First Evidence - Hardcover

Goddard, Ken

3.24

1,048 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0553108646 ISBN 13: 9780553108644

Publisher: Bantam, 1999

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From the New York Times bestselling author of Balefire comes a chilling tale of murder, forensic detection, and vivid speculation, pitting a unique crime scene investigator against a culprit who may be unlike any this world ever spawned....

As an experienced crime scene investigator, Colin Cellars has had to contend with missing evidence before. But never has he encountered such a chaotic crime scene as the one at a remote cabin nestled in the deep woods of the Pacific Northwest--site of a reported shoot-out. Cellars cannot find a trace of perpetrator or victim. He can't even confirm there has been a murder, much less that the cabin's owner--and the presumed victim--could be his long-estranged former best friend. But something violent and inexplicable has happened, and each time he approaches the scene seeking clearer evidence, eerie occurrences confound the case further.

Cellars is determined to unravel the contradictions, enlisting his closest friends to aid him. As attempts to block his investigation become increasingly vicious, Cellars realizes his life--and those of his friends--are at risk. There's far more at stake here, he's certain, than murder. Someone--something?--will stop at nothing to prevent him from discovering the truth. For the truth is not "out there"--it is locked away in Cellars's own evidence file. But it will do him no good unless he has the vision to see what it really means...before it's too late.

Ken Goddard infuses his high-voltage narrative with the depth and authentic detail that only a crime scene expert can. In this riveting thriller, he takes the reader step-by-step through a forensic investigation--and straight into the terrifying heart of the unknown.

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Review:

Ken Goddard is a forensic scientist and criminologist, and so it comes as no surprise that his high-tech thrillers take place in a world of chemicals, formulas, and scientific evidence. Yet First Evidence goes beyond science.

Colin Cellars is a senior crime-scene investigator for the Oregon State Patrol. After the apparent murder of his longtime friend Bob Dawson, Cellars uses the latest cutting-edge equipment to collect the bullets, blood, and other physical evidence. But this is no ordinary murder case--a series of weird, unexplainable events take over. Shadowy shapes lurk in the woods around Dawson's cabin; a lovely woman who looks exactly like the girl he used to know many years before reappears; an envelope full of pebbles moves on its own across a desk; corpses and cop cars disappear from one place and reappear elsewhere. All too soon we realize that we're out of the real world and into The X-Files. The truth may be out there, but most of Goddard's scientific sense is long gone. Still, readers who enjoy their thrillers served up with a good helping of the supernatural will enjoy First Evidence.

From the Back Cover:

Praise for First Evidence:

"A stunner. A gritty, compelling novel I finished in one night. Goddard is really good."
--Earl Emerson

"Goddard nicely combines our instinctive fear of things glimpsed at the corner of the eye with the mind's rational habit of assembling evidence and making logical inferences to lead the reader into unfamiliar and unsettling territory. In First Evidence, he gives the term 'inescapable conclusions' new meaning."
--Thomas Perry

"First Evidence has great suspense, creepy atmosphere, and convincing nuts-and-bolts realism. Ken Goddard has created an interesting take on an old problem and presented it with a ricochet writing style and commonsense characters."
--Kevin J. Anderson

Praisefor Ken Goddard's Balefire:

"I was hooked....Goddard has a keen sense of how to hold the reader...and what a terrific ending!"
--Clive Cussler

"You'll go from the first chapter to the final sentence before you remember to get up for a sandwich....Beautifully plotted."
--Playboy

"Balefire comes at you like a firestorm. The action starts fast and then accelerates straight through to the last page."
--John Saul

"A real heart attack of a climax."
--Publishers Weekly

"Taut, well-written, a page-turner that shocks...[and] pulls the reader to the explosive climax."
--Mary Higgins Clark

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