The Insane Train
by Sheldon Russell

The Baldwin Insane Asylum in Barstow, Calif., has recently burned to the ground in an inferno that cost many inmates their lives and injured many others. Now, Hook Runyon has been put in charge of security for a train that is to transport the survivors, Dr. Baldwin, the head of the asylum, Dr. Helms, the taciturn attending doctor, and self-sacrificing nurse Andrea, to a new location in Oklahoma.

Hook hires a motley crew of World War II veterans to help and the group sets out for the new destination. But things go awry on the train. Several inmates and attendants are found dead, and Dr. Baldwin seems increasingly disoriented and incapable of running operations. With Andrea’s help, Hook begins investigating the suspicious deaths, and uncovers a trail of revenge that has been a long time in the planning . . .

Other Books by Sheldon Russell

Time and Again

The Bridge Troll Murders
A Hook Runyon Mystery Book 5

The Dig
In Search of Coronado's Treasure

The Hanging of Samuel Ash
A Hook Runyon Mystery Book 4

Dead Man's Tunnel
A Hook Runyon Mystery Book 3

The Yard Dog
A Hook Runyon Mystery Book 1

Sheldon Russell's Bio

Dr. Russell published his first novel, Empire, in 1993 with Evans Publications, Inc. He followed that suspense novel with two historic frontier titles—The Savage Trail (Pinnacle Books, 1993) and Requiem at Dawn (Pinnacle Books, 2000). Requiem at Dawn was a finalist for Best Original Paperback in the 2001 Western Writers of America, Inc., Spur Awards competition.

In 2006, the University of Oklahoma Press released Dreams to Dust: A Tale of the Oklahoma Land Rush, which was selected as an Official Oklahoma Centennial Project. It won both the Oklahoma Book Award for fiction and the Langum Prize for Historical Literature. With The Yard Dog: A Mystery (Minotaur Books, September 2009), Russell introduces the Hook Runyon series. The first book finds Hook investigating a murder at an Oklahoma railroad yard near a German POW camp during WWII. The Insane Train, second in the series, was selected as one of the six best mysteries of 2010 by Publishers Weekly.