Eleven Days (Paperback)

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• This item: Eleven Days by Donald Harstad

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The Big Thaw by Donald Harstad 4.4 out of 5 stars (5)  £11.99

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Review
PRAISE FOR ELEVEN DAYS: "The kind of book that you start and finish in one late-night sitting." Sunday Express "A major achievement from an ex-cop; a novel that feels and smells right." Time Out "A hell of a novel, gripping and unsettling." Michael Connelly "Donald Harstad constructs a finely judged atmosphere of menace. Expertly written by a man who himself served as a law enforcement officer in Iowa, Eleven Days builds up suspense and holds it right through to the end." Irish Times "Undeniably gripping, and the contrast throughout between the trivia of existence and extreme and bloody violence is extraordinary effective." Evening Standard "Strong, salty narrative given extra muscle by sense of actuality and refusal to punch up the horrors." Literary Review "Like Patricia Cornwall, ex-cop turned novelist Donald Harstad's main claim to fame is that he knows what a pair of testicles look like when whizzed up in the blender." Independent

The owner of a farm has been killed and a short distance away are three more victims. Assisted by an FBI special agent, the deputy sheriff is soon making bizarre discoveries about the seemingly tranquil farming community. Inspired by actual events. (Kirkus UK)

Debut police shocker, inspired by a real event and written by a 26-year veteran of the Clayton County Sheriff's Department in northeastern Iowa. Now retired, Harstad has already written a sequel about highway patrolman and Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman of Nation County PD in Iowa. Houseman, who's been a cop for over 20 years, is on night patrol when a call from a woman comes in about a murder in progress on a farm. When Carl arrives at the Francis Maguire place, he finds that he has to shoot a wounded dog and that the brutally slain Maguire has one hand missing. That same night, more murders occur at a farm eight miles away; they appear tied to the first by Satanic cult mutilations on the bodies of two dead women and a castrated male. One woman has had a breast removed and apparently mixed with the man's gonads in a blender - among even more demonic atrocities. Called to assist the eight-man police department is Special Agent Hester Gorse, who takes charge and, having already worked over a hundred homicides, displays great smarts. Among the mysterious pieces of evidence: The woman who made the initial call to the dispatcher is not among the dead, and the slain Maguire seems to have been killed elsewhere, then dumped back in his own house. And a baby is missing - for sacrifice? Who is the cult leader really attorney Oswald Traer? Carl's nighttime investigation of the second murder site ends up getting him clubbed in the dark - in fact he gets pretty thoroughly worked over before story's end, while also canvassing the town for background on the cult. Eventually, the vengeful paranoid murderer attacks the police station itself. Often deadpan-funny on the incompetence of various officers. Harstad may have a hard time later equaling this wild and woolly weirdness. (Kirkus Reviews)

Product Description
Eleven Days is a wry and gripping police thriller. Written by a former deputy sheriff on his vacation, the story covers the solving of a horrific satanic cult murder in farmland Iowa in just -- eleven days. 'Sheriff's Department.' 'My God, my God, help us here, help us here, please...' When Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is called to a horrific murder in the snowy wastes of rural Iowa, local opinion is that the killer must be from out of town. But as the evidence grows, Houseman's investigation is increasingly drawn to the community he grew up in, the people around him, and the secrets that a small town is too terrified to reveal.

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First Sentence
The call came into County Communications from an unidentified source, believed female, possibly under fifty. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
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11 Reviews 5 star:  (7) 4 star:  (2) 3 star:  (2) 2 star:    (0) 1 star:    (0)           Average Customer Review 4.5 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   4 of 4 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Mind blowing, 7 April 2000 By  lestacia13@hotmail.com (London) - See all my reviews This book gave me nightmares and strange visions for weeks. It was absolutely fantastic, like you were actually living the events. Not for the weak hearted. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   3 of 3 people found the following review helpful: 3.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, to start off with, 13 Mar 2001 By A Customer I was attracted to this book by the excellent opening, one of the most gripping I have ever read. The book was also widely advertised in bookshops, so I thought 'why not?'. It tells of the investigations of a small town police force and the horrific crimes they discover. The author did not seem to shy away from gore in the way that others do, and this spurred me on. However, as the book progresses the good plot becomes too contrived. It lacks balance in the second half, with too many twists and turns. And the ending is a slight cop-out, with things less horrific than you thought. But all in all, a good first effort. Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)   1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Murder in the Heartland, 12 April 2003 By A Customer Donald Harstad has written a grisly and fast moving police procedural filled with well drawn characters and a likeable ‘everyman’ hero in Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman. A twenty-six year veteran of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Deaprtment himself, Harstad perfectly captures the rural atmosphere of Iowa farm country.This tense and exciting novel shows how a world gone askew reaches all the way into America’s heartland as it is confronted by mass slayings amidst satanic rituals and hidden amorality. It is the Bible belt gone wrong. Harstad creates a believable crime story and gives us a genuine feel for his setting. It is a place where a fax is ‘hi-tech’ equipment for the cops and the homes, or rather farms, are miles apart. We see everything through the eyes of Carl Houseman, from his relationships with his fellow cops to a relistic marriage where he and his wife barely see each other and have to make the most of the moments they do have. It is filled with humor and humanity in the face of the unthinkable. Eleven Days is the first in a series and an adrenline rush of a read that moves like a tornado through the sparse Iowa landscape. It is bloody and exciting. It is funny and disturbing. In other words, this is a great read. I will definitely be reading the second book in this series. If you’ve been looking for a good series to latch onto, this is your baby right here. But you better hang on..... Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this) Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review › See all 11 customer reviews...		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars superb I read this during 10 or so consecutive lunch hours whilst working in the city... I picked it up one day and couldnt put it down, but couldnt quite afford to buy books at the... Read more Published on 10 Jun 2006 by Dylan Jones 5.0 out of 5 stars FANTASTIC What a fantastic book! I picked it up and couldn't put it down. It had me gripped. The story was great, the characters too. Read more Published on 7 Mar 2003 by roonetta 4.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and chilling It is clear from the outset that Harstad is a proficient writer. Very quickly though the fact that shines through is that he is speaking as a police officer who has 'been there... Read more Published on 22 May 2000 3.0 out of 5 stars A local police thriller with enough to hold your interest. The author develops his characters quickly but gives them a fullness which makes for easy involvment. Read more Published on 20 Jan 2000 by garcol@msn.com 5.0 out of 5 stars eleven days? read it in one What a good read! The kind of book that grabs you by the throat and doesn't let go until you've breathed you're last over page 340. Well researched and well written. Published on 26 Aug 1999 4.0 out of 5 stars An unwelcoming introduction to mid-town America Eleven Days is composed in such a manner that you are instantly gripped from page one, being thrown in to a highly descriptive and disturbing multiple murder scene from the off... Read more Published on 25 Jul 1999 5.0 out of 5 stars It's great when you find a book you just can't put down! How often does one come across a book that has a great plot and characters that make you feel you know them? .....Not too often is the case...... Read more Published on 14 Jun 1999 5.0 out of 5 stars Ritual Evil In A Small Town Mr. Harstad has harvested for his own, the Small-Town, rural America, that has seldom been seen in the detective genre --and he has done so with wit and insight. Read more Published on 23 Oct 1998 Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews › See all 11 customer reviews...

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