Margins
First the Dead book cover
First the Dead
2008
First Published
4.24
Average Rating
368
Number of Pages

Part of Series

When a national disaster strikes, "first the living" is the rule. Unless you're the Bug Man. When Hurricane Katrina strikes New Orleans, forensic entomologist Nick Polchak signs up to help with the recovery effort. He is known as the Bug Man for his knowledge of insects and what they can reveal about the dead. The government's mandate is clear—rescue the living first, recover the dead later. But something is very wrong in the toxic soup-bowl of post-Katrina New Orleans. Someone is using the cover of disaster to kill . . . hiding the victims of murder in the same watery grave as the victims of Katrina. It's a tale only the dead can tell. But no one besides the Bug Man is listening. " . . . stands out from the pack of CSI-inspired mysteries with its quirky hero and creative handling of the Hurricane Katrina disaster." —"Publishers Weekly" (Starred Review)

Avg Rating
4.24
Number of Ratings
1,398
5 STARS
45%
4 STARS
37%
3 STARS
15%
2 STARS
2%
1 STARS
1%
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Author

Tim Downs
Tim Downs
Author · 18 books
Tim Downs is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Indiana University. After graduation in 1976 he created a comic strip, Downstown, which was syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate (Calvin & Hobbes, Doonesbury, The Far Side) from 1980 to 1986. His cartooning has appeared in more than a hundred daily newspapers worldwide. Tim has written seven mystery/suspense novels: Shoofly Pie, Chop Shop, PlagueMaker, Head Game, First the Dead, Less than Dead, and Ends of the Earth. PlagueMaker was awarded the Christy Award for the best CBA mystery/suspense novel of 2006, and Less than Dead was a finalist for the 2009 Christian Book Award in suspense fiction. Tim lives in Cary, North Carolina, with his wife Joy. They have three grown children.
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