inch as he combs the desert, up a draw here, across a mesa there, squeezing through a defile in the brutal heat.
“Despondent, he pulled up the total for his three and a half years of journeying: 4212 miles….he could have strode from San Diego, California, to Bangor, Maine…He did the calculation for elevation: just over three hundred thousand feet....He could have climbed Mount Everest ten times.” To Silas it’s worth every blister and broken bone to bring her home as he teeters on the edge of madness.
“Penny” is “not here,” and “not here.” Even helicopters and search parties couldn’t help. The red rock canyon country hides many secrets, often behind a scrabble of fallen rock or a shadow of scree. The land last mapped in the US has no pity. No water, no cell coverage, 112F temperatures, and a rattler around every corner.
Legault’s impeccable research paces Silas on every foot of his journey. Like his character, he knows its curves, planes, and shadows like a lover. Guided by the lines of her favourite book, Abbey’s DESERT SOLITAIRE, a popular memoir that as an academic he once scorned, Silas homes in on sentences which haunt him in the night and lead him to places like Courthouse Wash, where the flood envelops him. He’s alive and battered, but he discovers a skeleton lodged under a cottonwood in the mid. Has he found Penny at last? The law is both mystified and annoyed at this joyless hermit.
This may be no man’s land, but there is money to be made, not only from wealthy tourists ready to shell out for views to die for, Puebloan artifacts worth hundreds of thousands on the world markets, but from valuable mineral and gas/oil resources that lie beneath the rough skin of this country. As he turns over rocks in more ways than one, Silas makes himself an unwanted guest at an expensive party. Nature is amoral, but there will be no helping hand for a misstep.
April 29, 2014
I was interested in the first few chapters of this book, but once the heavy-handed environmentalist propaganda emerged page after page after page, I got fed up with it.
Even without the agenda, the book is a terrible mystery. There are no clever twists, no surprises. The plot consists of the protagonist confronting suspects, then engaging in long, loooooong, discussions about who the murder(s) could be with his friends, re-confronting the same suspects, another loooooong tedious discussion, repeated ad nauseam with little or no new information or progression in the plot. The suspects that emerge in the first few chapters are the same suspects at the end with little regard to development of motives/alibis/opportunity, etc. And the way all the bodies are discovered—well, no spoilers—but it’s pretty deus ex machina.
You know if this book is for you if:
1. You can say the following with a straight face: "The murderer is either the Evil land developer, the Evil oil company, or the Evil Republican senator from Utah--all of whom have been known to drive over wildflowers and spotted owls with enormous SUV's, throw medical waste into pristine springs, and spray- paint graffiti on ancient ruins all before breakfast."
2. The following direct quote (pg. 157) does not offend you or strike you as a gross misrepresentation: "Silas regarded this new group of supporters: Typical middle-aged, middle-class Americans; most were overweight and had trouble walking along the flat sidewalk."
3. The fact that 2 of the most Evil characters in the book, which takes place in Utah, are named "Smith" and "Nephi" does not sound like thinly-veiled religious bigotry to you.
4. Your only criteria for enjoying a book is the number of times you can cry out "Amen, Hallelujah" after every line of extremist, one-sided, give-Utah-to-the-feds-to-manage-because-we-yokels-are-certain-to-despoil-anything-worthwhile-in-our-Neanderthal-like-stupidity, environmentalist tripe that typifies this novel.
If none of this bothers you, then this book is for you. If it does, forget it. I wish I had.
Even without the agenda, the book is a terrible mystery. There are no clever twists, no surprises. The plot consists of the protagonist confronting suspects, then engaging in long, loooooong, discussions about who the murder(s) could be with his friends, re-confronting the same suspects, another loooooong tedious discussion, repeated ad nauseam with little or no new information or progression in the plot. The suspects that emerge in the first few chapters are the same suspects at the end with little regard to development of motives/alibis/opportunity, etc. And the way all the bodies are discovered—well, no spoilers—but it’s pretty deus ex machina.
You know if this book is for you if:
1. You can say the following with a straight face: "The murderer is either the Evil land developer, the Evil oil company, or the Evil Republican senator from Utah--all of whom have been known to drive over wildflowers and spotted owls with enormous SUV's, throw medical waste into pristine springs, and spray- paint graffiti on ancient ruins all before breakfast."
2. The following direct quote (pg. 157) does not offend you or strike you as a gross misrepresentation: "Silas regarded this new group of supporters: Typical middle-aged, middle-class Americans; most were overweight and had trouble walking along the flat sidewalk."
3. The fact that 2 of the most Evil characters in the book, which takes place in Utah, are named "Smith" and "Nephi" does not sound like thinly-veiled religious bigotry to you.
4. Your only criteria for enjoying a book is the number of times you can cry out "Amen, Hallelujah" after every line of extremist, one-sided, give-Utah-to-the-feds-to-manage-because-we-yokels-are-certain-to-despoil-anything-worthwhile-in-our-Neanderthal-like-stupidity, environmentalist tripe that typifies this novel.
If none of this bothers you, then this book is for you. If it does, forget it. I wish I had.
May 10, 2013
Opening line: She was not there.
The first paragraph of this claustrophobically taut tale takes us, paradoxically, to the wide-open Utah desert, where Silas Pearson is searching for a missing woman. He knows it is likely hopeless. This expanse of red sandstone may look flat but it is creased with crevices, some of them hundreds of feet deep. An unwary hiker might break an ankle stumbling across a narrow rift and die of heat exhaustion under the sun, or fall into black depths and drown as the next rainstorm funnels through the gully. Yet Silas keeps looking, obsessively mapping the terrain a few days each week, marking off his search areas in 7.5 inch grid squares on the small-scale topographical maps that paper his living room walls. He has done this, we learn, for the past three-plus years, seeking his wife.
By the end of Chapter One, I shared Silas’ obsession, drawn in by his close observation of the rock itself, and his attention to every nuance of weather and geography that might offer a clue. My desire to learn his wife’s fate, and to understand the web of emotions that drove his obsessive hunt, carried my eyes from sentence to sentence, page to page, while the sere landscape built itself in my mind.
The Slickrock Paradox takes us through terrain as unforgiving on the outside as Silas’ inner country is to him. This is a novel for those who love wilderness as passionately as they do a gripping, suspenseful mystery
The first paragraph of this claustrophobically taut tale takes us, paradoxically, to the wide-open Utah desert, where Silas Pearson is searching for a missing woman. He knows it is likely hopeless. This expanse of red sandstone may look flat but it is creased with crevices, some of them hundreds of feet deep. An unwary hiker might break an ankle stumbling across a narrow rift and die of heat exhaustion under the sun, or fall into black depths and drown as the next rainstorm funnels through the gully. Yet Silas keeps looking, obsessively mapping the terrain a few days each week, marking off his search areas in 7.5 inch grid squares on the small-scale topographical maps that paper his living room walls. He has done this, we learn, for the past three-plus years, seeking his wife.
By the end of Chapter One, I shared Silas’ obsession, drawn in by his close observation of the rock itself, and his attention to every nuance of weather and geography that might offer a clue. My desire to learn his wife’s fate, and to understand the web of emotions that drove his obsessive hunt, carried my eyes from sentence to sentence, page to page, while the sere landscape built itself in my mind.
The Slickrock Paradox takes us through terrain as unforgiving on the outside as Silas’ inner country is to him. This is a novel for those who love wilderness as passionately as they do a gripping, suspenseful mystery
July 1, 2013
Being in the middle of a heatwave in Salt Lake City really helped me sympathize with Silas as he hiked over the slickrock. I was intrigued by the story and really wanted to find out what had happened to his wife- here's the spoiler: YOU DON'T. The story ends without solving that mystery, which was frustrating, and led me to give it a lower rating than I might have otherwise. I will admit I was also a little bugged that this Canadian author made all the bad guys be from Utah and all the good guys were from out of state. Mr Legault, some of us native Utahns also care about the environment and would like to see our wilderness areas preserved. We're not all bad guys, even those of us who don't love Edward Abbey.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 24, 2014
Started out loving this because I loved the descriptive parts and the mystery is good. But I really didn't feel like there was enough resolution....perhaps because it is a series. plus there was just too much agenda pushing for me. Even then I might have been tempted to read the next one but there was way too much use of the f-word. I get that it matched the one character but the author could have gotten that same feeling across with saying it once in a five sentence paragraph instead of in every sentence of that paragraph... I would also have liked more character development. It seemed most characters were black/white as far as good/bad. The author really seemed to have an agenda against politicians, big businesses, etc...
January 2, 2016
The book contains beautiful descriptions of the Utah landscape. I've visited some of the same places and felt like I was standing there with Silas. I enjoyed the story and connected with Silas, but for me, the setting was what really made the book. I thought highly enough of the book to re-read it as each of the subsequent two books in the trilogy was released. (Which is high praise from me; I seldom re-read books.)
Unfortunately, numerous typos throughout the book were distracting; the author needs a better proofreader.
Unfortunately, numerous typos throughout the book were distracting; the author needs a better proofreader.
March 6, 2015
As an avid traveler in the area, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I felt the southwest during my read, and it reads perfect. The dust, the hikes, the canyons, vast areas of unknown land, and the rugged characters are spot on. Hayduke was an irreverent character, and his reincarnation here was totally amusing. He was an F Bomb, so how could you change it. I am looking forward to the rest of the series!
December 18, 2012
I read this because I love the setting of Moab, Utah and its surroundings. That said, the mystery itself was not that compelling and there were way too many f-bombs for me to be comfortable offering it to the little old lady mystery readers in my library. If you like the red rock country of Southern Utah and steady references to Edward Abbey, you may like this environmental mystery.
June 22, 2013
If you've ever been to the Southwest and hiked in any of the desert national parks, then this book will strike a chord with you just because of the central role the starkly beautiful landscape plays in this book. Layer onto that murder, conspiracy, unlikely companions, and the determined search of one man for his missing wife, and you've got a story that will keep you reading.
April 3, 2014
Not a bad mystery. Good set-up for a series.
Two probably unintentional amusing details: set in Utah, but no recognizably Mormon characters; news media got tired of reporting on the 2 bodies found near Moab and moved on to a "series of gruesome murders in Provo"... that just made me laugh a little.
Strong Language Warning
Two probably unintentional amusing details: set in Utah, but no recognizably Mormon characters; news media got tired of reporting on the 2 bodies found near Moab and moved on to a "series of gruesome murders in Provo"... that just made me laugh a little.
Strong Language Warning
February 9, 2013
Silas has been searching for his missing wife for 3 1/2 years. Through dreams, his wife "directs" him to certain areas where he finds, not her, but other bodies. Involved in the story is a developer, conservationists, a sneator and the FBI. Good characters and intersting story line.
April 9, 2014
I really liked the story. I didn't like the language. The authors love of the F word was very unnecessary and took away from a good story. I would have recommended the book to several people but wont based on the language.
April 20, 2014
The story was fine, but half way through a character was introduced that had to use a swear word every other word. It was distracting and detracting from the story and the book. I wouldn't recommend reading it.
June 15, 2014
I liked it. Perhaps it is because I am familiar with the Moab and surrounding areas in which the story is set. And, I think I just enjoyed the simple, straight-forward style in which Legault wrote the story. Only weakness, in some parts here and there, the editing was weak. In short, a good read!
February 27, 2015
This is the first in a series, and I will be anxiously waiting for the next one. The mysteries were intriguing, and I loved the descriptiveness of the Colorado Plateau area, especially the areas near Moab, Utah.
December 29, 2015
Loved it. I have read this book before and decided to reread it before going onto the next one in the series. I live in Utah and how he described the land around the four corners brought me right back to that magical area and the mystery of the people there.
April 4, 2014
A murder mystery for Edward Abbey fans. Actually, the mystery is kind of middling, but the Edward Abbey tie-in makes for satisfying reading. Looking forward to vol. 2 etc...
February 25, 2014
I liked reading a book in a setting I know so well (Moab, ut) but the mystery wasn't as awesome as some I've read.
February 28, 2014
This was ok. I didn't think the characters were all that likable and I just didn't care about about the main character's mission to find his wife. Nothing was gripping or all too exciting.
April 1, 2014
I would have given this 5 stars but there is quite a bit of F-bombs dropped by one of the characters. I couldn't put this book down. Can't wait to read the next one in the series.
March 28, 2014
Enjoyable mystery.
April 4, 2014
I was drawn to this book because I love the southwest and Moab. I thought the mystery was pretty good and am waiting to read the rest of the series.
April 22, 2014
I enjoyed the story line of this book. However, I really did not like the use of the f word so much. It would have been much better without that word.
April 28, 2014
I loved the setting, the characters and the writing. I want to read all of the books Legault writes.
May 12, 2014
A good mystery that leaves room open for a series.
May 25, 2014
I found the msin character and his situation innovative and interesting. I did not like the profanity and found one character's dialog especially offensive. Hopefully he was a one time appearer.
May 26, 2014
Didn't enjoy all the swearing...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews