ANDY STRAKA
Shamus Award Winning Author
FICTION
THE JESUS SPARES SERIES
Split City
Billy Gills is not a detective.
He blanches at the sight of dead bodies. He's been known to cry at funerals. A washed up pro bowler who owns a struggling small town bowling alley, his chances of successfully investigating a murder are about as great as picking up a 7-10 split. All that begins to change, however, when Billy finds himself summoned to the Partridgeberry County morgue to identify the body of his identical twin brother Bo. Bo is the flamboyant, wealthy founder of TreadBo, a specialty bowling shoe manufacturer; he is famous for his quirky sense of fashion, fitness fanaticism, and unusual hobbies, which may have gotten him into trouble. Fortunately, Billy's bowling alley Split City is also home to "Jesus Spares", a church service, bowling, and social gathering where almost anything can happen. Billy may need every ounce of faith he has to discover the truth about himself and his eccentric twin brother.
"Will delight readers...a powerful story of adversity, small-town politics, and a search for truth and community tempered by surprising twists and turns."
- Midwest Book Review
"I see a TV series future. A great read and a sure winner!" - Readers Favorite
THE FRANK PAVLICEK SERIES
A Witness Above
#1 Amazon Bestseller
Anthony, Shamus, and Agatha Award Nominee
Over 250,000 copies sold
"A breath of fresh air in the field of private eye fiction."
--Jeffery Deaver
The first book in the popular Frank Pavlicek series. Falconer and private investigator Frank Pavlicek is hunting with his red-tailed hawk in the Virginia woods when he stumbles across a young man’s body and evidence that implicates his own teenage daughter. Soon, his daughter is in jail. Frank’s past as a disgraced former NYPD homicide detective is coming back to haunt him. And his reputation and life are on the line….
[Originally published by NAL/Signet/Penguin.]
A Killing Sky
Anthony Award Nominee
"Andy Straka has learned something about writing from falconry. His storytelling is as sharp and strong as talons, and once he's got you in
his grip, he never lets go. A KILLING SKY is sure to confirm
his status as one of the rising stars of the mystery genre."
-- Rick Riordan
When a Congressman's daughter disappears, Charlottesville P.I. and falconer Frank Pavlicek follows a trail of family secrets to the most dangerous discovery of all--the truth.
A Cold Quarry
Shamus Award Winner
In the skies over West Virginia, an invisible predator hunts its prey. When friend and master falconer Chester Carew is found dead in the woods, private investigator Frank Pavlicek doesn’t buy the official report of an accidental shooting. The trail leads to a shadowy group of domestic terrorists—and to Frank’s former NYPD partner, Jake Toronto, who is accused of being involved with their plot. To prove Jake’s innocence, Frank will have to trap the real killers before they can carry out their terrifying agenda.
"I couldn't put it down!...delivers pure suspense...A book this good, and this original, helps remind me why I started reading mysteries in the first place."
--Steve Hamilton
A Night Falconer
No one would ever mistake Virginia private investigator and falconer Frank Pavlicek for Ace Ventura. But when the ex homicide detective is asked to return to New York City to help find a physician/animal rights activist’s missing feline, the stage is set for one of the most bizarre cases of Frank’s career.
“Fast paced, twisty, and complex…a fine starting place for readers new to Straka’s too little-known private eye series.”
– Booklist
[Note: Originally published in hardcover by
Five Star/Cengage under the title Kitty Hitter.]
A Flight Fall
Private investigators Frank Pavlicek and his daughter Nicole receive an urgent message from their friend and fellow falconer Jake Toronto about “a death in the family.” For Toronto, his birds are his family. The death in question turns out to be the murder of his prize peregrine falcon Jazzman. Toronto worries that a vivacious female chef he helped ease out of a job is the culprit and that he may have done the wrong thing by both the woman and her employer. Was Jazzman murdered for love?
"Quirky characater, romantic hobby, twisty plot...
at times lyrical...a winner."
--Cville Weekly
more about you.
The K Street Hunting Society
It’s supposed to be an easy paycheck for private investigators Frank Pavlicek and his daughter Nicole. Their friend and fellow falconer Jake Toronto has a new protetective services client: multi-millionairess Raquel Greensmythe. But when a professional killer ambushes them in an underground K Street parking garage, one of Greensmythe's executives ends up dead, Jake is shot in the hand, and Nicole is critically wounded. For Frank and Jake, the hunt is on for a killer even the cops refer to as “a ghost.”
"Andy Straka soars to wonderful heights."
--Midwest Book Review
THRILLERS AND SUSPENSE
The Blue Hallelujah
AA
A heroic detective. An exceptional situation. An unforgettable story.
Detective Jerry Strickland and his wife Rebecca shared a secret calling. When Rebecca died of cancer in prison—branded as a disturbed vigilante after killing one of his murder suspects—Jerry knew he needed to put the truth in writing to set the record straight.
Now, as an old man nearing his own demise, Jerry is unsure whether to share his narrative about Rebecca with the world. But when his eight-year-old granddaughter Marnee disappears, Jerry learns she’s been taken by someone close to the killer depicted in the pages hidden in his dresser drawer.
It’s time for Jerry to finish the story—by confronting an evil that threatens Marnee’s life and the lives of everyone around her. And by placing his faith in a higher power to redeem the love for Rebecca in his heart.
"Comes right at your heart."
--David H. Syrett
Record Of Wrongs
Freed from prison when a new round of DNA testing casts doubt on his guilt, Quentin Price is about to confront a figure from his past who will make him an offer difficult to refuse: the chance to help solve the crime that put him behind bars. There is only one problem. What if Quentin is guilty? And what if the person he is about to meet appears the unlikeliest ally of all?
"Highly recommended. I dare you to tell me I'm wrong."
--Michael Connelly
“Shamus Award winner Andy Straka is a heavily under-rated author unknown to many readers. If he keeps producing books like RECORD OF WRONGS he will be on top sooner rather than later. He is that good.”
--I Love a Mystery Reviews
Dragonflies
Former Army helicopter pilot Raina Sanchez can’t erase the memories of being shot down in Afghanistan, of losing her foot, and the death of her commanding officer. When asked by the soldier who rescued her that day--to whom she is also attracted--to participate in a secret drone operation, she jumps at the chance to exorcise some of her demons.
But in a hidden new world where surveillance devices as small as tiny insects are being piloted into places most would never imagine, public and private forces both large and small are maneuvering to control them with inevitable consequences. For Raina the danger didn’t end when she left her military career. The threat has just begun….
"Nails the sweet spot where science fiction meets thriller. What a ride!"
--NY Times bestselling author John Gilstrap
NONFICTION
THE REASON FOR TEARS
By Tony Weedor with Andy Straka
LIBERIA, ISLAM, AND A PASTOR’S SEARCH FOR RECONCILIATION IN AN AGE OF TERROR
Though she’d loved, taught, and protected him when he was younger, Tony Weedor’s Muslim mother Manifah disowned him after he abandoned his imam training to follow Jesus. Tony finished college and went to work for a missionary agency. After barely escaping civil war in his native Liberia, he spent three years in a refugee camp with his wife and daughter before being brought to America, where he graduated from seminary and began a career in international ministry. Now, after an absence of thirteen years, Pastor Tony Weedor returns in the wake of 9/11 to a Liberia devastated by war hoping to reconcile with the woman he still calls “Mama.”
"The Reason for Tears will have you in tears of joy by the end. A more astonishing tribute to the greatness and grace of God could scarcely be found.”
- Craig L. Blomberg, Distinguished Professor of New Testament, Denver Seminary
“Gripping and challenging…I couldn’t put it down…[Tony Weedor’s] faith has been tested in ways I can only shudder to think about. He has much to teach us about being an intelligent, faithful believer in Christ.” - Ruth Graham
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Tony Weedor tells people his story is about the enormity of God’s love. Raised Muslim in Africa, Tony was in training to become an Imam when he had a life-changing encounter with a Christian missionary. Deciding to follow Jesus, he was disowned by his parents. He managed to finish college but barely escaped a horrific civil war with his wife and infant daughter. After three years in a U.N. refugee camp, they were rescued and brought to America where Tony earned a Master of Divinity from Denver Seminary. Tony served on faculty there and taught Islamic history at Evangelical Theological College in Ethiopia. He lectured about Islam following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and went on to speak before Congress in his native Liberia. Today Pastor Tony Weedor teaches missionaries and audiences around the world how to see Muslims and others through Jesus’ eyes.