But as a mystery, the book is humdrum, boasting a starchy plot and unfortunate sentences such as, 'When I unleashed all of my strength into his neck, his feet left terra firma and his head cartwheeled toward it.' Marathon runners will find much to enjoy in the book, which charts, mile by mile, the experience of participating in one of these races.

This first novel by Hensley, himself a former police officer and marathoner, is a seductive love letter to Pittsburgh: The author is at his best describing its neighborhoods and scenic appeal. Did Keller's graduate assistant, who attacks the professor with a crowbar, kill the girl? Did the nasty dean of academic affairs, who suspends Keller without cause, have something to do with her death? Or was it one of the other teachers at Three Rivers University? The murdered student, we learn, had her own hidden motive for coming on to Keller. The opening tease is that one of the other runners isn't going to make it to the finish line because Keller, knowing what he now knows, is going to kill him. When the police assign a motive to the crimes that Keller knows cannot be true, he begins to ask questions that somebody out there does not want answered.After a female student who has made sexual advances toward him is found dead, Pittsburgh criminology professor and former cop Cyprus Keller conducts an independent investigation to clear his name and solve the murder.Ī marathon runner, Keller recalls the circumstances of the case as he competes in a long-distance run through Pittsburgh.

However, when one of his female students is murdered and his graduate assistant attempts to kill him, Keller finds himself frantically swinging back and forth between being a suspect and a victim. Cyprus Keller is an expert in criminal behavior and victimology. As a professor of Criminology at Three Rivers University, and a former police officer, Dr. Cyprus Keller lines up to start the race, he knows who is going to die for one simple reason. More than 100 will get injured and require medical treatment and one man is going to be murdered.

Over 200 of the participants will quit, realizing it just wasn't their day. 4,500 people will attempt to cover the full 26.2 miles. Over 9,500 will run the half marathon, 4,000 will run in relays while others plan to run brief stretches. 'Finalist - 2014 International Thriller Writers Awards - Best First Novel Named one of the BEST BOOKS of 2013 by Suspense Magazine Top Ten Books of the Year - Authors on the Air In the Pittsburgh Marathon, 18,000 people from all over the world will participate.

Resolve by J.J. Hensley