Chasm - (Frankie MacFarlane Mysteries) by Susan Cummins Miller (Paperback)

About the Book

"While teaching on a trip to the Grand Canyon, Frankie MacFarlane is attacked and tries to escape the canyons, eventually up again ecoterrorist wannabes trying to destroy one of the exits"--

Book Synopsis

When colleague Dora Simpson asks Frankie MacFarlane to fill in as geology professor on a whitewater trip hrough the heart of the Grand Canyon, Frankie jumps at the chance. Eight days. Nearly two hundred miles on the river. One mile deep into the earth. What could go wrong? Everything. Frankie wrenches her knee on the first day. On the second, a solo kayaker forces her to choose between being gutted by a Bowie knife and drowning in the frigid water. Frankie chooses the river. Who wants Frankie dead? And why? As Frankie searches for answers, she discovers that one of her students is traveling incognito, fleeing a forced marriage. Has the Family tracked Molly into the Canyon? How can she escape when the few exit routes will be watched? The threads come together at Phantom Ranch, the only place in the Canyon where bridges link trails descending to the river from the North and South Rims. But will ecoterrorist wannabees bring down the bridges before anyone can escape? With the riveting suspense and acute attention to geological detail that readers have come to love, Frankie faces the Colorado River rapids and the perilous mystery at hand with courage, skill, and ingenuity.

Review Quotes

A powerful, thought-provoking mystery about the human will to survive and endure against insurmountable odds. Susan Cummins Miller does a terrific job of guiding us on a harrowing river trip through the Grand Canyon where the rapids present the least of the dangers. And what can I say about Frankie MacFarlane except that she is one of the smartest, most resourceful, and wholly unforgettable sleuths around.
--Margaret Coel, author of Night of the White Buffalo

Chasm is a wild ride of a novel. Frankie MacFarlane faces intelligent, highly-motivated villains and the beautiful dangers of the Colorado River as it rages through the Grand Canyon. The story unfolds against a background of magnificent ancient geology with the heart-pounding energy of a thriller. Highly recommended.
--Anne Hillerman, author of Spider Woman's Daughter

About the Author

Susan Cummins Miller, a former field geologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and college instructor, is a research affiliate and SIROW Scholar with the University of Arizona's Southwest Institute for Research on Women. In addition to the Frankie MacFarlane mysteries, she is the editor of A Sweet, Separate Intimacy: Women Writers of the American Frontier, 1800-1922 (TTUP, 2007). She lives in Tucson.